The Importance of Good Customer Service

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The Importance of Good Customer Service

By Ejaz Shah  —  2nd December 2020

Fresh out of secondary school I successfully applied for a part-time job to support myself whilst I went through college. As I walked into my first training session, the first thing I noticed was the large whiteboard across the room, with a phrase written across it in big red capital letters:

‘THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT’

This was the topic of discussion and although I can’t remember the name of the trainer, I have never forgotten his words.

Even when a customer is wrong, he is right. For he is in his right to tell you he feels wronged.

What is Good Customer Service?

Good customer service is not simply ensuring a customer’s query is answered, it is much more than that. It is ensuring that a customer feels valued. So how do you make your customers feel valued and ensure their loyalty? I share my top three points that I have picked over the years:

  • Smile

Believe it or not you can smile through the phone. Try it! A pleasant attitude is key to making a customer feel welcomed, part of the family and valued. It is a core necessity. This might seem like I am stating the bare basics, however, when you have taken your 25th call of the evening and Mr Smith on the other side of the call is not happy with the colour of the seats in the Taxi that came to pick him up earlier in the day (this is a plausible situation, Mr Smith might exist…somewhere…) it is very easy to fall into a robotic monotone and forget the pleasant attitude. 

‘I’m sorry Mr Smith that you didn’t like the light grey colour seats and would have preferred dark grey’…

I mean I get it; it is nothing to get excited about, but it is vital not to forget the aim and that is to make our customer feel valued (Mr Smith pays a lot for our taxis).

To ensure we do not fall into this robotic monotone, remember to smile each time you take on a new call. Just this simple act will ensure that you answer in a pleasant and uplifting tone, regardless of how many Mr Smiths you have spoken to already in your shift.

  •  Educate

Knowledge is key. I am sure I have stated this before somewhere in my blogs. Knowledge about your role, your product, your system is key to ensuring you carry out your job efficiently. When you are knowledgeable, you are in a position to educate your caller on what to expect, what the procedures are, how products work and what is most beneficial for them.

Do not underestimate your customer.

Customers will instantly be able to tell if you are lying to them, brushing them off or simply inept at doing your role. However, on the flip side, if you woo them with your knowledge (steady on, let’s not get too carried away), they will trust you, they will be confident in your abilities and thus be more understanding if things were to get delayed/go wrong. Educate your staff, yourself, gain knowledge and educate your customers, it’s the best way to build great rapport.

  •  Listen

Honestly my top three tips would be 1) Listen 2) Listen, 3) Listen and then the others would follow. I CANNOT stress the IMPORTANCE of LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMER.

Listen to their tone (what does it sound like?)

Listen to their silences (why are they silent? Are they making a point? Are they wanting an answer?)

Listen to their words – it’s obvious, but carefully and fully listen to what your customer is saying before you answer.

In the role of an operator, it is important to ensure we have the correct information, so great listening skills are so vital, but also make sure to follow that up by repeating and checking information to ensure you have understood the caller correctly. 

A Disgruntled Customer

This always comes up when I discuss customer service. ‘What if I get an unhappy customer? What if I get an abusive customer?’ Now firstly, I believe strongly that abuse should not be tolerated in any setting. In these instances, refer to your procedures and follow through, you still must carry out your role, however, follow the procedure in your business. However, as challenging as these customers can be and the ones that are disgruntled, they could well be handled by utilising the above points I made. 

During one of my training sessions with my last employer, I remember a call came through from one of the operators on the floor saying he had an abusive caller on the phone, who had been warned not to be abusive(which was the business procedure) however, was unwilling to cooperate now. I requested the call be transferred to me, whilst the call handler listened in on the call.

From the offset, I could barely get a word in, the customer was furious and was using abusive language to vent his anger and make his point.  

I listened.

Once he had finished, I let him know that I had listened, ‘I can hear your frustration and anger’.

 I apologised, ‘I am sorry that you feel this way/this has happened’.

I expressed my willingness to assist him, ‘I would like to rectify this for you’.

I referred to our policy/procedures, ‘however, I must advise you that we do not tolerate any abusive language, so can I please ask that you refrain from using that kind of language’.

I then ‘educated’ him on what I could do, step by step, to assist him and resolve this issue.

Honestly, the customer was taken aback, my tone was extremely pleasant and calm, I reassured him that I heard his frustration and anger and wanted to help him, alongside making it clear to him that any abuse would not be tolerated by me.

Now I am not saying this will work on any and every call, however, it is important to always stay in control of the phone call. Remember you are the professional, stay professional and handle the situation, keep yourself composed and do not let anyone rattle you.

New Era OS and Customer Services

At New Era we treat YOUR customers as OUR customers, we go the extra mile on every single call. Each customer is given the same amount of importance regardless of what the nature of the call is. Our training is tailored around each client and each agent is quality checked on a regular basis.

For our Taxi clients, we follow a very strict script where the agents must follow the 5 input & 7 output method. This is a tried and tested method and it ensures no mistakes are made. 

With no setup fee on your first agent, join us today and let us help you take your company to the next level!!

At New Era we treat YOUR customers as OUR customers, we go the extra mile on every single call. Each customer is given the same amount of importance regardless of what the nature of the call is. Our training is tailored around each client and each agent is quality checked on a regular basis.

For our Taxi clients, we follow a very strict script where the agents must follow the 5 input & 7 output method. This is a tried and tested method and it ensures no mistakes are made. 

With no setup fee on your first agent, join us today and let us help you take your company to the next level!!

The Importance of Good Customer Service

by with No Comment Blog PostsCustomer Service

The Importance of Good Customer Service

By Ejaz Shah  —  2nd December 2020

Fresh out of secondary school I successfully applied for a part-time job to support myself whilst I went through college. As I walked into my first training session, the first thing I noticed was the large whiteboard across the room, with a phrase written across it in big red capital letters:

‘THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT’

This was the topic of discussion and although I can’t remember the name of the trainer, I have never forgotten his words.

Even when a customer is wrong, he is right. For he is in his right to tell you he feels wronged.

What is Good Customer Service?

Good customer service is not simply ensuring a customer’s query is answered, it is much more than that. It is ensuring that a customer feels valued. So how do you make your customers feel valued and ensure their loyalty? I share my top three points that I have picked over the years:

  • Smile

Believe it or not you can smile through the phone. Try it! A pleasant attitude is key to making a customer feel welcomed, part of the family and valued. It is a core necessity. This might seem like I am stating the bare basics, however, when you have taken your 25th call of the evening and Mr Smith on the other side of the call is not happy with the colour of the seats in the Taxi that came to pick him up earlier in the day (this is a plausible situation, Mr Smith might exist…somewhere…) it is very easy to fall into a robotic monotone and forget the pleasant attitude. 

‘I’m sorry Mr Smith that you didn’t like the light grey colour seats and would have preferred dark grey’…

I mean I get it; it is nothing to get excited about, but it is vital not to forget the aim and that is to make our customer feel valued (Mr Smith pays a lot for our taxis).

To ensure we do not fall into this robotic monotone, remember to smile each time you take on a new call. Just this simple act will ensure that you answer in a pleasant and uplifting tone, regardless of how many Mr Smiths you have spoken to already in your shift.

  •  Educate

Knowledge is key. I am sure I have stated this before somewhere in my blogs. Knowledge about your role, your product, your system is key to ensuring you carry out your job efficiently. When you are knowledgeable, you are in a position to educate your caller on what to expect, what the procedures are, how products work and what is most beneficial for them.

Do not underestimate your customer.

Customers will instantly be able to tell if you are lying to them, brushing them off or simply inept at doing your role. However, on the flip side, if you woo them with your knowledge (steady on, let’s not get too carried away), they will trust you, they will be confident in your abilities and thus be more understanding if things were to get delayed/go wrong. Educate your staff, yourself, gain knowledge and educate your customers, it’s the best way to build great rapport.

  •  Listen

Honestly my top three tips would be 1) Listen 2) Listen, 3) Listen and then the others would follow. I CANNOT stress the IMPORTANCE of LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMER.

Listen to their tone (what does it sound like?)

Listen to their silences (why are they silent? Are they making a point? Are they wanting an answer?)

Listen to their words – it’s obvious, but carefully and fully listen to what your customer is saying before you answer.

In the role of an operator, it is important to ensure we have the correct information, so great listening skills are so vital, but also make sure to follow that up by repeating and checking information to ensure you have understood the caller correctly. 

A Disgruntled Customer

This always comes up when I discuss customer service. ‘What if I get an unhappy customer? What if I get an abusive customer?’ Now firstly, I believe strongly that abuse should not be tolerated in any setting. In these instances, refer to your procedures and follow through, you still must carry out your role, however, follow the procedure in your business. However, as challenging as these customers can be and the ones that are disgruntled, they could well be handled by utilising the above points I made. 

During one of my training sessions with my last employer, I remember a call came through from one of the operators on the floor saying he had an abusive caller on the phone, who had been warned not to be abusive(which was the business procedure) however, was unwilling to cooperate now. I requested the call be transferred to me, whilst the call handler listened in on the call.

From the offset, I could barely get a word in, the customer was furious and was using abusive language to vent his anger and make his point.  

I listened.

Once he had finished, I let him know that I had listened, ‘I can hear your frustration and anger’.

 I apologised, ‘I am sorry that you feel this way/this has happened’.

I expressed my willingness to assist him, ‘I would like to rectify this for you’.

I referred to our policy/procedures, ‘however, I must advise you that we do not tolerate any abusive language, so can I please ask that you refrain from using that kind of language’.

I then ‘educated’ him on what I could do, step by step, to assist him and resolve this issue.

Honestly, the customer was taken aback, my tone was extremely pleasant and calm, I reassured him that I heard his frustration and anger and wanted to help him, alongside making it clear to him that any abuse would not be tolerated by me.

Now I am not saying this will work on any and every call, however, it is important to always stay in control of the phone call. Remember you are the professional, stay professional and handle the situation, keep yourself composed and do not let anyone rattle you.

New Era OS and Customer Services

At New Era we treat YOUR customers as OUR customers, we go the extra mile on every single call. Each customer is given the same amount of importance regardless of what the nature of the call is. Our training is tailored around each client and each agent is quality checked on a regular basis.

For our Taxi clients, we follow a very strict script where the agents must follow the 5 input & 7 output method. This is a tried and tested method and it ensures no mistakes are made. 

With no setup fee on your first agent, join us today and let us help you take your company to the next level!!

At New Era we treat YOUR customers as OUR customers, we go the extra mile on every single call. Each customer is given the same amount of importance regardless of what the nature of the call is. Our training is tailored around each client and each agent is quality checked on a regular basis.

For our Taxi clients, we follow a very strict script where the agents must follow the 5 input & 7 output method. This is a tried and tested method and it ensures no mistakes are made. 

With no setup fee on your first agent, join us today and let us help you take your company to the next level!!

Taxi, Technology & Outsourcing

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Taxi, Technology & Outsourcing

By Ejaz Shah  —  25th November 2020

Reminiscing about the old taxi offices

“One second King, Sierra pick up from 254 VPR let me know the destination, King head towards CT”

I remember sitting in the taxi booking office, yellow walls and a cloud of cigarette smoke hovering above the desk, phone receiver resting on the shoulder as the main dispatcher spoke to the drivers on the old two-way radio system. Two operators were busy on the phones scribbling the jobs down on a sheet of paper, all 3 of them had a cigarette in their mouth and they were all stressed. I didn’t understand what the dispatcher meant when he spoke to the drivers in short code but he was managing a fleet of over 50 cars and I marvelled at how even though they were all stressed out, they still managed to have a laugh.

King and Sierra were both drivers and Sierra was told to head to 254 Victoria Park Road to pick up and King being directed toward the Clock Tower, I know all the shortcodes now but back then, putting in an 8/10-hour shift was like hard labour, you were mentally and physically drained.

Years later,  I found myself working as a taxi driver and studying in Stafford.  It was the best job you could do while studying as you could pick the hours you did working for the largest company there. Here the driver code names were changed into numbers to make it easier and I remember this one time a driver came through on the radio..

Driver: “Car 84 hat in bush”

Dispatcher: “Car 84 come again”

Driver: “Car 84 hat in bush”

Dispatcher: “Car 84 I don’t understand”

Driver: “Car 84, Hat in bush, head in hat”

I nearly choked on my tea as the office burst into roars of laughter

Dispatcher: “Car 84 are you ok bud”

Driver; “Car 84 on my way back to the office need a break, I am ok”

Dispatcher; “Roger bud”

Now a driver had been assaulted but the way he reported it back had us all in tears. Car 84 could look after himself but if you picture the incident, he had to drag himself back to the car and report it, there was no mobile phones back then.

Taxi and Technology

This has all changed now, you might find the odd small company still using the old two-way radio system but nearly everyone has moved to computerised dispatching systems. The taxi industry has come a long way from where it used to be and there was a massive surge of drivers joining the trade once outsourcing became the new way of business for many leading industries who chose to move their business overseas. Back then you would struggle to find a company with over 500 cars, which is now the norm, the standard as you will find a lot of small companies are now merged into one large company.

Back around 1995 I was introduced to a family friend Ali, a computer geek, who would go around taxi offices and sell them an Excel spreadsheet that he had made. The idea was to get rid of all the paperwork and make sure everything was categorically organised and while he was rejected by quite a few companies, he did manage to sell quite a few too.

This wasn’t an original idea of Ali’s, he had seen a proper dispatch system doing it’s rounds and had mimicked it, not as advanced as the proper dispatch system but the concept was the same and you had to marvel at Ali’s hustle.

That then was the tip of the iceberg, for the taxi companies that refused Ali back then are now using a dispatch system.

Bookings are now taken on a computer, stored on a computer, dispatched to the driver via the computer to the driver’s mobile and the driver’s job history is stored on the computer. This automation of the taxi booking office allows taxi companies to now take more bookings whereas, in the past, they would refuse them when the sheet was full.

I would be lying if I said the assaults on taxi drivers had now calmed down with the introduction of technology – it hasn’t, however, offices are now able to track the location of their drivers and all drivers have an emergency button on the screen, once pressed it alerts the office and every single driver on shift so help does get their quicker than it used to!

Life for the back office has become a lot easier with an easily accessible record of all the jobs done. Accounts at the end of the month or even week are a lot easier to arrange, whereas before you would have to go through the whole paperwork just to find who did what job on a certain day.

Taxi, Technology and Outsourcing

Even though taxi and technology have been working hand in hand since the 90’s, outsourcing did not come into the picture until after 2010. Allthough outsourcing has been in the market since around the 80’s the taxi trade was very late to jump onto the bandwagon.

Even while I type this blog there are quite a few taxi companies that still treat outsourcing as an alien concept and something they refuse to indulge in, it reminds me of the times I would go around with Ali trying to sell his Excel Spreadsheet to various offices.

Similar to how technology helped the taxi industry move onto the next stage of transportation, outsourcing is also just that, a helping hand.

Majority of the large taxi firms are outsourcing either just the overflow of calls or having outsourced staff handling every aspect of the booking. It is not only more convenient for taxi companies to outsource, it is also a big money saver. If you have recently seen a local taxi company rapidly growing and advertising heavily, chances are they are outsourcing!

All three do work hand in hand though, without the combination of taxi and technology, outsourcing would not be possible, because of technology it is now possible to have a remote worker on the other side of the world answering calls and booking in jobs as well as dispatching!!!

So, what can be outsourced?

Putting it simply, every repetitive task can be outsourced, below I will list a few for a basic taxi office;

  • Operator/Dispatcher
    • From answering the call and taking a simple booking to recovering a job, modifying it and re-dispatching it back to the same driver.
    • Taking account bookings
  • Online bookings
    • Bookings from your website to bookings done on social media
  • Customer Service
    • Customer complaints through emails
    • Customer complaints through social media channels
    • Customer complaints over the phone
  • Bookkeeping
    • Driver accounts including driver base rents and refunds, vehicle MOT’s and driver licensing
    • Weekly staff wages
    • Promotions, advertising and software fee’s
    • Account job’s

By outsourcing the above listed jobs, a taxi company could save around 70% on wages, this money can then be put back into and invested in the company and its future growth.

Me and New Era OS

Having gone through manual taxi dispatching to computerised dispatching systems with call centre experience from the UK not to mention first-hand taxi driving experience I created New Era OS to help taxi companies grow to their full potential and reach heights which they once thought impossible. At New Era OS we can easily handle all the above tasks in a professional manner that the customer would never guess they were speaking to someone some 4000 miles away.

If you have had a bad experience with an oversea call centre or outsourcing is something you have never tried before, get in touch today and take advantage of the no setup fee with your first agent. We are so confident in what we do we do not ask for anything upfront, you really do not have anything to lose!! 

New Era CEO Ejaz Shah

The Benefits of a Call Centre & Outsourcing

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The Benefits of a Call Centre & Outsourcing

By Ejaz Shah  —  13th October 2020

Call centre n. an office in which a large number of people work using phones, for example arranging insurance for people, or taking customers’ orders and answering questions

(Oxford English Dictionary)

A Brief History

Less than 50 miles from my hometown of Leicester is the origins of the first known call/contact centre in the UK. Back in the 1960s Birmingham Press and Mail had PABX (Private Automated Business Exchanges) installed in order to have rows of agents/advisors handling customer contacts. In the 1970s the call centre technology expanded, with telephone banking and sales as more industries started to conduct their customer service over the phone. It was in 1983, the term ‘call centre’ was first published and recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary and the 1990s saw the international expansion of call centres, with call centres becoming the ‘front line’ of businesses across the world. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that we saw the trend of outsourcing, with big businesses seeking to cut costs by transferring their call centres overseas. Call centres now are an integral and vital part of a business and an equally important source of jobs.

Outsourcing

The difference today is that it is no longer just big businesses that outsource their call centres. Due to the expansion of technology and the need to save costs in order to remain/become successful, more and more smaller businesses are outsourcing. In todays ‘Covid’ climate, this need to save costs is not to remain/become successful but to simply stay afloat, making outsourcing one of the most vital decisions a business can make in its quest for survival.

For someone that has spent many years working in and with call centres, I have seen first-hand the importance of call centres both to the businesses and the employees. Below I state some of the benefits I feel the call centre has to provide to businesses looking to outsource and some advice to employees looking to succeed working in one:

Working in a Call Centre

In the UK the call centre provides jobs for people from all walks of life. Students find it an ideal job to fit around their studies, parents find it helps with work/life balance and new graduates see it as an opportunity to grow and move forward in their careers. I have personal experience of a friend who left school at 17 and went straight into working at a call centre, over the years he worked his way up to a ‘Multiple Area Manager’. The opportunities the call centre provides to its employees are unlimited and I believe the success is purely down to the individual.

 

For me it is disappointing to see that Pakistan call centres are not viewed as job opportunities where an operator/advisor has the option of growth or progression. Yes, I have encountered individuals that have been in the field for a long time and have succeeded in building their careers, however, such opportunities are few and far between.

My advice to anyone wanting to work and succeed in a call centre is simple:

  • Be wary of clauses in contracts – a contract is an agreement which is beneficial for both parties, call centre owners tend to use jargon and put in clauses where they can restrict you from earning a living. Be careful of what you sign and make sure you are receiving all the benefits outlined by the government.
  • Master your trade – to succeed in your role, you need to master it. Pay attention with the training, ask questions where you don’t understand and persevere. Use all the resources that are available to you to upskill yourself.
  • Expand your wings – only once you have mastered the role you are being paid to do, take on extra duties. Ask to ‘shadow’ other departments or take notes at a meeting. The more you can learn about the business the more opportunity you have to offer new skills and progress in the business.

At New Era we have a very simple straight forward contract, it is a piece of document that shows the date you started working with us, your job description and our code of ethics/conduct. We do not use jargon or have hidden clauses. We are building a business where we want staff to want to come and work for and with us. We employ staff with the aim to have them with us for many years to come, so if the motivation is there to grow with the business, we will fully support it.

Using a Call Centre as a Client

Cost saving is the biggest benefit of outsourcing, followed closely by time saving (which in itself is cost saving, for time = money).

On average you can get someone answering your calls for less than half of what you would pay in the west. You save the time in not having to recruit or train agents and if you do end up building a team of outsourced agents, you only have to deal with the one person, rather than all of them individually.

If you run a 24-hour office, then monitoring staff at all times, especially those on the graveyard shift is both difficult and time (cost) consuming. By outsourcing, you have staff working for you that are monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you require a large team of agents/operators then you need to consider the office space to cater for them. By outsourcing you eliminate that extra cost completely, if your team grows, your overheads will remain the same.

With the money saved, if you are able to reinvest it back into your business, it gives you the opportunity to further grow your business. I always advice my clients to use that money for advertising, the more you advertise, the more work you get and so on.

However, to successfully outsource and save money, you need to ensure you select the right outsourcing company.

New Era Outsourcing Specialists

At New Era, we don’t make false promises, our talking is done on the call centre floor, where our promises are met. Our charges per hour might not be the cheapest, but the training and continuous monitoring that goes on behind the scene is something we simply do not compromise on. We pride ourselves on being the only call centre with training methods similar to ones used in major UK call centres and taxi offices combined.

  • No setup fee for your first agent – we are confident in our abilities; we know we can assist in making your business grow. We don’t charge a setup fee for the first agent, because we will prove ourselves. When your business grows, you will increase the number of agents you need, it is only a matter of time. However, if it’s just the one agent you need, that is fine, you get that with no additional charges.
  • Staff monitoring – we have dedicated members of staff whose sole purpose is to monitor the work of our agents. We reward our agents on carrying out their roles at the highest of levels. Agents scoring 90%+ in quality scores are rewarded with bonuses.
  • Monthly reports – three months down the line we provide our clients with monthly reports including quality, punctuality and attendance scores for each agent. Feedback from the shift manager and the agent him/herself is also shared. We feel this gives our clients a clearer picture and the satisfaction of a job well done.

Outsourcing can be one of the most beneficial decisions a business makes, especially in these current ‘Covid’ times. You can help keep your business afloat, save money and see your business grow, alongside eliminating the stress of unwell staff and providing social distancing office space.

 If you are interested in working with New Era OS, as either an employee or a client, leave your details on our contact us page and someone will be in touch. 

Also do comment below with your experiences of working in call centres and outsourcing, I would love to hear from you.

New Era ~ A New Approach

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New Era

A New Approach

By Ejaz Shah  —   7th October 2020

For those of you that have read my previous blogs, I hope the one thing that you have picked up on, is my passion about my job. I am not simply passionate about making money or having my own business – I would be lying if I said these factors didn’t play a part, of course they do, however, I am passionate about everything to do with my job.

I write this blog knowing that some points might seem controversial, this is not my intention. It is important for me to be clear and open with everyone and that is exactly what I want to do here. I want to share with you my vision and the outlook for my business. The points I make here are purely based on my experiences and I am fully aware there are limitations to this, therefore these are not generalisations I make but purely statements on what I have experienced and what I hope to achieve in the future. 

The dream from day one was to start a business that was different to others. Different specifically in it’s approach.

Now see I have many years experience in this field, right from front end to back end duties. I have worked alongside many different characters from many different walks of life and from each and everyone I have taken something. Collectively these learnings are what I have implemented in my business.

When I first entered this industry in Pakistan it was a huge shock to my system and unfortunately not in a good way. I had been fortunate to have worked in businesses in the UK where I really relished going into work and giving my all, as did all those around me. I specifically recall fond memories from my time at a national company call centre in the UK, where majority of the staff had been employed for five plus years, they loved their jobs and were so dedicated to what they did. I know it sounds cheesy, but the company really had a family feel to it. Everyone was keen to play their part in the success of the business and were rewarded – rightly so – for their efforts.

New Era moto

My introduction to call centre life in Pakistan was somewhat different. Therefore, when the opportunity came, I knew I had the experience, the knowledge and the desire, to make a change, to build a business with a ‘feel good’ factor to it, similar to what I had experienced back in the UK. I envisioned a place where I could offer employees a place where they were valued, a place where they were appreciated and the opportunity to grow. At the same time, I wanted to be absolutely dedicated to my clients, working with them, for them and for their customers. That very idea is where the moto of New Era came about. New Era OS, working with you, for you, for your customer!

So how have I gone about this and what does New Era have to offer:

Employees

There is no single person that makes New Era. It is a collective effort by every single member of staff, irrelevant of your title or your salary and this includes me. I alone cannot make New Era a success, the success of New Era is in the hands of the entire team.

I recall one thing that I couldn’t get my head around when I first came to be working in Pakistan was how staff were treated depending on their ‘level’. Simply put if you were not one of the big bosses, the senior employees, the one with flashy job titles, you were not treated with respect. I fundamentally disagree with this notion.

I remember pulling in the cleaning team one day into my office and telling them that they were employees of this organisation, the same as everyone else and they had a designated – important – job role, no one had the ‘right’ to give them extra duties apart from their line manager. When I say the right I mean they were being used to run personal errands, heat food for staff ‘higher up’, wash their lunch dishes, they were treated as personal ‘butlers’, though the term butler comes with more respect then was ever bestowed upon them. Heartbreakingly, these individuals did not feel they could say no, so they did everything that was required of them by the business, doing their own jobs as well as running around doing personal chores for those that viewed themselves as more ‘important’.

This quite frankly ‘toxic’ mind frame filtered down the business and employee chain, with each member of staff looking down on those they considered to be more inferior to them. Now let me be clear, this wasn’t everyone, there were those that played no part in this. But this mentality was never challenged, it was deemed okay, I learnt this first-hand myself, as my intervention with the cleaning team did not go down well with the management team, apparently this is the way things are done here.

Well no, not in New Era. Right from the offset the approach we take is to ensure satisfaction and satisfaction goes hand in hand with success.

At New Era a waiting list is used to select candidates for interviews based on their capabilities. This is a new era of call centre work, so once part of the New Era family, employees have the chance to grow and advance in their career and be rewarded along the way. We got rid of the hourly pay that is common here in call centres and put our staff on fixed wages with paid holidays. Overtime is paid as overtime and wages are in the bank by the end of the month. We want our staff to want to come into work and feel valued. We know how important these benefits and bonuses are to our staff.

Clients

A thing I noticed very early on here in Pakistan was that the owners of a lot of the call centres here are overseas citizens with a business in the west and the setup here in Pakistan to purely support their venture in the west. This divided interest, or in some cases, lack of interest to the business in Pakistan, is reflected in the way businesses are ran.

With New Era there is no divided or lack of attention. I am 100% dedicated to New Era, my time is completely dedicated to our clients without having to worry about my own business in the UK.

Again, with clients too, we use a waiting list, and to those currently on the waiting list,we ask for patience. We are perfectionists, we have a strict policy of only taking on a new client on either a Monday or a Tuesday at the latest, for our onboarding department needs a week to collate all the requirements from the new client and relay the information to our training department. The training package for the operator is then tailored around these requirements, ensuring the operator and New Era as a whole, are delivering everything that the client requires of them. Each client has a dedicated member of staff to address any issues or queries and we only move onto onboarding the next client, once both the current client and the New Era team are completely satisfied that the onboarding process has been a success. We are our biggest critics. We believe everything should be done precisely from inception and then this very perfection should be maintained throughout. This is our only project, New Era. We are not side-tracked by any other investments; our focus is to build this into a brand that can be trusted by clients worldwide and give security to our work force. I know there are many of you out there that share my vision, I have had the privilege of meeting many of you in person. Let’s work together to build the infrastructure that provides equal and fair opportunities to all and enables the many to reap the success of their dedication and hard work. Once again, please comment below and share your thoughts and stories and pop over to our main page to learn more about New Era