Recruiting and Hiring

1. Who should be involved in a job task analysis to define the job description for an agent?
a. Supervisors
b. Agents
c. Human Resources
d. All of the above

2. Which of the following is the most logical first step in the screening process for agents?
a. Telephone screening
b. Performance tests
c. Face-to-face interviews
d. All of the above

3. Which of the following would be the best question to ask a potential frontline agent?
a. Where have you worked that involved providing high levels of service to the customer?
b. Explain which you feel is stronger: your sales skills or service skills.
c. Give an example of a time you effectively listened and solved a customer's problem.
d. How would you deal with an angry customer?

4. Which of the following is most likely the best predictor of career fit and long-term success in the call center?
a. Educational background
b. Motivational fit
c. Product knowledge
d. Organizational and planning skills

Employee Retention

5. Which of the following is classified as a hard cost of staff turnover?
a. Damaged reputation
b. Recruiting ads
c. Low morale
d. Lost knowledge, skills, and contacts

6. Which of the following is classified as a "hidden" cost of turnover?
a. Pay during initial training period
b. Personnel to prescreen applicants
c. Wasted or missed business opportunities
d. All of the above

7. Who is likely to have the greatest impact on staff retention in the call center?
a. Senior management
b. Frontline supervisors
c. Agent peer group
d. Human resources department

8. Which of the following is an element of an effective retention program?
a. Measure retention by team
b. Add more recruiters
c. Offer overtime
d. All of the above

Setting Performance Standards

9. Which of the following is NOT a true statement:
a. Performance management is a technique that can be learned.
b. Manage people properly, and the performance will follow.
c. You are renting people?s behaviors, not the people.
d. Performance management begins by defining expectations.

10.In developing a performance model, the first step should be to:
a. Assess current knowledge and skills.
b. Define expectations.
c. Plan intervention solutions.
d. Get to know each employee personally.

11. You?ll know when you have successfully defined expectations, competencies and supporting behaviors when:
a. All agents make a perfect score on sample calls.
b. Multiple persons evaluate and score a sample call exactly the same.
c. A single agent makes a perfect score on every call sampled.
d. Quality scores exceed quantitative scores.

12. The main reason call centers tend to focus on quantitative measures of performance rather than qualitative measures is because:
a. They are easier to obtain.
b. They are a better predictor of long-term call center success.
c. They are better indicators of overall customer satisfaction.
d. None of the above

Diagnosing Performance Problems

13. A comparison of ?what we want? versus ?what we have? is called:
a. Gap analysis
b. Cumulative performance review
c. Measured feedback
d. None of the above

14. The most common mis-diagnosis of performance problems is assuming the agent:
a. Is a bad fit for the job
b. Needs training
c.Needs additional compensation
d. None of the above

15. . The most effective way to ?turn agents toward the mirror? and provide feedback is through:
a. ACD reports
b. Quality monitoring and coaching
c. Comparison with best performers
d. Customer praise and complaints

16. Who needs more attention: Bob with a score of 76% on his performance review, or Mary with 95% score on her performance review?
a. Bob
b. Mary
c. Need equal attention
d. Impossible to tell

Coaching Fundamentals

17. A performance objective that applies to all is:
a. A standard
b. A style
c. A guideline
d. Any of the above

18. An advantage of peer-to-peer coaching is:
a. Agent is less intimidated and less nervous with peer.
b. Peer can pass along current tips and techniques.
c. It?s a nice way to recognize and reward good agents by having them coach.
d. All of the above

19. There are two kinds of reinforcement: natural and created. What are the two types of created reinforcement?
a. Social and monetary
b. Social and tangible
c. Monetary and tangible
d. Tangible and intangible

20. Which of the following is NOT a common error in delivering reinforcement and rewards:
a. Making the wrong assumption about what an effective reward will be
b. Delivering reinforcement when it wasn?t really earned
c. Providing positive reinforcement too frequently
d. Delivering reinforcement too late to reinforce the desired behavior

Motivation and Morale

21. Which of the following statements is NOT true about recognizing employee performance?
a. Recognize initiative as well as results
b. Recognize publicly rather than one-on-one
c. Recognize verbally and in writing
d. Recognize the behaviors you want to see repeated

22. The universal reward that motivates everyone is:
a. Cash
b. Upward career move
c. Praise
d. Time off

23. Which of the following is NOT a guideline for setting up games/competitions in the call center?
a. Competition should be free of ridicule and non-threatening
b. Use competition that maximizes the number of rewards
c. Always use the same criteria and standards from one promotion to the next
d. Reward both outstanding and improved performance

24. Which of the following is a disadvantage of competitive activities in the call center?
a. Shifts focus from performance to winning
b. Brings team members together for a common goal
c. Provides a sense of belonging
d. Capitalizes on individuals? desire to achieve

Staffing and Scheduling

25. When service levels are poor, adding just one more person will affect service:
a. Not at all
b. A little
c. Substantially
d. Not enough information

26. The reason there must be more ?bodies in chairs? than hours of work to do is because:
a. Calls arrive randomly, so staff won?t be active on calls all the time
b. Agents now handle emails and other paperwork in addition to calls
c. Customers are demanding shorter wait times than before
d. Some staff will have follow-up work to do after the call

27. All of the following are considered ?staff shrinkage? in the call center, except for:
a. Break time
b. Meeting time
c. Project time
d. After-call work time

28. As agents are added to improve service and shorten delays, what happens to staff occupancy?
a. It increases
b. It decreases
c. It stays the same
d. Not enough information

Call Center Math

29. A large call center (; 100 staff) will be much more efficient than a small one (< 25 staff) because:
a. The larger center can utilize more efficient routing technology
b. The agents will be better trained and coached
c. The more volume that arrives, the greater the number of calls each person can handle
d. Occupancy levels are lower, so agents are always available in the larger center

30. The ideal level of staff occupancy in a call center is:
a. Below 70%
b. 70-80%
c. 80-90%
d. Above 90%

31. Average handle time includes the following:
a. Caller queue time + talk time
b. Talk time + after call work time
c. Caller delay time + talk time + after call work time.
d. None of the above.

32. If 200 ?bodies in chairs? are required, and shrinkage is 32%, how many staff should be scheduled to meet service level goals:
a. 168
b. 232
c. 264
d. 294

Performance Measures

33. Call center performance measures should align with:
a. Competing company measures
b. Corporate objectives
c. Operational budget
d. All of the above

34. Which of the following measures would be of most interest to senior management?
a. Average handle time
b. Forecasting accuracy
c. Schedule adherence
d. Resource utilization

35. . Agent occupancy or staff occupancy is a measure of which of the following?
a. Quality
b. Staff utilization
c. Forecasting accuracy
d. Contact handling accuracy

36. Which of the following is the LEAST effective measure of agent performance?
a. Calls per hour
b. Average handle time
c. Schedule adherence
d. Quality score

Call Center Technology

37. The central piece of technology that answers calls, distributes them to staff, and provides reports is called:
a. Automatic Call Distributor
b. Interactive Voice Response
c. Computer Telephony Integration
d. Best Agent Routing

38. The technology that allows callers to interact with the call center using a touch-tone telephone to retrieve specific information from a database regarding their account status is called:
a. Automatic Call Distributor
b. Interactive Voice Response
c. Computer Telephony Integration
d. Contact Management System

39. All of the following can be used to identify callers and their needs, except:
a. Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS)
b. Automatic Number Identification (ANI)
c. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
d. Workforce Management System (WFMS)

40. The technology that provides a ?screen pop? to agents with customer account information is:
a. ACD
b. CTI
c. IVR
d. DNIS