Posted by Shannon Cherry on Thu, Aug 19, 2010 @ 07:53 AM
Coaching is one of the most widely acclaimed methods of moving the needle in the call center. Surprisingly, though, many organizations have so little information on how much, why or even the amount of coaching that is conducted in their call centers. In such a highly-measured culture where sometimes it seems as if every action is tracked, coaching is one of the last holdouts.
Call center executives should implement a coaching scorecard to measure performance of supervisors and their agents. Investigate the correlation between coaching activities and agent performance improvement. Specifically, formulate a plan to measure coaching impact, coaching volume, and coaching focus.
Read more tips on how to create an effective coaching scorecard here.
Once you've begun using a coaching scorecard, the next step is to improve your coaching process. Standardizing, automating,and optimizing agent idle time are key steps to refining the call center supervisor's job.
Adhering to automated standard coaching processes allows supervisors to manage 20% larger teams. Optimizing idle time in call volume enables agents and supervisors to focus on improving performance. Are you taking advantage of these best practices in your call center?
For more coaching tips for the call center, read the Seven Fundamental Plays from the Coaching Playbook.
Photo by heliomedeiros
Posted by Shannon Cherry on Mon, May 17, 2010 @ 01:27 PM
What's a telecom to do to keep up with an expanding product line, plan structure, and services to better serve customer's needs while also keeping call center agents up to speed? Sprint is meeting the challenge of a complex and ever-changing customer service environment for its expansive workforce and customer base.
Sprint needed a way to provide call center agents with accurate training and information on a continual basis without negatively impacting service levels to maintain its industry-leading pace of customer service improvements.
Since January 2010, Sprint agents and supervisors have completed thousands of hours of training. Agent productivity has dramatically improved, as well as critical measurements such as First Call Resolution and overall customer satisfaction. Supervisors can quickly identify and target performance deficiencies and send additional training to individual agents - as well as to specific groups - providing consistent, accurate information to agents on a global basis. Sprint's ability to train in such a way was enabled by the launch of Knowlagent's training product to Sprint's global workforce. This launch is one of the largest installations of call center on-demand talent management technology to date.
For more on Knowlagent's call center management software and its key new partnership with Sprint, be sure to check out our upcoming free webinar, 'How Sprint Resolves FCR Once and for All' to be presented from 2 to 3 p.m., ET, Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Attendees will learn how Sprint connects key drivers to service issues; links agent performance, development and FCR measurement; and manages a distributed workforce across a large number of vendors. Register now!
To hear Sprint's perspective, read their recent press release.
Image by sanberdoo.
Posted by Kerry Engle on Fri, Mar 12, 2010 @ 03:49 PM
Knowlagent recently conducted a survey to determine the areas where call centers will be focusing their improvements and investments in 2010.
The increase of these processes clearly demonstrates how enterprises plan to use the front lines of the call center to gain a competitive edge. Increased investment in technology, process improvements and training will be part of many call centers' 2010 strategic operational plans. Interestingly enough, the area where call centers are most likely to spend to meet their 2010 goals is technology. The technology budget, compared to 2009, is expected to grow in 2010 (according to 35 percent of survey respondents) or remain the same (48 percent).
Call centers are planning to invest in new technologies and/or upgrade their existing systems over the next 12 months in the following areas:
- IVR - 42 percent (especially medium and large call centers)
- Workforce management - 38 percent (especially small call centers)
- Quality monitoring - 45 percent (especially small and large call centers)
- Performance management - 34 percent (especially small and large call centers)
- eLearning - 28 percent (especially large call centers)
- Hiring assessments - 18 percent
- Analytics - 25 percent (especially small and large call centers)
Other tactics that call centers plan to use in 2010 to increase effectiveness and productivity within their operations include a mix of at-home agents, outsourcing, reducing headcount, increasing headcount and increasing self-service. While the survey did not report any across the board trends in the projected usage of these tactics, there did seem to be micro-trends based on the size of the call center.
At home agents: Nearly 41 percent of respondents (mostly large call centers) plan to use more at home agents in 2009, while 44 percent aren't planning to use at all.
Outsourcing: Nearly half of large call center respondents are planning to outsource more in 2010 (42 percent), while an overwhelming majority of small and medium centers don't plan to do it at all (70 percent and 68 percent, respectively).
Reducing headcount: A significant amount of respondents will scrap this tactic in 2010, as 38 percent have no plans to reduce headcount, 11 percent plan to make fewer reductions, 34 plan to change little from 2009 and 17 percent (mostly large call centers) plan to make more reductions.
Increasing headcount: Approximately 25 percent of survey respondents plan to increase headcount, while 30 percent plan to keep hiring at 2009 levels. Only 12 percent plan to do less hiring, and 34 percent of respondents said they were not planning to add to their current headcount at all.
Increasing self-service: Perhaps the most ubiquitous trend across all call center sizes, 71 percent of respondents plan to increase self-service in the year ahead.
The next 12 months will undoubtedly be a state of flux for most enterprises. The ability to improve customer service and satisfaction levels at a minimal investment will be instrumental in determining who will thrive.
Additional details can be found in this white paper:
The Post-Recession Call Center - The Focus, the Spend and the Opportunity
Posted by Kerry Engle on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 @ 12:48 PM
Most of the traditional methods used for managing agent performance in the call center just aren't working anymore for many organizations. The ongoing operational demands, combined with the budget and resource restraints of late have left many looking for a boost when it comes to developing and effectively communicating with their front line. Here are some of the hallmarks of true, performance-enhancing training that, if implemented, will boost your level of play and leave you well-positioned to succeed.
What is Performance-Enhancing Training?
Since changing behavior is the only way to achieve sustainable results, all of the following principles are geared to that end. These principles are illustrated below.
1. Frequent
Too often call center training is an infrequent occasion as opposed to a consistent, systemic part of the call center operation. In a recent survey by Knowlagent, almost 40 percent of call centers reported training agents between one and four times a year. Many centers provide agents with access to a learning management system or knowledge base with the hopes that agents will go get the information and knowledge they need. Considering the enormous pressures to meet service levels, it isn't hard to figure out why so much of what is scheduled doesn't occur and why agents don't often take the initiative to get the information they need before they need it. Yet dips in call volume occur when agents have little to do. The underutilized asset in this equation is this idle time between calls. Exploiting this "natural" occurrence to push training to the agent desktop during these small pockets of down time is the only way to ensure training for call center agents happens frequently.
2. Targeted
Even if training is provided frequently, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't provide maximum value. If the call center and the agent invest time in training, it should meet the needs of both. An agent does not want to be trained on something that isn't relevant to their needs, and the call center doesn't want to train an agent on an area at which he or she excels if there is another area that needs improving. Basing individualized call center agent training on performance meets the targeted criteria and provides the highest value.
3. Easy to Digest & Apply Immediately
Adult learning theory asserts that short learning interventions that can be immediately applied have the best chance at retention. This concept is clearly important in a fast-paced environment like the call center where the unplanned nature of calls gives agents less control over their day than most. A 15-minute learning break allows a short respite for some targeted information that is used on the next call for maximum reinforcement.
4. Measurably Impactful
One of the keys to success in any endeavor is measurement, and nowhere is a culture of measurement more prevalent than the call center. Giving all players a view to their performance, and an understanding of how they impact that performance through training, provides the measurement and guidance needed to underpin a successful performance improvement initiative at the individual call center agent level.
5. Consistent
Consistency has two applications in this context. The importance of regular communications cannot be overestimated in keeping call center agents informed and engaged. Additionally, the consistency of message in those communications and training is important. E-learning provides a conduit for regular communications and removes the possibility of different teams getting different messages or levels of information from supervisors, team members or even trainers.
Image by Dr. Stephen Dunn