Doing More with Less in the Contact Center

(Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles exploring key issues facing contact centers in 2010.)

As 2010 began, everyone hoped that the challenges of the past few years, largely driven by the economic downturn, were behind us. The reality is that the theme of 'doing more with less' is still present today. Over the past few years, many centers lost a large portion of their talent pool to cost cutting. At the same time, budgets are not back to previous levels.

Adding to the pressure, contact centers must perform at even higher levels today than in years' past to meet their objectives. Every dollar spent on a new initiative has to bring proven results. Organizations are still spending where it matters but they are making sure it has a proven ROI. The key to success and bringing out the best in your employees is to use coaching to reinforce and maximize your training.

Quick Takeaway

Five steps to creating a successfully entrenched coaching culture:

--Provide timely coaching within a reasonable time after the call.

--Focus on one specific, pivotal behavior to ensure the greatest impact.

--Offer constructive and focused feedback.

--Give the feedback consistently with dependable follow-up.

--Provide accountability by having a supervisor- someone whom the agent reports to - conduct the coaching.

Stay tuned for the next in the series: Challenging customers.