Keeping your call center agents refreshed and motivated throughout the day is important. Call centers usually have a high turnover rate, and it’s easy for agents (or any employee for that matter) to peter out toward the end of the day. But with these techniques, you’ll be able to enhance call center agent performance in no time.
Here are 5 techniques that’ll help enhance call center agents performance:
1. Provide purposeful training.
Even if you think you have the best training program in the industry, an agent will only go as far as their learning curve will take them. It’s hard for employees to stay motivated and eager if they don’t have the training and skills to do so effectively. So providing an ongoing training program will keep them on their toes and force them to perform at their best every day.
Employees also perform better when there’s a change of pace. Cross-train your employees to handle functions outside of their day-to-day responsibilities. This will expand their skills and minds, ultimately enhancing their overall performance.
2. Develop a plan for downtime.
Regardless of the industry you’re in or the type of business you conduct, there’s bound to be some type of downtime. If your agents don’t have a structured (but not overly structured) plan for how to stay efficient during low-volume call times, their productivity and performance levels are going to drop. Instead, involve them in non-call related activities such as conducting outbound surveys, answering emails, or even decorating cubicles – something that lets them refocus but still stay on target.
3. Have defined KPIs in place.
The easiest way to motivate agents to step up their game is to put them in competition with themselves. To do so, you need to have defined KPIs put in place. From an agent standpoint, understanding exactly what is being measured and asked of them not only lends a lot of transparency but also drives them to outperform the metrics they had the previous week or month. To really drive better performance, you could even motivate your agents by making it a bit of a game or challenge.
4. Ask for their input.
What’s a better way to figure out how to enhance agent performance than to ask the source directly? Agents are amazingly resourceful at coming up with innovative (and cost-saving) ideas to make their jobs more efficient. Take advantage of off-peak hours to sit down with your team and brainstorm ways that could improve everyday tasks. Whether it be an effective use of low-volume time or implementing incentives, any ideas coming straight from the agents themselves are guaranteed to be ones that push them to perform better. Plus, asking employees for their input gives them a sense of pride and ownership that motivates them even more.
5. Give them the tools they need to succeed.
Agents are dealing with hundreds of calls and inquiries every single day. In order for them to keep up with the fast pace and consumer demands, they need to be supplied with tools that’ll set them up for success. This starts with recognizing the importance of the basics: working computers, headsets, telephones and software. From there, enhancing agent performance begins with enhancing your own tools.
Finding the right tools for your call center is important, and our safe, easy-to-use DirectDrop Voicemail technology is agent friendly and can quickly help them step up their game.
To learn more about how DirectDrop Voicemail can help enhance your agents’ performance, reach out to us here.