So, how would you improve the productivity of the call center? It’s about engaging with your representatives, catering to customers’ queries, and creating a steadier workflow. Here are 7 ways that can enhance the productivity and the performance of your call center agents:
1. Concentrate on Customer Experience:
You do not want to increase efficiency at the expense of quality when it comes to your call center. Poor call handling does no one any good. To maximize output, you need to keep call quality high while optimizing performance.
To do this, you can use a scoring tool for customer interactions that record customer interactions on a scale based on metrics you select: accuracy, empathetic attitude, consumer appreciation, etc. The support and guidance will not only boost the call quality but also the efficiency which will help your call center to grow.
2. Motivate Your Staff:
The key to improving productivity is to actively engage your employees, according to a Gallup study. A lack of engagement or disengagement from work costs up to $7 trillion every year in lost productivity. When you engage your customer service agents, you make them feel more like a meaningful part of the process and call center team, motivating them to do a better job, which in turn results in a more productive team.
To inspire your reps, give them ways to take part in the business decisions. The goal is to foster an organizational culture of empowering agents to take an active interest in the success of the company. The best way to do this is by asking employees about their opinions, asking them to participate in the production control process. And having them participate in every aspect of the call center operation.
3. Offer Flexibility:
Sixty-four percent of global business leaders believe a flexible call center setup can also improve productivity.
Working Off-Site: 76% of employees say they are more productive when they are away from the office.
Working Alone: Almost 90% of workers say they are more creative when working remotely on their own.
Offering freedom to agents is the secret to flexibility. The more your agents feel like they have the confidence and authority to deal with consumers on their terms, their performance will improve. It will help you automate the process of managing the call center, bolster productivity, and encourage agent participation.
4. Focus on Customer Interaction:
Few things can undermine the performance of call centers faster than flawed processes. Rather, you should ensure that when customers call and chat with your call center you need to address their concerns on a priority basis. The best teams and agents should be assigned to customers who are capable of assisting them and solving their problems without any delay.
5. Connect Your Agents:
The McKinsey Global Institute study found that connecting with employees can boost productivity by 30% or more. Agent performance depends heavily on the environment. Having the right support in place for your agents to succeed will make them more competent.
6. Hire the Right Agents:
Talented employees are up to 80% better performers than the typical employee. Several studies have found that an effective orientation process raises employee morale by as much as 70%.
The truth is that recruiting new talent takes time and has an impact on the success of call centers. Instead, you should emphasize picking the most qualified agents from the get-go and providing them with proper training. In this way, you save money, engage employees better, and ensure everyone is operating at full capacity at all times.
7. Distraction-Free Environment:
Distractions are a major cause of productivity declines. It takes 25 minutes for you to get back on course once you get distracted.
It does not mean, however, that you should not let your agents take time off. A few minutes of rest can reduce stress among agents, making them more efficient. The key is to schedule brief timeouts periodically and to stop wasting time on time-wasting activities that do nothing to reduce stress.
Last Thought:
Just make sure that your metrics are associated with your business objectives while being in line with performance and quality. By doing so, you assure that what you’re regulating and measuring has a direct correlation with your performance.
