Call Center Management Featured Article
Coaching, Culture, Scheduling Are Key to Good Call Center Management
Call center management. It’s not rocket science. But it’s no walk in the park either.
It requires you to scheduling enough – but not too many – call center agents at any given time. But that doesn’t mean just any agents. You have to make sure you have the right people with the right skills at the right time.
And you need to strike a delicate balance between meeting key performance indicators and taking the time to train your agents and let them know you care about them and their concerns.
Doing all of the above, and building a team that can deliver the kind of customer experience you organization is going for, requires call center managers to rely on both nature and nurture in their selection of and interaction with agents.
On the nature side, managers will want to hire people with naturally good communication and listening skills. The ideal agent has a great memory, a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, and a desire to help.
Managers then need to nurture these individuals so they can survive and succeed in the contact center environment. Onboarding these newcomers is obviously the first step in making that happen. And perhaps the most important thing a call center manager can do during onboarding is explain that dealing with complaints and disgruntled customers is part of the job, and then offer detailed instruction on how agents can defuse such callers and then provide them with workable solutions. Such guidance ensures agents aren’t blind-sided but such events, helps provide customers with better outcomes, and can make like easier for call center managers by decreasing interactions with upset agents and lowering agent churn.
Of course, training should not stop after the onboarding process. Call center managers need to do ongoing coaching to offer agents reminders, suggestions on where they can improve, and recognition for what they’re doing right. Coaching keeps things from going off the rails and can keep employees more engaged.
Speaking of employee engagement, don’t forget to greet employees during each shift. Let them know you care and are interested in their input. Act on their input when it makes sense, and recognize their contribution when you do. Reward great work. And encourage a culture of teamwork and belonging.
Creating a great culture involves more than just an occasional pat on the back. Be sure to take care of the basics, like proper scheduling – so you have enough people that agents don’t feel overloaded. Consider expected call volumes, demand from non-phone channels, employee availability, skillsets, and lunch and other breaks in setting your schedules.
Edited by Maurice Nagle