Every day, contact center managers work to ensure high call quality. So what the associates say on the other end of the line can be a real source of stress. Will they maintain a high level of professionalism and customer satisfaction?
The most important part of supporting a contact center staff is the daily update. Those morning huddles, printed FAQs, or email reminders are integral to maintaining continuity within the calls.
Associates also benefit from a clear strategy for trouble calls. Rehearsing what to do when trigger words are spoken or calls escalate increases the likelihood of those important calls being passed up to a supervisor appropriately.
There are still more ways a manager can take action to ensure his representatives are doing well.
It isn’t fun to work the night shift, holidays, or weekends. But good contact center managers know the importance of being on the floor during high volume times. When representatives are waving for information or standing to pass up a troubled call, they need to see management coming to take control.
This increases employee morale, as representatives know they can count on support when they need it. And the more management is on the floor hearing the questions and offering help, the more in-tune they will be to the needs of the contact center as a whole.
Beginning in training and continuing through each daily huddle, representatives should be presented with the ideal call strategy and how to accomplish those goals. They need a play book with updated plays for each new scenario as it comes up.
But representatives also need – and need to be reminded of – the consequences of not following proper procedure. By staying consistent in administrating the disciplinary protocol, management gives security to the staff. They know what to expect and what is expected of them.
That means that management cannot leave call monitoring to Quality Assurance, either. To remain familiar with the level of care each call is receiving, it is imperative that managers listen in regularly, at a minimum of one or two calls per week for each representative. Managers can even set up a spreadsheet to track the week’s monitoring and results.
Representatives should welcome this regular monitoring. High performing reps will be happy to have management hear them doing good work; this is a great defense against complaints against them, as they will have a track record of proper adherence to point to. And of course, managers can catch misinformation or improper procedures before they become a greater problem.
These examples from monitoring make great ideas for daily huddles. Managers can recognize individuals for exceptional service during the past day’s work and bring any known issues to the team’s attention.
Managers will always experience stress around call quality. But with proper monitoring, personal availability, provided information, and procedural discipline, they can rest assured the representatives have what it takes to be successful.
KOVA offers superior solutions that make call monitoring easy and effective. Contact us today for information on how our Audiolog software can help your contact center.
