Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
How to Improve Call Center Performance
In business, as in life, it’s important to set goals and to have plans to achieve those goals. Along the way is a learning curve during which we work to improve, accept input from others, and assess our performance along the way. If done correctly, we reap the rewards for our good work.
Call centers need to keep all this in mind as they aim to improve their performance. In the call center arena this discipline is known as performance management.
“In a call center this can be achieved through software applications that combine dashboards, analytics, workflow and data integration, all of which make it easier for managers to set specific performance goals and communicate them to agents and other personnel,” Monet Software’s (News - Alert) Chuck Ciarlo wrote in a blog earlier this year.
As noted above, prioritizing key goals is the beginning of this journey. “For instance, average handle time might be an issue, but if too many calls are being abandoned because customers are hanging up before an agent greets them, that is the problem that should be addressed first,” he writes.
Deciding how to do that, and who will be responsible for this improvement, comes next. But, Ciarlo cautions, be sure to be realistic in laying out the goals and timelines on these fronts.
While identifying specific pain points is key to this whole exercise, so is adopting the right solutions to help establish best practices that are repeatable, he says.
“With goals and plans in place, identify the hurdles that stand in the way of consistent performance moving forward,” he adds. “Will additional training keep everyone on the right track? Would better forecasting and scheduling software improve the likelihood of success? Is it time to consider workforce management?”
Managers and agents should have a hand in helping to answer these questions, Ciarlo suggests. And call centers should continue to ask and answer such questions as their needs and requirements evolve over time.
Edited by Mandi Nowitz