How to Retain Call Center Employees

It’s a fact that one of the main challenges that a business faces is the ability to retain quality call center employees. This is not surprising considering that they have to deal with demanding calls and the monotony of taking calls for hours up on end. Now, many call centers are attempting to stop the high turnover of employees in order to save money and time.

Here are some tips to retain great call center employees for your contact center:

Invest in your employees

In order to be successful, your call center employees should have the proper training they need to excel. While most are probably not going to make a career out of calling customers, employees still need an adequate amount of support for career advancement. Offer training and coaching programs as well as mentoring programs.

Offer praise and incentives

Everyone likes compliments! Your employees deserve to be told that they are doing a great job and that you appreciate their hard work. Offer contests and incentives with cool prizes to keep them motivated to continue their dedicated work in the call center. They have to work long hours with a virtual smile on their face, but it can be easier when there are incentives involved to show that they are appreciated by management.

Consult your team

Communication is key in the employee-manager relationship, so ask everyone their opinion when it comes to improving the contact center workplace. Don’t just ask for the sake of asking; act upon their suggestions. Make them feel valued.

Accommodating schedules

Consider giving your employees the option to telecommute. This will be effective in keeping your costs low and reducing agent turnover. Give them the opportunity to make their own schedules if you can as long as you can still maintain service capabilities.

Staff turnover is inevitable at times, but you can do whatever you can to keep your employees happy and productive. It’s a win-win for everyone!

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The Role of the Contact Center Team Leader

A call center’s team leader is a critical part of the business’ success. They play a significant role in boosting team’s morale and encouraging success and diversity. In this article, we’ll highlight the role of the call center team leader as well as the attributes that he/she should possess for the success of a call center.

What is a call center team leader responsible for?

A team leader actively enforces the goals of the operation, policies and procedures, implements plans in the organization’s training and development programs, handles escalations, supports agents, monitors the cue, and works in conjunction with the administration. 

A team leader in a call center is the one responsible for managing team of agents  to ensure that they are performing towards achieving their targets They review their performance and provide coaching and training. Team leaders meet with the manager on a regular basis to not only give feedback but also to receive instructions or actions. They are the one responsible for keeping agents informed of what is happening in the call center that may have an impact on them. At times, team leaders are involved in the recruitment of new agents to work on specific projects for the call center. 

Attributes that a call center team leader should possess

·         Management skills-A team leader should demonstrate the ability to manage the call center agents and other operations.

·         Coaching skills-They should be skilled in delivering instructive, collaborative, supportive, and motivational coaching sessions that boost open communications. He/she should be able to diagnose performance issues and be able to develop effective action plans to address the main cause of the issue. 

·         Analytical skills- Team leaders should be able to identify business trends and opportunities as well as underlying threats, and be able to provide effective suggestions for developments.

·         Goal- focused skills-A team leader should consistently meet all established goals and accomplish tasks in a commendable manner and timely basis.

·         Prioritization- A team leader needs to demonstrate the ability to prioritize issues based on urgency and scope of impact. He/she should be capable of effectively managing multiple projects.

·         Motivation skills- They should know how to create a strong sense of job satisfaction and keep all call center agents motivated, by effectively communicating, recognizing, and rewarding good performance. He should be able to identify effective ways of developing and enhancing agent’s skills.

·         Ownership/initiative- Being a team leader in a call center, one needs to volunteer and participate or lead new initiatives. He should take ownership of tasks and make sure they are completed.

·         Communication skills- Effective communication is one of the crucial skills that every team leader, regardless of the industry should possess. He should be able to professionally communicate to subordinates, peers, agents, as well as senor level management. 

·         Personnel skills- As a team leader, one should show the ability to maintain confidentiality and address sensitive issues appropriately, in accordance with HR procedures. He should prove to handle difficult issues with total professionalism, and a well-documented plan for resolution.

If a team leader possesses all the above attributes, a call center can move to greater heights.

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Contact Center Upgrades

Many companies have recently been looking for ways to upgrade the infrastructure and communication capabilities of their contact centers. These upgrades include moving into a multichannel system, moving into the cloud, and improving the overall infrastructure of the contact center.

Although multichannel contact centers have been feasible for at least a decade, there are few of them around lately. According to experts, this needs to change because the need is getting bigger and bigger due to the growth of mobile devices that feature voice and text-based communications from any device at any time.

Companies have a responsibility to communicate with customers through traditional platforms as well as text and chat. Unfortunately, many contact centers are not set up to accommodate multichannel users as they should. Their technology is simply not up to par.

Contact center managers should attempt to understand the needs of their customers by looking at unstructured data and speech analytics. According to an article on TechTarget, companies should “assess the end-to-end experience from the customer's point of view, starting with the customer's initial entry point of communication and moving through the Web experience to phone calls, emails and chat. The next step is assessing whether the company can deliver that seamless experience and identifying gaps in the infrastructure.”

Companies have plenty of options when it comes to call center upgrades, but they need to make sure they have a solid upgrade strategy that will ultimately improve the quality of customer care.

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How to Motivate Your Call Center Reps

Working in a call center can be challenging at times. It’s no secret that call centers have a high turnover of reps. While the working conditions may be good, many times call center reps are underappreciated and underpaid. One of the best ways to keep your reps and lower the turnover rate is to keep your employees happy.

Your call center employees are an important link in the customer/company interaction chain. You are trusting them with your customers—your most valuable asset. Failing to have faith in your reps will result in many of them leaving.

Here are some ways to motivate your call center reps and create better working relationships:

Raise their pay. Call center representatives are professionals, and should be paid as such. Let’s face it: No company wants to pay more. But unless you want to continuously hire new workers and deal with a high turnover rate, you need to offer a competitive rate.

Provide refresher training. Employees that have been employed with the company for a while will greatly benefit from refresher training.

Allow shift trading. When call center employees are able to swap shifts to meet their needs, everyone is happy. It’s a small change that creates a nice balance.

Create an off-site program. Reps who wish to work from home can do so through remote communication. Employees who excel can have this perk, and this will motivate others to excel as well.

Give benefits to part-timers. Part-time employees are just as important as full-time ones, so treat them as if they are as valuable by offering the same benefits.

Create an advancement system. Let your call center representatives know that they can be rewarded with better pay and more responsibility if they succeed and add value to the company.

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Tips for Agents to Communicate Better

In a call center, communication is king. It’s a fact that effective communication will lead to a more productive and satisfied staff of agents. It sounds easy enough, but there are actually quite a few mishaps that can occur in an attempt to communicate to clients and customers. If your agents know how to better handle these situations, they can serve callers faster and with more confidence.

Here are some tips to help your agents communicate to customers more effectively:

Listen to the caller. Many agents may be so eager to serve the caller that they begin to answer before the caller has even finished talking. It’s best to wait until the caller has finished stating their question or concern before jumping in to remedy the problem. It’s easy for agents to get sidetracked with their own concerns about the call while they should be listening to the caller instead. Be present so that you can let the customer communicate their concerns. Failure to do so can result in callers feeling unimportant.

Speak slowly. Remember that callers are hearing the agent for the first time, and they may not always be clear on what you are saying. They should slow down and speak slowly. It is natural to tend to speed up after repetitive calls, but advise your agents to mindfully slow down and treat every call as if it’s the first one of the day.

Breathe. An agent’s breathing can affect a call. For instance, if they are sighing, they can come off as annoyed. If they hold their breath, it can mean they are tense. And we all know what yawning means! Teach your agents to be aware of their breathing during a call, and to take deep breathes in between calls.

Stay present. Make sure your agents know that when they stay on the phone, they should be present in that moment. While it’s easy to space out at their desks, agents should take breaks when they are feeling sluggish. Teaching them to stay in the moment will help their focus, even on trying days.

What about agents who work from home? As a call center manager, you can use video and chat in order to monitor their communication abilities in real-time. In order to do this effectively, you must communicate to your agents the importance of staying engaged and focused during customer calls.

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A Quick Guide to Call Centers

Almost everyone has heard of the term call center; however, very few people understand how a call center works. Here is a quick guide to call centers and how they work:

Business Model

Every call center should have a business model. It helps the call center to identify its goals and missions. Here are the basic components of a business model.

Mission

The mission states how the call center will help the company achieve its goals. It also specifies what the company expects from the call center.

Business goals

They include both short term and midterm goals that the call center wants to achieve. They also define what the organization wants from the call center.

Performance drivers

These are the processes, behaviors and tools which help the call center to meet the expectations of the company. Performance drivers are usually measurable.

Tech Tools

In order to run a call center you need several technical tools. Have you heard the terms IVR, VoIP, CRM and ACD? These are some of the tools and technology that modern call centers use to carry out their operation. There are several others, too. Here is a list of them.

·         Telephone network

·         Automatic call distributor system

·         Data network/Internet

·         Predictive dialer

·         Interactive voice response system

·         Web applications like email and online chat

·         Computer workstations

·         Local area network (LAN)

·         CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems like scripting, customer analytics and billing tools.

·         Computer-telephony integration software and hardware

·         Knowledge base

·         Workforce management software

·         Agent performance dashboard

·         Data warehouse

·         Call-recording equipment

·         VoIP communications technology

The call center team

The call center may have the most sophisticated tools in the world. It still needs efficient people to bring it to life.

The call center employs many people and they have several different roles to perform. For example, in every call center, there are agents, supervisors, business analysts and managers. Here is a quick overview of their roles.

Roles of call center employees

Senior manager

The senior manager is responsible for establishing the vision and mission of the call center. The annual goals for the call center are set by the senior manager.

Call center manager

The call center manager works with the senior manager and formulates polices which help the call center accomplish its goals.

The call center manager also identifies the performance drivers that have a direct or indirect impact on the business goals of the call center. S/he is also entrusted with the duty of assigning key roles to other employees. Other duties of the call center manager include creating a culture which supports the call center mission.

Resource analyst            

The job of a resource analyst is to predict customer demand and identify the resources necessary to meet it.

Reporting analyst           

The reporting analyst is the person who provides statistical feedback on key performance drivers and business goals. They also have a responsibility to conduct analysis and identify ways to improve the performance and results of the call center.

Network analyst

They recommend the tools required to improve performance. They also have a responsibility to ensure that these tools work properly.

Agent performance team includes the recruiter, team leader, trainer, and quality analyst.

The agents are the people who handle customer contacts. The recruiter recruits agents. The trainer imparts the required training. The team leader shows the agents how they should perform. The quality analyst gives feedback.

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Improving the Quality of Call Monitoring

There is more to monitoring than finding problems and solving them. Call monitoring also involves identifying and showcasing positive messages. Today's contact centers are technologically sophisticated but sometimes a simple 'thank you' works better.

Gather data and use it properly

Every contact center should monitor call quality because it provides valuable insights into the performance of their advisors. By monitoring call quality, the contact center can set standards and provide required training.

Get the basics right

Small things like using appropriate phrases and greetings can make a big difference. Regular monitoring ensures that advisors get the small details right. Better still, by monitoring call quality regularly, the contact center can nip bad habits in the bud.

No need to install cutting edge technology

You don't necessarily have to invest in sophisticated monitoring tools. Simple manual checking may also provide valuable insights. Some monitoring is definitely better than having no monitoring at all.

Set realistic targets

When you achieve them, it will encourage you to set even higher targets.

Take your advisors into confidence

The contact center should be able to win the cooperation of employees from the early stage itself. When a contact center implements monitoring, many employees will assume that it is going to be critical. Consequently, they may resent it. On the other hand, if the existing monitoring system hasn't changed in several years, agents and advisors may start taking it for granted. Convince your employees that the goal of quality monitoring is not to kill their morale. Instead, it is a program designed to benefit both advisors and consumers.

Monitoring should be collaborative, not prescriptive.

This will encourage advisors to cooperate and accept the system. Advisors should know why the quality of their calls is important to the company. They will be able to deliver better performance if they know what the organization expects of them.

Provide feedback

Use a fair method to score and evaluate data obtained from the call monitoring process. Use the same standard all the time.

Once you have set milestones, you need to ensure that they are kept to. The contact center can deliver the feedback one-to-one or through group sessions. No matter what method is selected, individual members should be able to voice their opinions and concerns.

Provide skills training

This will definitely improve the performance of your advisors.

Have a competent team to assess quality

There should be a dedicated person to do the evaluation.  If the contact center is large, there should be a specialist team. You can't expect your supervisors to monitor quality. Their duty is to launch campaigns.

After identifying a person to handle monitoring, you should provide them with the resources, skills and training they need to efficiently carry out the appraisal. Call quality tends to improve when a monitoring system is implemented. That means, by investing more time and money into your monitoring, you can provide better service to your clients.

External benchmarking

You should also compare the performance of your contact center with your competition. If your contact center doesn't have a monitoring tool, you should consider outsourcing this to an external monitoring agency.

Reward best practice

You can improve the morale of your team by rewarding their work. For example, you can institute awards for advisors delivering exceptional performance.

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