Why is there a 45% turnover rate at this call center in Henderson, NV? I wanted to find out after a recruiter contacted me for an open position. It took less than a month, but here's a look at the journey.
The first thing was the group interview where about 15 of us eager candidates went through a typing test (they're looking for 30wpm) and a computer navigation test. Then we were led onto the 'sales floor' (I use that term loosely) for about 10 minutes worth of listening to people actually doing the job. Then we were sat down at a board room table and asked a series of questions by the head honchos (which you will never see again after this) and asked the following questions: Are you more persistent or persuasive? (They want persuasive.) If you were an animal what would you be and why? If you had a theme song what would it be and why?....This is about the part where I started asking myself 'if this were a real job, would they be asking me these questions and why?' But I digress. We were then given the task of writing down four questions to ask a new business to better understand what their goals are (open ended questions are the way to go here), and then to give our personal motto (like 'Live free, die hard," or "Just say no!" or "What the f*ck am I doing here?"). The entire process took close to 2 1/2 hours and could have been shortened to one question. "Do you have a pulse? You're hired!" Lets just say they're hurting for help there.
So you're hired, now what? Well it depends. If they think you're smart enough, you head to the 'Practice Development Specialist' department (fancy right?). If you came off as the middle of the road type, it's off to the 'Activations' department, and if the drool was hanging too far out of your mouth, or you wore a helmet to the interview then it's the 'Specialty' department for you pal.
Whatever group you end up in, you start with a two week classroom training where your time is spent learning about 60% of what you need to do your job and about 120% of the stuff you don't, including lots of background on the origins of CareCredit, how long it would take a bus to reach the sun at 65mph, and what cute puppies and kitties look like on YouTube. There is a written test on about 3 days worth of the 10 day training, and then you're off to your individual department training. This consists of lots of role playing and slide shows of medical terminology so you don't sound like a dipshit when you hit the floor. This lasts for about a week.
So what's the job like? Well on paper it sounds great. You are helping dental and veterinary offices raise their treatment acceptance and help as many clients as possible get the care they need and boost the doctor's revenue in the process. One problem...they have to use a credit card to do this and put their clients in debt in the process. It turns out that when you reach out to these practices they don't really want to do this. Don't get me wrong, they want to help people, but they don't want you to call them out of blue and have a 15-20 minute conversation (they're working!) Using CareCredit costs the practice money for each transaction, and at the end of the day the doctor is probably doing just fine (they're a f*cking doctor!). So it's really hard to care when the people you're talking to don't care. Add in the fact that you will be having these conversations (or blow-offs more often) about 60-100 times a day, and it starts getting real dull, real fast.
Well what about the pay JH? Good question, this is most likely the reason that keeps that other 55% at their job. Turns out you're eligible for a bonus every month, a substantial bonus at that, one that could easily raise your annual income from 'eh'...to... 'this is okay.' One kicker, it has almost nothing to do with how good of a salesman you are. They base this bonus on your attendance, your TBC (time between calls, they don't want you screwing around) and your QA's (Quality Assurance scores). It's the last one that's a little biased, and here's why: You are scored on a number of different criteria, including proper intro, discloser (the call may be monitored or recorded to see what a shitty job I'm doing), leaving your contact info, thanking the customer for their business, and two components very open to interpretation: using the information given to you (active listening), and offering a relevant solution. These are not simply answered by a 'did you or did you not' question like the previous items. If the manager giving your score feels like you should have offered A over B and you chose B, you lost points, and if you believe their opinion of you during this grading process isn't a factor, well then my friend, maybe you belong in that Specialty department. 90% or better to pass and earn your bonus, missing either of those will kill you. Moral of the story, kiss ass. I have a hard time with this.
So here's the formula 'Hire anyone + don't train them properly + have someone else mess with your pay = 45% Turnover Rate.' Every dog has his day, today this dog had enough!
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