Call Center Management Tips to Boost Your Competitiveness

Running a call center comes with significant rewards, including good pay and fast career growth. It’s also one of the most demanding jobs.

For one, agent recruitment and retention have become a massive problem for most call centers. According to a recent study by Cornell University, call centers have an employee attrition rate of 33%. Secondly, customer expectations are changing, thanks to technology.

Above all, today’s call centers are more exposed to criticism. These issues have put a significant strain on call center managers.

The following are five call center management tips employers can implement today to boost profitability, growth, and general competitiveness.

Here are five ways to improve call center management:

Hire the best to be the best

People make the organization. Your recruitment and hiring processes will determine whether your company is successful or not.

You need to understand that retaining is better than recruiting. It takes time for you to replace an employee, and even more to replace a good one. So, you need to try your best to retain your best talent.

Eventually, you’ll need to bring in new people, though, whether for expansion or to replace outgoing personnel. Ensure you’re getting applications from the right candidates by making the job description as transparent as possible. If possible, use a recruitment agency.

Invest significantly in on-boarding

Onboarding is “the process by which new employees acquire the skills, knowledge, and behaviors necessary to become effective members of a specific organization.”

The first step in the onboarding process, therefore, is proper training. A great call center employee training program seeks to explain how specific tasks are done, help trainees master the organization’s processes, and accelerate learning through on-the-job first-hand experiences.

The rest of the onboarding process should involve tool familiarity, learning about key products and services, and honing the new hire’s problem-solving skills. Interactive games, contests, and role-playing are all excellent tools for this phase.

Create the right work environment for proper call center management

The “right” environment may mean different things to different people. In call center management, it usually includes four key features – motivation, engagement, employee-friendliness, and a customer-centric approach.

Motivation and engagement often go hand in hand. A workforce that’s motivated is likely to be more engaged. Setting smart goals, offering rewards, and accepting feedback are some ideas that will increase both motivation and engagement.

Employee-friendliness and customer-centeredness – require even greater effort. Employee-friendliness can only be achieved by significantly investing in employee wellbeing. Customer centeredness, meanwhile, comes from your organizational culture.

Leverage technology to boost operations

New call center technologies increase efficiency, boost talent retention, support revenue growth, and create a modern, more-appealing work environment.

There are multiple technologies to consider, including cognitive assistants, data analytics, machine learning, and predictive intelligence. However, two that have had the biggest impact on call center management are customer relationship management (CRM) software and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI).

CRM solutions, as the name suggests, help with contact management. They are excellent at contact tracking. CTI, meanwhile, allows phone systems and computers to communicate seamlessly, which can massively boost operational efficiency.

Define success and measure KPIs in Call Center Management

Defining success means setting your goals. It involves creating a list of your challenges and brainstorming the “whys” and “how’s” to solve the identified problems.

To determine whether you’re hitting those goals and objectives, you’ll need to establish key performance indicators (KPIs). Some vital KPIs in call center management include occupancy rate (how busy your agents are at work), service level (the percentage of calls answered), and first-call resolution (proportion of calls where the agent fully addresses the caller’s needs).

High performance in these KPIs is usually an indicator that your call center is going in the right direction.

Contact PrideStaff Fort Lauderdale for Call Center Hiring Needs

PrideStaff is a leading employment agency in Fort Lauderdale. We specialize in call center, administrative, and clerical staffing. Our team is skilled in finding and vetting new call center agents to increase your agency’s success and client communication. Contact us today to schedule a no-cost consultation for call center staffing in Fort Lauderdale.