Contact centers are living organisms. They grow, fluctuate, and change. Most importantly, with the right team, they improve. Whether you're looking to add to your call center after a change or growth in your company, or even pushback from your customers, we've got you covered.
Below are a number of ways to improve your contact center. You can also visit our case studies page for data-driven information.
Who knows better how to improve your call center than the people who sit there for 8+ hours a day? Your workers are your greatest resource when it comes to improvements. And if you ask them, they'll tell you. Still, you should be sure to ask the right questions, including those about software, headsets, desks, comfort, decoration, noise, customer complaints, and more.
Customer happiness is the holy grail of the contact center. While most effective call centers have quality-assurance plans in place, many still randomly select from less than 2% of calls to check for quality. This tiny sampling is not likely to be an accurate representation of either your worst or best calls. And the only way to improve your center is to learn from the worst experiences and continually expand from the best. Using tools like data and speech analytics will help you identify trends and potential call issues.
If quality assurance is a big priority for your business, consider leveraging modern technology to begin scanning 100% of your calls. Thanks to modern advances in speech analytics, you can now do something you've never done before: monitor 100% of your calls. You can set up predefined modules, such as a predefined greeting, information verification, empathy tracking (incredible but true!) and proper closing procedures and techniques. Keep in mind that speech-tracking software isn't perfect yet and none have 100% accuracy. So when you're alerted to an improper greeting or close you need to look at numbers for that agent overall, and not just on that single call.
Quality assurance and client satisfaction aren't necessarily the same thing. It is possible to have a high quality-assurance score on a call with an agent but then a lower rating for the service provided (via a client survey)--and vice versa. So treat and handle the situation accordingly.
Quality assurance shouldn't be a punishment that your agents are afraid of. If that's what it has become for you (which happens often), reframing it in a way that takes the sting out will help your agents become less defensive and more participatory. This can be accomplished by involving them more in the process and creating a reward system for positive QA. So, ensure they are well aware of the evaluation process, and ask for their input on how to improve from your end, too.
Another great way to reframe quality assurance is to offer a self-evaluation process. By evaluating themselves, employees become more educated about and invested in the process. Yet another way to get agents involved in the process is to empower them to flag calls that they find challenging without a QA score, so that they can learn how to better deal with a call without fear of punishment.
For more tips on how to improve your contact center, continue to follow our blog —or contact us.
