Call Center Metrics

Supervisors have very important roles to play in call centers. After all, they are the ones who have direct contact with the call center agents themselves.

It is but natural for any supervisor in the call center to evaluate his role and his performance at it from time to time. More importantly, this is needed so that the supervisor himself can determine how he can make his unit all the more productive in terms of performance. After all, it is the supervisor handling the call center agents firsthand. He is the one who has direct contact with the agents while they are taking calls on the floor. Thus, it would be better for the supervisor to do all that he can to inspire his unit to become more productive on the floor. Here are some tips that supervisors just might find handy.

The first tip is to double the pay. Of course, this is easier said than done. Salary increases, after all, would mean more expense on the part of the call center. However, if there are agents who do deserve salary increases, then it is the role of the supervisor to bring this to the attention of upper management. Turnover is significantly reduced this way, since your agents would become motivated and encouraged to perform better so that they can get the salary increases that they do deserve.

The second tip is to incorporate a more formal ambience on the floor. You just might notice how call centers do not really implement business wear for their agents on the floor. This is done so as not to put extra pressure on the agents who are already feeling very much pressured by the rigors of their jobs. However, studies show that the casual working atmosphere produces meager casual results as well. Thus, there just might be the need to implement a more formal atmosphere. Try implementing business-casual wear instead. This might give you more promising results from your unit.

The third tip is to incorporate scripts. Have your agents hold on to physical scripts and spiels. This is something that a lot of supervisors forego because they would rather have their agents memorize these scripts and spiels so that the flow of the call becomes more natural. You have to understand that these scripts and spiels make agents feel more in control of the call, which in turn would help them process their calls more efficiently. Thus, encourage your agents to have scripts on hand, if they do need them. Also, do not be limiting to the scripts at hand. There are more than a couple of ways to hit sales successfully here. Let your agents share the scripts and spiels that have translated into sales for them.

The fourth tip is to have your agents score themselves while you also score them. This process of participative evaluation actually encourages your reps to commit to self-improvement because they themselves are made to rank their performance in the calls they take. Who would want to score their own selves low, right? By letting them rank themselves, you would actually encourage them to perform better.

These are just some of the handy tips supervisors of call centers should keep in mind. By incorporating these tips, you just might better your performance as supervisor.

Managing employees of call center companies can be done successfully in many ways. Paying attention to little details and taking notes about the company will surely help.

A call center is a work environment wherein you will most likely see a lot of different personalities staying at the same place and working together toward the same goal. Lately, the trend of the business process outsourcing companies has been going offshore, more specifically towards countries like the Philippines, India, China, and others. This change does not really adjust or bridge the gap between the time differences of the eastern countries with the western ones. Philippines will always be twelve to sixteen hours ahead of the United States. This makes managing employees of call center companies such a Herculean task.

If the difference in time is that big, this means that call center employees who attend to their American customers will need to be available 24/7, or at least during daytime, American time. In short, call center employees off-shored will have to be awake at night to be able to serve their customers located at the other side of the world. If the stress level is high enough during regular working hours, imagine the stress level present when working a busy graveyard shift. It is unimaginable for those who have not been to the situation yet, but for the others who have worked in a call center, they completely understand how it feels.

The management who is aware of this situation should be able to act right away. They should look after their workers and come up with good solutions to lessen, if not completely deflate, the stress level that balloons each night’s shift. If this is left unattended, it will initiate mass resignations from employees not being able to survive their working conditions.

Letting your employees have fun and enjoy while they are at work can do wonders. It can lower attrition rate significantly. Organize fun schemes like incentives for those who are able to hit company targets. Give freebies, gift certificates, or the like. This helps shift your employees’ mindset from the stressful job they are doing to the fun things you are doing to your office.

Other than making your office a fun workplace, organizing company outings also help remove stress. Announce certain schedules of company outings and post them in strategic areas where it can be easily seen and read. Disseminate this information through email to make sure everybody is aware about your company-organized activities. Specify that the outings will happen if you accomplish certain company-wide goals and commitments with your clients. This allows you to hit two birds with one stone—the first stone being the employees staying in your call center, and the other stone, being able to fulfill your contract with your clients.

No matter how comprehensive your plans are to make your company a fun place to work with, there is no guarantee that you will completely eradicate the possibility of employees leaving your company. Managing employees of call center companies is no easy task; instead of sulking because of the not-so-successful plans you implemented, be happy and content that you were, at least, able to lessen your company’s attrition rate. Get yourself together and think of new schemes to better your plans in retaining employees.

The high turnover rate that call centers are experiencing is becoming more and more alarming. There is indeed a need to improve human resource management here.

It just cannot be denied how call centers experience high turnover rates. This is quite sad because as successful as the call industry is in terms of profit, the same thing cannot be said when it comes to employee retention. Thus, there is indeed a need for improvement in terms of human resource management in call centers. To do this effectively, you also need to consider the situation from the perspective of the call center representatives themselves. After all, they are the frontliners in this industry so their needs do have to be considered primarily.

You just cannot begin to imagine how stressful the job of a call center agent is. Before you become a regular at the position, you would have to undergo many training sessions. You have to take exams that would test more than just your regular English proficiency. These exams are also designed to determine your technical skills and logical skills, especially when it comes to resolving the problems or issues of the customers who call for assistance. This does not even include the adjustment of your biological clock when it comes to keeping up with shifting work schedules. These and more are the reasons behind call center agents becoming stressed and overworked, eventually leading to a large bulk of them leaving the industry for “greener” and “more comfortable” pastures. This is precisely why call center companies have to do all that it can to improve human resource management here.

Improve the hiring and testing processes of your HR department.

The wise decision is to begin with the hiring process. After all, this is the starting point in becoming a call center agent. The problem just might lie in the fact that the HR department is hiring all the wrong people to become call center agents, and this is the reason behind the high turnover rate. By improving the quality of your hiring and testing processes, you just might end up with the right people for the job.

Increase the training period.

Call centers are always in a rush to get their trainees on the floor, to take live calls. This is because there is an increasing need of live agents to handle the ever-growing number of customers and their issues. However, this does not mean that you should forego training because training is the very foundation of a successful call center agent. Thus, if there is a need to increase or lengthen the training period, then be prepared to d so. Also, with the training period lengthened, it would be easier to determine which of the trainees are indeed comfortable with their jobs.

Focus on employee morale.

Who does not respond to monetary rewards? Experience has shown that call center agents respond very positively to such rewards. You can actually use this to your advantage. By putting on, say, a friendly competition amongst your agents to reach a certain quota, you can offer monetary rewards for this. Recognition for one’s performance is also a must here. By recognizing the efforts of your call center agents and for the jobs well done, you would actually boost employee morale here.

These are just some of the things that you can keep in mind when you want to improve human resource management in call centers. By focusing on these methods, you just might have it in yourself to make your call center more stable.