TalkTalk chief executive reveals call centre secrets

Date: 30/08/2011

Businesses establishing their own call centre after buying non-geographic numbers may be interested in recent comments made by one telecoms expert.

Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, spoke to the Daily Telegraph after the enterprise was issued with a £3 million fine from Ofcom for incorrectly charging consumers.

She explained she has implemented a system whereby she steps in when call centre workers are dealing with particularly tricky issues.

Ms Harding says she tells her staff to put the customer on hold and she then takes over the conversation.

"Then I say that I'm the chief executive and I want to explain what's going on and see what I can do. It has the most brilliant impact," she stated.

This often helps to calm callers down as they know their enquiry is being dealt with by a senior member of the organisation.

Regulatory body Ofcom launched an investigation into TalkTalk and Tiscali UK after receiving more than 1,000 complaints about the enterprises.