QCSS looking to grow its Monona location
Brianna Goodman (left), Katelyn Gilman and Jennifer Johanningmeier are three of the employees at QCSS in Monona, a call center that deal with both outbound telesales calls and inbound customer service calls for a variety of clients. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor
The Monona location of the outsourced telesales services firm QCSS is looking to grow, expanding from a current staff of 18 to over 60.
Located at 106 N. Page St., across from the library, the call center was acquired by QCSS from Greene and Associates in 2012.
They work with 60 to 70 clients, serving as an adjunct to inside sales teams, explained Karin Hall, co-founder of QCSS, which is headquartered in Deer Park, Ill. That means staff make outbound telesales calls, selling products and services, like publishing content or software, or checking in with companies’ previous customers. They also make political calls.
“People hate it, but they need those opinions,” Hall said.
Staff, called customer relationship specialists, take inbound calls as well, performing the duties of a customer service team. Some of the companies QCSS works with are long-time clients, Hall said, so staff become quite familiar with their operations.
“They know everything about the company,” she noted. “It makes marketing more efficient and puts a good face forward for those companies.”
The QCSS team trains with clients and clients can, in turn, listen to the calls conducted by the QCSS team.
“They can hear that they’re not just robots,” Hall explained, noting that QCSS’ customer relationship specialists “focus on conversations” with people they speak with on the phone.
“We have a better reach rate and do two to three times what people can dial in-house,” she added. “It’s a proactive way to reach out to people, creating a demand for a service.”
Hall said two additional managers, Craig and Kerrill Schmidt, were recently added to QCSS in Monona, joining Jackie McEwen. Together, they’ll work to bring in more employees to fill full-time and part-time positions. They have 60 stations to occupy for both day and evening shifts.
“We’ve got the work, now we just have to get the seats filled,” Hall said.
