We are all well aware of how crucial it is to keep the call center's customer experience positive, but what about the agent experience? Your call center's core is its agents. Your customers' experiences will change if you put effort into call center customer experience management. If keeping the customer satisfied is our ultimate goal, it is best to start internally before making external improvements. Enhancing the work your call center agent performance does to assist customers with their most frequent pain points will help generate consistently positive customer experiences. According to Esteban Kolsky's report, if a customer is not satisfied, 13% of them will tell 15 or even more people that they are unhappy. On the other hand, 72% of customers will share a positive experience with 6 or more people.
Although there are many factors to take into consideration when defining bad service. One of the most important is call center agent performance.
In the context of this, we'll focus on eight tried-and-true techniques for enhancing call center agent performance and satisfaction. These techniques can help raise productivity and guarantee that it will meet customers' expectations through customer experience management.
Related study: Tips for boosting call center productivity
More effective employees are those who are happier at their jobs. Is it true that the call center agents are happy? If not, what can you do to enhance their working environment, increase productivity, and ultimately improve your bottom line? We will help you to learn the 7 strategies you can use to improve your call center agent performance.
An internal manual with a list of written instructions is what makes a great SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). To ensure that your team can always refer to them and understand the steps they need to take to complete particular tasks, it is used to thoroughly describe all crucial processes.
Include everything you can think of, such as FAQs, contact information, processes for different scenarios, who to call when, the refund policy, and product features. You can group these into various sections and even include links to additional resources.
A well-written SOP is helpful for onboarding as well as helping your veteran agents refresh their knowledge.
With this SOP in place, agents will feel secure knowing that they always have a guide to refer to for every circumstance. As a result, the number of issues will be significantly reduced, and call center agent performance will improve.
Agents who establish an empathic connection with call recipients provide the best customer experiences. Your call center agent's ability to comprehend the customer's unique circumstances and feelings is crucial to this process. Exercises that help agents express this understanding through role-playing should be a part of call center agent training.
It's much simpler to keep agents motivated if you provide them with regular training and a variety of chances to expand their skill set and advance in their careers.
If you don't give your call center agents training, you might give them the impression that their work is meaningless and that there is no future for them. However, if you have a training plan in place, your customer experience levels and agent retention rates will probably both increase.
Think about setting up routine training that focuses on typical issues. To ensure that call center agents continue to improve their skills, for instance, talk to irate customers, handle refunds, different demographics, etc.
Consider the long term, even though it might require more time and resources. Education is always worthwhile. Since they feel a connection with your company's agents, customers are more likely to embrace brand loyalty.
Few things are as stressful for your call center agents as having to handle customer requests they can't solve on their own. When working with antiquated or complex IT systems and procedures, even the most motivated and effective agents are less productive.
Currently, call center agents must switch between 8 different apps each day. However, many call centers have made investments in intelligent, skill-based call routing technology. As a result, which automatically routes customers with particular issues to agents who have been trained to handle them. The right communications platform can make agents' jobs easier, more efficient, and more focused. This will reduce manual tasks and boost productivity.
What’s the right solution for you? Live a full omnichannel platform that helps companies worldwide grow their profitability by optimizing and automatizing their internal and external communication and processes. Also, enabling their customers to engage actively with their brand. Easy-to-use call center solutions that can be integrated with all of your other business tools will help you reduce frustration and improve information accessibility. Our call center platform will enable you to boost your call center agent performance.
Call recording is a common security measure used by call centers to guard against disputes and other security concerns. However, it's also a great way to enhance agent satisfaction.
Even though it's hard to imagine why any call center agent would feel better knowing that everything they say is being recorded, it actually helps them a lot.
Call recording can assist during training programs to make sure the agent knows exactly what to do when resolving an issue, in addition to giving them the peace of mind that they are protected against all disputes. Managers can identify the mistake and take corrective action to make sure it never occurs again.
There are multiple reasons for using the recording option:
Paying attention to what call center agents have to say is one of the simplest yet most efficient ways to make sure they are satisfied with their jobs. You can show each agent that they are more than just a number or a gear in the machine by keeping lines of communication open with them. This can fundamentally alter their perspective and address all problems.
When there is room for advancement, call center agents are more likely to be happy with their positions. Call center jobs may appear unchanging and routine if there is no room for advancement. Doing the same thing repeatedly without picking up a new skill or taking on a new task can quickly result in a dissatisfied agent. The agent may be more likely to look for something else rather than stay for the long run.
However, when developing your next business strategy, keep in mind that a call center agent who feels valued and respected will value and respect their agents more in return. Additionally, agents should be given clear career paths, so they have something to strive for and can look forward to.
Fostering a positive workplace for your agents is the first step in providing a first-rate customer experience. In every company and in every industry, including call centers, communication between agents and management is crucial. Without it, agents may quickly become unmotivated and dissatisfied at work.
Moreover, if your call center agents are not driven to use the technology effectively, having the best customer engagement technology available won't matter much. According to Forbes' report, 47% of CX executives say the most important change is to redesign the organization to focus on both high customer experience and high employee experience. On the other side, 89% of executives at companies that consider themselves revenue-growth leaders agree that better employee experience leads directly to better customer experience.
Greater job satisfaction makes call center agents not only happier but also much more likely to be productive and produce work of better quality.
You should try to accomplish the following in order to improve the experience of call center agents:
With the help of these procedures, your call center will develop into a place where agents can thrive and give customers the best experiences possible.
It is crucial to provide call center agents with feedback in order to create a positive workplace culture. Feedback will inspire them to work at their maximum potential, increase their knowledge, and advance in their careers. Also, can help businesses coach their agents to be more productive, knowledgeable, and better manage their subordinates or projects when given in the right way. According to Zippia statistics, 65% of agents desire more feedback.
Call center agents frequently feel disengaged from their work as a result of the lack of feedback. In addition, 98% of agents disengage from their work when they receive little or no feedback.
When managers pay attention to call center agent strengths, they are 30X more likely to have actively engaged agents. Feedback sessions can therefore definitely help to improve your call center agent performance.
Don't just call your agents and express your dissatisfaction with their performance, though. It's crucial to establish a two-way conversation. Also, provide your agents with a secure environment where they can express their satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
It's best to inform your call center agents in advance of a feedback session. So, they won't feel rushed and have time to gather some useful information.
For instance, before the feedback session, you could ask your agents to consider the following four questions:
Inform them that you will also prepare your responses to these four questions, and they can choose which of you should present your responses first and in what order.
Offering such a regular, unrestricted, and productive space will improve call center agent performance and morale.
Every interaction your customers have with call center agents should capture the mood for a fantastic customer experience. As you can see, an agent who performs well also enjoys themselves. Having the right technology to enter the flow state and being inspired and motivated by one's work is essential for call center agent performance exceptionally well.
Don't forget to create a pleasant workplace for your agents if you want to help them work more effectively. Giving your agents the tools they require to work more effectively can promote higher levels of job satisfaction. The right tools as well will raise agent happiness. Learn more about how Live's call center solution can make your call center a hub for generating customer loyalty.
Learn more about how the Live product family can help you support and improve your customer experience strategy.
