Call Center Operations

Five Strategies You Can Do to Help Your New Call Center Agents Manage Their Average Handling Time

January 23, 2018 • EB Call Center • Call Center Operations

AHT (Average Handling Time) is one of the most important metrics in a call center. Simply put, a low AHT is one of the good signs that a call center is delivering great customer service.

That’s not in the least surprising. When customers call, they want solutions, and they want them fast.

Since it’s the goal of every call center organization to deliver a positive experience to customers, it only follows that you take the necessary steps to reduce the amount of time they spend on calls.

Here are proven strategies you can use to reduce average handling time in your contact center.

1. Strengthen your knowledge base

A strong knowledge base allows call center agents to pull up customer information and resolve issues with minimal effort.

When the knowledge base is optimized, agents can find relevant answers to even the toughest queries at their fingertips. This way, agents are able to close calls quickly, which in turn makes customers happy.

2. Record and analyze calls

A call center needs to have a system in place that records and analyzes calls. This makes it possible for you to identify which issues and questions are usually taking a long time to be resolved.

Once these issues are identified, you can come up with more efficient solutions to resolving them.

By training your agents to execute such solutions, average handling time can be reduced significantly.

3. Optimize call routing

One great way to reduce AHT is to optimize call routing. After all, a lot of time is wasted every time a caller is routed to the wrong department.

The best way to speed up your call center’s call routing system is to use a high-end automatic call distribution software (ACD).

When customers are always able to reach the agent qualified to handle their issues, it takes significantly less time to end a call.

4. Initiate call backs if necessary

Sometimes a customer will call in with an issue that is much too complex to be resolved immediately. Agents need to be able to identify such cases quickly since attempting to resolve the issue right then and there will only be a waste of time.

What agents can do instead is to initiate a call back at a time when answers and solutions to the customer’s issue are readily available.

5. Optimize the IVR system (Interactive Voice Response)

Recent studies show that more and more customers prefer self-service over having to speak with a customer service representative.

However, it can be frustrating to a caller when the IVR system eats up a lot of time promoting your brand’s wide range of products and services.

To optimize your IVR configuration effectively, you can start by structuring your IVR according to the customer’s perspective. Make your IVR scripts short and simple.

In addition, you can provide pre-recorded messages in a way where customers can help themselves better.

Final Word

While it’s crucial for every call center organization to reduce AHT to meet KPI targets, care should be taken to ensure that the quality of service is not compromised in any way

A call center organization has to manage AHT the right way and for the right reasons, and you can pull that off by employing the five strategies mentioned above.

Why Promoting from within is Good for Your Call Center Business

January 4, 2018 • Jimmy Rodela • Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Operations

The question of whether it’s preferable for organizations to prioritize internal hires over outsiders when filling a job vacancy has long been settled for years now.

And the general consensus is this: internal hires trump external hires almost every time.

What settled it was a 2012 study made by Wharton assistant professor Matthew Bidwell, who came out with these findings:

Internal hires perform much better on the job in the first few years following a promotion than outsiders who were recruited for the similar job.
External hires have higher exit rates than internal hires.
External candidates are offered higher salaries (up to 20 percent%) than internal hires.

All results point to the same conclusion: promoting those belonging to the existing employee base is far more recommendable than hiring from outside.

While there’s no study similar to Bidwell’s that exclusively applies to call center organizations, logic dictates that the same rule still applies.

Here are five reasons why call centers will do well to prioritize internal recruits over external candidates in their recruitment efforts.

1. It’s cost-effective

Call center organizations spend quite a hefty amount each year in recruiting new hires.

On top of paying for advertisements, the HR team also has to allocate expenses on pre-screenings and interviews before deciding to hire a new employee.

And don’t even get started on the training expenses. Do you know that the average call center spends nearly 2,000 dollars training each new recruit in a span of 4 weeks?

In fact, this Tenacity article has been kind enough to do the math for us.

Considering the high employee turnover rate in most call center organizations, there’s no question that prioritizing internal hires over outsiders is the more attractive route.

Besides, all the money expended on advertisements, screenings, training classes, etc. would be better spent on empowering your current employee base and boosting their morale.

2. Saves you time

As if the hiring process isn’t strenuous enough, the company also has to invest some time in orienting new employees to the company’s vision, values, technologies, and processes as soon as they are hired.

In addition, new recruits also have to go through a steep learning curve before they can get acclimated to their new environment.

In contrast, promoting an existing employee allows you to do away with all that. Considering the call center industry’s fast-paced environment, time is a luxury you don’t have.

3. Boosts productivity and morale

Rewarding productive employees with a promotion is an excellent way to foster a culture of loyalty, growth, and stability in the organization.

When employees feel that their hard work and dedication are rewarded by the company, they are more likely to feel more motivated to give it their best at work.

Moreover, unlike external recruits, existing employees are already familiar with the organization’s policies and procedures, and as such will be much more productive right from the get-go following a promotion.

4. Improves employee engagement

By promoting deserving employees, you are giving them a sense of growth and direction in their career within the organization.

This, in turn, motivates them to take ownership of their roles within the company and as a result, will give it their best efforts.

Conclusion:

While external hiring has its own merits (for example, new hires are more likely to bring new ideas to the company), studies and current sentiments show that internal hiring is far more preferable as a recruitment strategy.

When existing employees feel that they can count on the company to provide them career opportunities that they worked hard for, it gives everyone a better sense of stability.

Qualities to Look For in Hiring Supervisors to Lead Your Customer Service Representatives

December 19, 2017 • Jimmy Rodela • Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Operations

Agents deserve all the kudos for being on the frontline of call center operations. Without them, businesses won’t be able to maintain a good relationship with their clients.

That said, supervisors deserve equal merit for their significant contributions as well. They are, after all, the ones responsible for motivating and inspiring call center agents.

Being a call center supervisor is a difficult job. For one, the job title comes with many responsibilities.

Hire a supervisor that isn’t equal to the job and chances are your agents will feel unmotivated, directionless, and generally disillusioned about their work.

To bring home the point, a Gallup study shows that at least 75-percent of employee turnover can be traced to managerial influence.

If you want your business to thrive, you have to ensure that the supervisors you hire have the following key characteristics:

1. Has a strategic mindset

The call center industry’s business climate is dynamic, fast-paced, and at times unpredictable, and for operations to run smoothly, you will need supervisors who can think objectively amidst all the chaos.

As such, you need supervisors who have the emotional intelligence, the mental clarity, and the derring-do to make the right decisions for every business challenge.

To manage employees in a way that drives competitive advantage, supervisors have to take into account each agent’s unique personality and be able to bring out the best in them.

2. Personable

For a leader to be effective, he or she has to be personable and approachable. After all, the responsibility of motivating and inspiring agent falls on him or her.

This is why you need supervisors who can foster an environment where employees are encouraged to ask questions and voice out their opinions without fear of ridicule and judgment.

If you hire leaders who tend to intimidate others, your business will lose out on opportunities for coaching, mentoring, and positive reinforcement.

3. Ability to think outside the box

As mentioned earlier, the call center industry is unpredictable. Things may be running smoothly, but there will come a time when you have to prepare for the proverbial curveball.

A supervisor not only has to deal with the daily tasks of managing call center agents, but he also needs to solve problems when new or unlooked-for challenges arise.

The manager has the resources to act on unique challenges and opportunities that contact centers regularly face.

When you have supervisors who can think of creative solutions when the situation calls for it, employees are always put in the best position to make a difference themselves.

4. Good multi-tasker

Supervisors have a lot on their plate, and if you want your call center operations to run smoothly, you need to hire managers who can juggle many balls all at once.

A call center supervisor’s typical workday involves coaching agents, tracking performance metrics, answering escalated calls, reporting to account managers, and more.

If you hire supervisors who can handle all these tasks but are still able to keep things in proper order, the more likely you’ll be able to accomplish your company’s business goals come hell or high water.

What’s Next?

Every organization has to face its own unique set of challenges and therefore has to do business in ways that can deliver positive outcomes.

To accomplish this, you need people who can lead and bail your business out of tough situations. Better yet, you need people who can motivate and inspire.

5 Tips in Running Your Call Center to Make Your Company Stay on Top of the Game

November 14, 2017 • EB Call Center • Call Center Operations

Your company’s call center operations play a crucial part in your organization’s success.

After all, your contact center serves as your organization’s hub for interaction with customers.

Running a successful call center, however, is no easy feat. You have to pay close attention to every cog in the machine.

But it gets easier if you follow these four simple rules.

1. Foster a positive work environment

It’s been said too many times, but it bears repeating: happy employees are productive employees.

As a business owner, there are many steps you can take to keep call center agents happy and motivated.

Such steps include implementing a competitive incentive or rewards program, setting up comfortable workspaces, incentivizing performance milestones on the spot, just to name a few.

If call center agents can maintain a happy disposition in the workplace, they’ll be more driven to perform better at their jobs.

2. Invest in Advanced Call Center Software

Your call center may have the best agents, but if you don’t equip them the right tools with which to serve your clients, then don’t be surprised if most of them decide to jump ship.

Simply put, advanced call center tools and software are essential for executing and integrating the many functions of your contact center operations.

For one, they keep every component of the operations organized. Second, they allow your agents to pull up customer information much quicker.

In a nutshell, investing in the right software and tools allows your call center to run like a well-oiled machine with self-regulating components.

Your call center’s list of tools and software should cover many areas of your call center’s operations, including CRM, customer feedback, skills-based routing, call monitoring, data collection, and more.

3. Set up an effective feedback loop

Studies have proven time and again that a customer-centric approach to management is what delivers results.

As such, by setting up an efficient and reliable system that actively gathers customer feedback, you can get access to real-time data that give you valuable insights as to how you can serve clients better.

4. Foster Employee Engagement

For call center agents to perform consistently at a high level, they need to feel that their contributions are being valued by the company.

During team meetings, each agent should be provided opportunities to voice out their thoughts and opinions on how the service can be improved.

In addition, staff development sessions need to be implemented to give employees opportunities for self-improvement and professional growth.

5. Keep Learning

Running a successful business requires mental acuity, some business acumen, and a lot of common sense.

Most importantly, you have to constantly push yourself to learn more about the industry you’ve chosen.

You need to stay on top of ever-changing business trends, keep pace with new call center technology, read books, attend leadership development programs — the whole works.

Because when the business throws you a curve ball (and it will sooner or later), it’s your commitment to lifelong learning that will put you in a better position to stay on top of the game.

What’s Next?

The call center industry has taken great leaps in technology and processes over the years, but one thing remains the same: it’s ultimately the people that drive your business’s success.

It is this same guiding principle that has made Executive Boutique an industry leader over the years.

How to Train Your Newly Hired Customer Service Agents to be More Engaging

September 26, 2017 • Jimmy Rodela • Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Agent Retention, Call Center Agent Training, Call Center Operations, Customer Support

Whether you’re running a product or a service-based business, living up to your customers’ expectations is a must if you want to succeed.

What makes this tricky, however, is the fact that your customers aren’t just looking for a solution to their problems, they’re looking for quick solutions.

They want their problems solved the soonest and would often ask to speak with a skilled agent who can do this for them.

Of course, if your company can’t give them just that, then they won’t hesitate going to your competitors.

This tells the business owners that for them to outdo their competitors, they need to provide exceptional customer service.

How are you going to accomplish that, you might want to ask?

Well, you can start by training your newly hired customer service reps to be more engaging and interactive.

The following are several crucial ideas and tips on how you can help your customer representatives become more engaging, more confident and more effective!

1. Start with the basic induction and let them learn the Product.

Induction is the first step that helps a new employee familiarize with the product and services that you are offering. Make sure you give your newly hired customer service reps a thorough insight of the products that you are offering.

They should understand the product or service as their own. The first part of their training should revolve around products, services and solutions that they can offer.

2. Conduct scenario-based training sessions.

While you train the new reps, throw multiple scenarios at them. This will help in two ways. One, your reps will understand the kind of queries they may face. Two, it will help them think of multiple ways to provide a solution to the customer.

This is a good way to build a line of communication and boost their confidence.

3. Recognize their mistakes and acknowledge their effort.

It is essential to tell your employees where they are going wrong. Guide them with patience and be professional when you criticism them.

Another thing that you must do is to acknowledge the efforts that your employees are making. A small dose of encouragement can make your reps move mountains (not literally). It can certainly help them display more confidence while speaking with a customer.

4. Include quests and challenges in your program.

Challenges evoke productivity and creativity. Therefore, make sure you add quests and challenges to your training program.

Take them through online challenges or ask them to take an impromptu call with a customer. Such challenges can help your new hires learn quickly and perform better.

5. Assign mentors to new hires.

You can hit two birds with one arrow if you practice this. Assigning a mentor to a group of new hires will not just help in their training but also encourage your existing employees to perform better so as to grab the position of a mentor.

If your newly hired customer service rep is motivated to perform during the training session, they will be able to absorb the knowledge efficiently and excel while enrolled on-process.

Conclusion.

A well-trained and enthusiastic customer rep can help your business expand in ways you’d never imagine.

Always devote enough time in training them with new materials and they’ll most likely perform better with how to address your customer’s concerns.

4 Time-Tested Tips to Reduce Background Noise in a Contact Center

November 7, 2016 • Jimmy Rodela • Call Center Operations

One distractor that can hinder your employees from performing at their highest capabilities is noise. The OSHA reports that every year, twenty-two million workers are exposed to harmful noise. They also report that in the previous year, U.S. businesses paid over $1.5 million in penalties for failing to protect their workers from noise.

Although it’s unthinkable to put an exact number to the human toll of hearing loss, it is estimated that $242 million is spent yearly on workers’ compensation for hearing loss disability.

If your employees work in an open environment like a contact center, the noise comes from all different directions and in all shapes and volumes. How do you reduce background noise in a contact center? Listed below are a few time-tested tips to reduce noise drastically.

Train employees to keep their voices down

Perhaps one of the most efficient and obvious ways to reduce noise in a contact center is to train your staff to lower their voices. In coaching and training, be sure to iterate to your employees the importance of balancing their volume levels. Teaching your staff to speak at lower volumes that are respectful to other employees will drastically reduce noise levels in the contact center.

Install white noise machines

Installing white noise features such water machines and other features can help reduce unnecessary background noise often found in a contact center. Also, adding plants and other similar features such as fabric screens and putting artwork on walls contributes to fill voided space and lessen distracting noise.

Separate employees with partitions

Installing barriers to separate employee’s desks is a very efficient manner to reduce noise levels. The more separation that can be put between employees in a contact center, effectively creating more barriers for sound to cross, the more probability there are that employees will be less distracted by noise and will have an easier time focusing on their work.

Reduce staff density

The most efficient way to reduce contact center noise is to reduce staff density. The more agents are packed into small space of an office then naturally more noise will be created. The ideal scenario is to have about 120 square feet per employee. Giving agents more room to breathe makes the contact center a more relaxed and natural feeling environment, reducing employee stress levels and in turn reducing noise levels.

What’s Next?

Before moving forward to implement any of these tips, be sure to speak with your employees and collect their ideas on how to reduce noise levels in your company’s contact center. Your employees will often understand best where the sound comes from since they are present in the office throughout the day.

Lastly, if you know of any time-tested tips on how to reduce noise levels in a room, please share them whether they are new or old. Your contribution will help to create a better and more efficient working environment for all.

Improve Your Customer Support Operations Using These Tips

March 22, 2016 • Jimmy Rodela • Call Center Operations

Instead of looking at optimizing your customer support operations 10,000 feet above ground, you might want to tackle your endeavors one simple task at a time. As you can probably imagine, once you’ve gotten several small enough wins, your entire operations will end up becoming optimized.

So the game plan is, just focus on doing the next right thing. Once you do enough of these “right things”, you’ll be in a place where your customer support operations will run like clockwork.

What “right things” am I talking about, you might ask? Read one…

Regular Meetings and Q&As

This is a big one. Many customer service agents are relegated to the desk and computer for extended periods of time- not only is this boring, but it can result in lowered morale, which in turn affects performance. It’s important to have your employees interacting with each other and with you face-to-face.

Regular meetings are necessary to learn from your employees on the ground what customers are thinking, what they’re having problems with, and what you can be doing to improve.

Encourage Collaboration and Communication

Don’t try and keep your employees locked into single-desk cubicles. Open it up a bit- give them room to maneuver and space to breathe. No matter how good your customer support agents are, a single one might not know all the answers. Allowing your employees to work together and in groups not only has a positive impact on morale, it allows them to get help if they need it while helping your customers out.

In addition, open communication means that problems can be noted as soon as they begin and dealt with promptly. While regular meetings are great, a problem arising in the office can be more quickly fixed, on the spot, through the usage of good communication between employees.

Keep Morale High

You’ve seen morale mentioned a lot in this article, but let’s take a moment to talk about why it’s important. Low morale means that your employees aren’t engaged with your business and their jobs. People working in customer support need to be upbeat and engaged in order to be effective, so as to avoid making a poor impression on a customer that’s already frustrated and needs help.

Keeping morale high means that your employees are motivated, which encourages higher productivity.

Identify Employee Weaknesses

Unfortunately, your employees may not be suited for their jobs. Ask supervisors or coworkers about how various employees are doing, and take a look at performance statistics. Employees who are performing poorly should be evaluated. Ask them what’s hindering their performance, and what you could do to help them improve. Your customer support team is full of people with all kinds of different strengths and weaknesses- arrange them properly, and good things are sure to happen.

Closing

While there are certainly other strategies that you employ to optimize your customer support operations, the above tips I shared above are a good place to start.

To learn more about customer support, service and satisfaction, read our blog or contact us for a consultation.

EB Call Center Helps Calamity Victims

October 31, 2013 • EB Call Center • Call Center Operations

Executive Boutique Call Center, through its corporate social responsibility, has managed to donate over $1,500.00 worth of food, makeshift tents and other supplies to the victims of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that devastated Bohol and Cebu.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in making this Philippine call center effort possible.

How to Become a Green Establishment

May 23, 2012 • EB Call Center • Call Center Operations

These days, many Philippine call center offices and businesses are already eager to create environmentally sound and safe work places to make it better for the employees and the environment. There are just so many ways to become a green call center and it won’t even cost you extra. Here are a few tips on how to be one.

E-mail and instant messaging make interoffice communications quicker and easier than distributing paper memos. E-mail newsletter distribution means your customers or clients receive information about your business sooner. Instead of printing out e-mail messages, file them in Outlook or another e-mail system. File the attachments on your hard drive or on a shared drive. Convert an e-mailed invoice to a PDF. Print any documents only if absolutely necessary. Change all of your light bulbs to CFLs, LEDs, or other energy-saving alternative light bulb solutions. Turn off and unplug all computers and electronic devices after office hours; because even when these devices are turned off, they will continue to use electricity unless you unplug the power cord to keep them from charging all night.

Likewise, you should also unplug coffee machines and other appliances at the office when they are not in use so they don’t pull electricity all day. Reduce office trash as much as possible, and compost or recycle the rest. You may not consider commuting to be a part of your office’s environmental impact, but your transportation policies can make a large difference. Make walking or riding a bicycle an easier option by offering showers and private changing areas at your office. If inbound call center agents and outbound call center agents agree to walk, bike, or take public transportation to work, offer them a small bonus for encouragement. Use recycled products everywhere you can around the office. Reuse folders, boxes and all other office supplies for as long as possible before purchasing any new ones.

Going green at Philippine contact center can be very effective in demonstrating practical benefits of being environmentally friendly as well as saving business money.

Call Center in the Philippines: Green Office Tips

August 9, 2011 • EB Call Center • Call Center Operations

Many Philippine call centers talk about social responsibility but how many of them actually understand that? Unfortunately, when it comes to deciding profits and the environment, the last is often loses. But, despite this, a few call centers in the Philippines are proving that eco-friendliness and profitability do go hand in hand. Going green at the office can be very effective in demonstrating practical benefits of being environmentally friendly as well as saving business money.

Say it through e-mail.

E-mail and instant messaging make interoffice communications quicker and easier than distributing paper memos. E-mail newsletter distribution means your customers receive information about your business sooner. Your company can use social media similarly, by offering promo codes and discounts for mentioning tweets and other messages from your business.

Making paper cuts.

Print and copy on both sides of the paper whenever possible, and post instructions near the copy machine and printers to eliminate excuses. Or consider making this the default option on office equipment. Use a smaller font to print documents when possible. Reduce junk mail in a variety of ways.

Use it again.

In situations where maintaining your corporate image is not necessary, re-use envelopes. Cover your address with a mailing label, or buy specially designed labels that identify the envelope as “recycled.” This habit may even boost your image as a “green company”. When you receive packages, keep bubble wrap and other packing materials for re-use.

Think before you buy.

Ask inbound and telemarketing agents to bring in their own mugs instead of stocking the break room with styrofoam cups. Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible, and buy recycled printer ink. Bulk purchases can save your business money, but wasting supplies is never an efficient use of your company’s funds.