Struggling with Call Center Management? Here’s How You Can Emerge a Winner.

If you have seen the popular sitcom Friends, you might recall the running gag where the gang is unaware of Chandler’s job throughout the show. 

Now transfer the settings of Friends to a call center. We are pretty sure that Chandler of this universe would most likely be in call center management. (Debateable much!?)

Simply because nobody seems to make an effort to acknowledge the humongous efforts required for workforce management in a call center. 

There might be 100 reasons for a call center operation to succeed, but there is only one reason for its failure–poor call center management system!

You might have noticed that your business is facing troubles in scaling beyond a point. There’s a high possibility that an ineffective call center solution is behind this. 

But worry not, today we will inform you about the top ways to ensure smooth call center management across your offices. 

These industry-tested tips can benefit new as well as old corporations. So let’s begin. In today’s blog, we will cover- 

• The Changing Face of Call Center Management in Modern Times
• The Secret Ingredients of a Great Contact Center Management Recipe 

1. Bringing the Right People on Board 
2. Make Agents Aware of KPIs Quickly
3. Don’t Forget Employee Satisfaction
4. Practice Open Communication with Employees
5. Make the Data Work for You
6. Follow Up With Customers-Especially Those Who Opted Out
7. Rewards for Rich Performance

The Changing Face of Call Center Management in Modern Times 

With rapid technological advances, the outlook around call center management training has changed. 

For modern-day organizations, it means having guidelines to check the call center's day-to-day running. 

An important aspect of this is ensuring there are no gaps in the outbound and inbound conversations between agents and customers. 

Call center management's best practices include ensuring employee satisfaction and empowering them with appropriate training and support. 

Call center performance management can also include the following- 

• Scheduling of customer service reps
• Analyzing recorded calls using call monitoring software 
• Devising a set call flow

The Secret Ingredients of a Great Contact Center Management Recipe 

Managing a call center can be really difficult. We are not saying this to demotivate you but to lay the facts in front of you.

The valuation of the call center business worldwide is expected to reach a whopping $500 billion by 2027. 

So you can gauge that call center management requires real hard work and perseverance. 

If your team is also targeting high profits and smooth operations, you need to remember the points mentioned below. 

1. Bringing the Right People on Board 

Let’s go all the way back to the fundamentals. 

What’s the most crucial part of your firm? Your customer service representatives!

You would do yourself a favor if you scout for personnel who are capable of holding a good conversation, are influencing, charming, confident, empathetic etc. 

All these are markers of an exceptional customer service agent. 

As a manager, you should invest significant time in hiring and get the best talent for your organization before your competitors take them away. 

Remember, you should not look to hire only those candidates that showcase all the requisite qualities. 

There is always a scope for training and coaching employees once they come onboard. 

2. Make Agents Aware of KPIs Quickly 

Now that you have hired the most suitable candidates, it is time to get them in the thick of things!

Onboarding is crucial for your employees to understand your business's core values. 

We’d also recommend that you take them to the battlefield and show how great agents provide a unique customer experience every time. 

You can start initial training about the skills required to convert potential leads. The training can involve familiarizing them with the call center software, making them listen to call recordings of top employees, conducting mock customer calls to judge their learning etc. 

Pro-tip, create a transparent environment where even the new joiners can provide feedback. Their fresh perspective can help to streamline business processes. 

3. Don’t Forget Employee Satisfaction

In a report, close to 96% of agents rank customer contentment as a crucial criteria for the success of call center operations. 

This staggering data leads to the question- the agents are enthusiastic but are call centers doing enough for their agents? 

Even if you hire the best talent, retaining them is the key. Over the years, call centers have particularly struggled to rein in the attrition rate. 

All because the focus has not been on going above and beyond to make employees a part of the team- emotionally and physically. 

Employee engagement is the need of the hour as it fosters a culture of transparency where the employee has clarity about your expectations and healthy ways to achieve those goals. 

4. Practice Open Communication with Employees

Another major criticism of call centers is the lack of cooling time for agents. An overworked agent eventually leads to a non-performing one. 

Hence handling scheduling becomes decisive for call center management. With this, employees can get a break from the grueling working hours. 

The move ensures that when they return to take up a customer grievance, they approach it with renowned vigor. 

As a manager, you are the best person to solve the ‘how to manage a call center’ conundrum. 

Have regular feedback sessions with your call agents, allowing them a safe space to be heard. You can also set new KPIs for them regularly, so their growth scale is clear to them. 

A wise person once said, “Most problems can be rectified by talking and hearing each other”. The saying comes forth, in its truest sense, in a call center. 

5. Make the Data Work for You

A contact center is bombarded with data daily. That data is made worthwhile by analyzing it for key metrics and then making decisions based on that analysis. 

Call center management systems and software go hand-in-hand. You can only drive business-friendly decisions when you shuffle through the data using efficient software. 

For example, you can use an AI-powered conversational intelligence platform to monitor your agent’s performance and understand where they fall short. 

You can then put them up for coaching or training to acquire the requisite skills. 

In a study, more than 55% of call center companies said they would invest in AI. 

Hence you can see that the data race is pretty cluttered, with competitors already possessing a head-start. 

The time is ripe for you to choose the best call monitoring software for your company and emerge a winner. 

6. Follow Up With Customers-Especially Those Who Opted Out

Most times, call centers are playing catch up when it comes to customer satisfaction. Counters measures are rolled out only when escalation happens. 

By that instant, many customers are demotivated to continue the conversation. Therefore, you lose out on business even before getting the opportunity to understand what was troubling your customers. 

This is a big red flag when it comes to call center management. 

If you aim to go ahead of your competitors, ask yourself how your services differ from them. 

Do you stop communicating with your customers once you have successfully assisted them or do you reach out to them regularly to know whether they need further help?

If the answer to these questions is no, you must rethink your call center workforce management tactics. 

As a manager, you should also focus on acquiring feedback from potential customers. They are the richest source for you to know your shortcomings and pain points. 

7. Rewards for Rich Performance 

By now, you might have understood the importance of call center agents for effective call center management. 

Call center operations can only reach the zenith when the agents are motivated enough to give their best. 

Thus, incentivizing them for a job well done would boost their morale and clear the standards of performance the bosses expect from them. 

This reward mechanism also solves a big headache- it satisfies the employee that they are making an impact at the workplace.

Often rewards can be seen as targets by other employees, and they would also be motivated to emulate top performers. 

You can offer multiple rewards ranging from vouchers, cash awards etc. 

Now you know all the valuable information about workforce management in a call center. 

The process is as critical to a call center as breathing to us humans. However, it isn’t as easy. 

The management protocols have to be followed so that business continuity can be maintained to the T. This can be especially tough for call center organizations as they might not be aware of customer perception or are their agents doing enough to provide a great experience? 

At Convin, we have the solutions for these and more such similar yet pertinent questions. Our conversational intelligence platform believes that the bond between the customer and your company should be based on trust and exceptional service. 

Visit us today and unlock unprecedented potential for your business!!!