- There are quite a few job titles available to those willing to work in a call center.
- Pay for call center workers can top $275,000 per year, depending on experience and position, though most salaries range from $25,000 to $50,000.
- Call centers exist in a variety of sectors and industries and across all states.
Although working in a call center seems relatively straightforward, there are plenty of opportunities to gain different experiences while working in this environment. From working as an agent in a customer-facing role to supervising agents and other call center team members, the ways to earn a living in a call center are almost endless.
If you’re interested in a job in this field, read on to discover some of the top-paying jobs and what they entail.
Call Center Analyst
Call center analysts have the difficult job of ensuring call volume and quality are on par with their employer’s expectations. They’re responsible for observing phone calls that are made or received by employees, as well as other means of communication, such as chats, social media messages or posts and emails. While they’re mostly responsible for ensuring that employees are handling customer complaints and inquiries according to company policy, they also need to take note of any frequent complaints or issues that arise when customers call in. According to ZipRecruiter, a call center analyst makes an average salary of $43,820 per year.
ShutterstockChief Customer Officer
Chief customer officers are a vital part of the upper management teams at call centers. They’re responsible for ensuring that every customer who makes contact with the call center receives excellent customer service by developing and overseeing customer service training programs, stepping in when managers aren’t adequately training teams or solving customer complaints and creating and implementing customer retention plans for their companies. Chief customer officers in the United States earn as much as $276,800 per year, with an average of $232,400, according to Salary.com.
ShutterstockCall Center Trainer
Training is a long process for most call center employees. It consists of days, or even weeks, of learning the company’s goals and policies, practicing and role-playing call scenarios and memorizing call scripts. Furthermore, turnover in call centers is typically high, which means training occurs often. As such, most call centers employ a full-time trainer who can provide hands-on training for employees on a regular basis. According to GlassDoor, call center trainers earn an average of $47,737 per year.
ShutterstockTelephone Sales Representative
Telephone sales can be a lucrative career for those who are good at it. Most work in an outbound call environment, often cold-calling customers or getting in touch with hot leads to close a sale on behalf of their employer. While sales are the primary function of this role, most telephone sales representatives also handle duties, such as creating accounts and recording call logs, as well as following up on purchases to ensure customer satisfaction. Indeed reports an average hourly wage of $18.91 per hour for telephone sales representatives in the United States; however, most earn commission on top of this, which means earnings have the potential to be much higher.
ShutterstockCall Center Receptionist
A call center receptionist takes care of the front desk at call centers, accepting and directing phone calls to management and administrative staff, greeting guests and interviewees and ensuring supplies are stocked for other team members. Typical call center receptionists are scheduled for 40 hours per week and keep a nine-to-five schedule. According to data published in 2022 by ZipRecruiter, call center receptionists generally earn between $25,000 and $37,500 per year, with some earning as much as $62,000 annually.
ShutterstockCall Center Customer Service Representative
Unlike a telephone sales representative, a call center customer service representative is responsible solely for ensuring customers are pleased with the service or product they’ve received. There are both inbound and outbound call centers that provide customer service, typically following up on sales calls, answering product or service questions and conducting surveys to learn about the customer experience. While the salary varies in this role, most earn between $25,000 and $34,500 annually, according to ZipRecruiter.
ShutterstockCall Center Manager
A call center manager sits at the helm of a call center, managing day-to-day operations and ensuring that all call center processes are being handled according to company policies and procedures. They’re also responsible for recruiting new call center agents or sales representatives, tracking goals and productivity and stepping in when customers are dissatisfied with the service they’re receiving. Some call center managers are also in charge of overseeing budgets within the call center. According to Glassdoor, the average call center manager in the United States earns $62,164 per year.
ShutterstockBilingual Call Center Representative
Often, consumers who contact call centers to discuss complaints about a company or find answers about a product or service aren’t fluent in English. This is particularly true in states, such as California, where more than 30% of the population is Spanish-speaking, and Louisiana, where an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 residents are French-speaking. In these cases, having a call center representative who can communicate in other languages is vital. According to Salary.com, the average bilingual call center representative earns as much as $37,497 per year.
ShutterstockWeb Chat Agent
Web chat agents carry out slightly different roles than typical call center agents, but their roles are still an important part of the customer experience, especially in today’s age where more than 13% of purchases occur online. Most web chat agents work in a physical call center or from their own homes, responding to instant messages, emails and occasionally social media messages or posts from customers. According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary for a web chat agent is $32,728 per year.
ShutterstockCall Center Operator
A call center operator usually works in larger call centers with multiple departments. They accept inbound calls from customers, determine why they’re calling in and redirect the call to the appropriate department. Call center operators typically work in a physical call center but, like web chat agents, some may be able to log in remotely and work from their own homes. According to data published by ZipRecruiter in 2022, the average call center operator earns between $23,000 and $31,500 per year.
ShutterstockInbound/Outbound Call Center Representative
Inbound and outbound call center representatives have a variety of functions. While inbound agents accept calls from customers, typically answering product and service questions or conducting sales and making product recommendations, outbound agents may have duties that include sales, conducting surveys or following up on customer emails or telephone inquiries. According to Salary.com, the average inbound or outbound call center representative earned between $28,590 and $39,490 in April 2022, with the median salary sitting at $32,190.
ShutterstockCall Center Team Leader
Call Center Team Leaders have the difficult job of overseeing the work carried out by call center agents and representatives and stepping in when customers are angry or seeking a resolution that the agent isn’t authorized to carry out. Other call center team leader responsibilities include training support for new and current employees, as well as goal setting and tracking, with the help of call center management. Data published by Salary.com indicates that the average call center team leader in the United States earns $50,458 per year.
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