Action center or afterthought...it's your call

Call centers have a well-deserved reputation in the training world: They are not for the faint of heart. And a combination of growth and a higher profile is making call centers more challenging than ever. US call centers employ between 1.5% and 2% of the working population, or upwards of 2.5 million people, according to Call Center Management Review. Together they handled 9 billion customer contacts in 2001, and according to Telemarketing magazine, accounted for more than $700 billion in annual product and service sales in the US alone. Tremendous growth in the call center industry also brings a number of challenges. Turnover is a fact of life for call centers, but that does not mean managers have to give up. Long-term career development is a keystone for CSR retention as well as creating influence and impact for the call center.