Paul Shabangu, Senior Call Centre Consultant at the Sanlam contact centre in the Western Cape won the Callforce Direct National Call Centre Operator of the Year Award at the SACCCOM (South African Contact Centre Community) National Call Centre Awards Banquet held at Gallagher Estate last month.

SACCCOM was established to ensure that South Africa realises the global outsourcing opportunity in call centre and business process outsourcing, by attracting international companies to set up offshore call centre operations in SA.

"What I love most is the close involvement in the lives of the people who call in and speak to me. They often share information about themselves. They give me an opportunity to assist them, which makes a positive difference to their lives for that day," Paul told us.

"This level of service and customer interaction requires a very special kind of person. They need to be passionate, client service oriented and good team players, as our ability to deliver relies on support from a range of people in the organisation.

"We need to be empathetic listeners with a positive attitude. The job is demanding, we are constantly on the telephone, so we need plenty of energy and enthusiasm for what we do as well as determination to do it well.

"Another critical character trait is openness to change as technology, client needs and the processes we apply are constantly changing. Good communication skills are vital.

"I speak seven of the official languages of but not all call centre agents are that mulit-lingual. It is vital that we understand the different cultures that we deal with, though, so that we can serve each client in the right way, always going the extra mile.

"It is inevitable that we will get very unhappy callers from time to time. The way we deal with them is to allow them to let off steam while we listen carefully for pointers as to how we can assist them.

"This caring and determination to sort out what has gone wrong generally makes people calm down and feel they are in good hands. Most important is to keep your promises and keep the client informed of your progress in sorting out the problem."

For those considering working in a call centre as a career opportunity, Paul's advice is to know your strengths and weaknesses.

"Be willing to learn, to be positive, passionate and always to go the extra mile.