Lessons for the front line.

Call centres play a vital role in maximising the profitability of financial institutions. In today's competitive financial marketplace, most call centres have made the transition from cost-centres into revenue-generation centres. This places an imperative emphasis on boosting sales through inbound and outbound agents.

The main objectives of a conventional financial institution call centre have traditionally been based on a set of key performance indicators such as service level, abandoned rates, productivity, quality monitoring, customer satisfaction, revenue and overall return on investment. A conventional bank's call centre provides products and services to customers through service calls handled by inbound agents. These calls would be followed up by an outbound team for the execution of sales.

Call centres offering Islamic products and services are using the same sales techniques such as cross-selling and up-selling to generate leads. But these call centres are obliged to comply with Islamic teachings and to avoid dealing or transacting in prohibited activities subject to riba or gharar. Whether the call centre belongs to a fully fledged Islamic bank or one with an Islamic banking window, the framework of operational activities should be in line with the principles of Shariah.

Copyright Islamic Banking & Finance. All rights reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company