We all know how important it is to provide a pleasant customer experience in the call center, but what about the agent experience? The cornerstone of business development is productivity. It’s all about cutting costs and offering the best service possible.
Humans aren’t machines. Increasing call center productivity by just pushing your agents harder will not yield the desired outcomes.
Customer support staff are being seen as disposable and replaceable, according to a recent outbreak of news pieces. Away and Everlane have been chastised for pushing their employees to the point of weariness.
If keeping customers happy is our ultimate aim, it’s probably preferable to start improving things within before looking to improve things externally. After all, contented agents who can function without limitation are 10 times more likely to provide excellent service to their consumers.
Customer experience with call centers
According to a recent research, 61% of customers said they ceased doing business with a company after a bad service experience. Though there are several aspects to examine when determining what constitutes poor service, call center agent performance is without a doubt one of the most important.
Customers dislike calling call centers for a reason: they have a reputation for long wait times, perplexing phone menus, repetitious explanations, and unsatisfying results. For agents, things aren’t much better. Agents usually cite irate clients, bad management, excessive call volumes, a lack of career growth, and obsolete systems as reasons for leaving a call center with a turnover rate of 30 percent to 45 percent. Despite these issues, contact centers continue to be an important part of every B2C company’s customer care and support strategy.
So, what if there was a method to improve both the customer and agent experience at a contact center? You may do so through call center optimization.
CALL CENTER EVALUATION CHECKLIST:
Before you start looking at call center best practices, you should first assess your current call center operations to see what’s working, what isn’t, and what your next steps should be. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy to assessing the health of your contact center. But you may start with the following questions:
- How many calls do our agents normally make to fix a customer’s issue?
- How long do clients usually have to wait on the phone before speaking with an agent?
- Do we constantly check in with customers after each engagement to see how satisfied they are?
- Is it because of or in spite of our present technology that our agents are able to assist customers?
- Do we presently provide self-service choices to our customers
- Are our consumers happy with their call center experience overall?
- Are our Agents content with their work environment as a whole?
In order to gain an accurate read on the issue, you can customize this list of questions as needed depending on your organization’s particular aims and objectives. Even if you believe your call center is operating successfully and efficiently, keep in mind that there is always space for improvement and that being current on the newest call center best practices and trends is still beneficial.
While technical advancements in the customer experience arena are constant, enhancing a call center’s operational component is rather simple. Here are some tried and true ways that are ready to use.
1. INCREASE AGENTS MOTIVATION:
Why do your agents perform so well? Why do people feel compelled to show up and perform well? If you answered “I’m not sure,” it’s time to think about how you encourage your workforce. Agents that are motivated to perform a good job and know what they want to achieve will be more productive.
· DECISION MAKING:
Involving employees in decision-making is key. Employees that were involved in the company’s decision-making process were more productive, according to a 2002 research by Wolf and Zwick. Consider polling your employees for suggestions on how to increase productivity, what they’d want to see more of in the workplace, and how to enhance the customer experience.
· MORE FREEDOM TO AGENTS:
Allow for additional flexibility. Agents with the authority to respond to clients’ demands in a variety of ways are more effective, responsive, and personable. They’re also incredibly determined to succeed.
· REWARDS AND INCENTIVES:
Agents fulfills targets and go above and beyond by using incentives such as cash bonuses or gift cards. Decide the actions you want to reward, what you’ll provide as a reward, and how extensively you’ll promote the program.
Combining several motivator tactics can assist increase agent productivity and keep your team focused on achieving your company’s objectives.
2. TRAIN AGENTS FOR EFFICIENCY:
There are several tried-and-true methods for making customer support calls go more smoothly. Allowing the client to lead the conversation, for example, can result in a 10-hour call that sets a new record. Hey, some consumers enjoy conversing.
However, nailing the first 30 seconds of a call may set the tone for the rest of the conversation. Customers will be less likely to rant and interrupt the discussion if the agent is confident, establishes himself as an expert, and shows empathy immediately.
Train your customer service representatives on how to utilize common call wrap-up phrases and rehearse common customer service conversations on a regular basis. Being able to successfully direct the conversation to a resolution might allow the agent to move on to the next client contact.
3. CALL CENTER PRODUCTIVITY METRICS:
Any goal must begin with a measurement of where you are now. A call center’s productivity may be measured using a variety of key performance measures.
- AVERAGE TIME IN QUEUE:
How long do clients have to wait to speak with a representative? This number should drop as your team gets more productive.
- FIRST CONTACT RESOLUTION:
How many client calls are handled on the first attempt? Even if it takes taking longer on the call, it’s considerably more beneficial to thoroughly answer the customer’s question the first time they call.
- OCCUPANCY RATE:
Average talk time is similar to average handling time in that it indicates how much time agents spend on the phone with consumers. The occupancy rate is calculated as a proportion of the overall shift of the agent. A high occupancy rate (80%) indicates that agents spend 80% of their time talking to clients and 20% of their time performing admin, holding meetings, or being otherwise busy.
The most essential thing is to keep track of your development. This will allow you to see if your productivity gains are having the desired effect.
4. REDUCE CALL CENTER AGENT TARGETS:
Maintaining a consistent squad can help you save money and time on training. It will also assist you in tracking productivity over time. Agents are less likely to leave if they work in a supportive setting.
Agents should be encouraged to take breaks throughout the day. Humans aren’t built to work nonstop for eight hours a day. Breaks will refresh your agent’s head and allow them to perform at their best.
Consider rotating your agents through different types of contact and duties. Agents will be able to expand their skill sets and become more involved in the whole client experience. These advantages will enhance the agent’s experience and give them a sense of accomplishment.
Agents will be more driven to deliver excellent customer service and will be less inclined to leave.
Agents may reveal more of their strengths by educating them to provide customer support across several channels, which you can use to fine-tune skill-based routing. It also enables your customer care staff to provide better service, resulting in improved customer satisfaction. As a result of all of these advantages, agents’ entire job experience, sense of fulfilment, and productivity improve.
Employees must feel appreciated and significant in a company in order to stay engaged and motivated to accomplish their tasks properly. Investing in your call center’s agents will help them perform consistently better and maintain their jobs. To maintain morale and productivity levels stable, start by applying some of these recommendations and considering the advantages of running a multichannel contact centre.
Use the above tips to boost your productivity while still providing excellent customer service and a positive agent experience.
Maximize productivity with RemoteDesk
Employees must feel appreciated and significant in a company in order to stay engaged and motivated to accomplish their tasks properly. Investing in your call center’s agents will help them perform consistently better and maintain their jobs. To maintain morale and productivity levels stable, start by applying some of these recommendations and considering the advantages of running a multichannel contact center.
Use the above tips to boost your productivity while still providing excellent customer service and a positive agent experience.
