4 Call Center Tricks that Work Every Time

If only improving the performance of your call center was as easy as implementing a few “tricks”. The reality is that most companies look at the call center as a “cost center”, something that adds expense without generating revenue. Accordingly, call center managers are frequently told that they need do to “more with less”, making it increasingly difficult to improve the service they deliver. (You might as well pull a rabbit out of your hat for all of the good that does.)

The real trick, of course, is teaching executives the true importance of maximizing every opportunity to interact with customers, a function the call center performs day after day, call after call. But as they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

Here are 4 call center tricks that work every time, something that will help you improve the experience your call center can deliver:

1. Empower Your Agents

If you want to get the maximum performance from agents, empower them to make impactful decisions. Forcing them to a predetermined course of action, when they have the power to resolve a customer issue, is both demoralizing for the agent and frustrating for the customer.

Empowered agents are engaged employees. The net result is shorter handle times, improved first-call resolution rates and satisfied callers.

2. Prominently Display Call Stats

Another trick to positively motivating agents is to tap into their competitive nature, by allowing them access to real-time call statistics. (For example, by displaying stats on a wallboard.) Agents feel naturally rewarded when they’re able to positively affect change, something that improves morale.

When agents understand the impact they can have on customers, their productivity can increase significantly. In his book “Give and Take: A revolutionary Approach to Success“, Wharton management professor Dr. Adam Grant details an experiment where a group of agents were introduced to a scholarship recipient, who explained the positive impact they had made on his life. Within a month, the agents who had met the recipient had increased their weekly phone time by a whopping 142% and increased their fundraising efforts by 171%! By comparison, the other agents showed no change in performance.

Sharing customer outcomes with agents – success stories, positive experiences, etc. – can be a powerful motivational tool.

4. Offer Customers a Call-Back

Replacing hold-time with a call-back can significantly lower call abandon rates, while improving the experience for callers. But an added benefit is the effect it has on agents.

Customers who receive a call-back are happier, precisely because they’re not stuck waiting on the phone for an extended period. That translates into a more effective interaction with a call center agent, one that makes it easier for them to do their job.

Call-back solutions, like those offered by Fonolo, are a cost-effective way to improve the efficiency of any call center.