6 letters, 1 word.
The go-to strategy for businesses to garner success.
If you get it right, it leads to progress.
What is it?
REVAMP. The word holds strong importance in business circles. No company can run from it. Sooner or later, they have to go down this route. Especially call centers.
With the advent of modern technology, call center operations have become more streamlined.
Thus they require capable agents that can service customers better and take the business to the next level.
And at this stage, the call center training program acquires all the more importance.
Your agents can only perform as per the requisite standards when they are empowered by the right guidance and feel overall satisfied.
This is the exact stage where many call center organizations go haywire. Remember contact center reps play an essential role in your attempts to provide customers with unique experiences.
So in today’s blog, we highlight why call center coaching leads to happier employees. In addition to this, we also discuss-
- Do I Need A Call Center Agent Coaching Program?
- Key Goals that Call Center Coaching Helps You Achieve
- How to Revamp your Call Center Coaching Methodology?
Do I Need A Call Center Agent Coaching Program?
Table of Contents
You might have hired the most talented employees, but hey…nobody is born a top-performing call center agent!
You have to guide your employees so that they convert more leads and abide by your company’s core values.
The guidance usually takes the shape of call center coaching. A call center training guide is a collection of modules that focuses on imbibing certain skills in your agents such as communication skills, technical skills, etc.
Depending on your requirement, you can opt for call center coaching models targeting a specific employee or the entire team.
Key Goals that Call Center Coaching Helps You Achieve
Call center behavioral coaching is crucial for boosting your employees’ productivity and customer satisfaction rates.
It also has the following benefits-
1. Improved Employee Productivity
If you observe the practices of top call center firms, more than 80% said that experience is a major aspect for them.
The experience game can only be won by investing in your agent’s growth. When they know that these call center coaching techniques are meant for their betterment,
they respond in a positive manner.
2. Pulling in the Top Talent
Most organizations are realizing the importance of call center coaching in reinvigorating their hiring endeavors.
Call center empathy training is a sign to prospective candidates that you pay due focus on their progress.
Moreover, once you hire a talented candidate, you’d have to invest less time and energy in their training.
They’d be an asset to your organization from day 1!!!
3. Transparency Between Managers and Agents
During a call center training program, managers would analyze performance metrics to understand which agents are performing and which are lagging behind.
This way, managers can initiate constructive feedback sessions with agents and put them for further training or coaching.
Call center feedback is a prime example of an opportunity to develop a trusting bond between managers and their teams.
Here’s How to Revamp your Call Center Coaching Methodology
You might already have a call center training program in place.
But so do your competitors. You have to ask yourself how your services differ from your competition and why customers should choose you.
We mention some methods in which you can tweak call center programs offered online and offline.
1. Provide Targeted Feedback to your Agents
A significant number of managers like to take on the ‘good cop, bad cop routine while giving feedback to agents.
The strategy doesn’t do much other than leave your agents confused about what your exact expectations are.
Hence it is advised that you maintain a positive tone throughout, even if you give harsh criticism. Make your agents feel that the coaching is intended to tide over their shortcomings.
Remember that your agents genuinely want to improve and only need motivation from your end. Dwell too much on the negatives and you might not achieve the desired results.
2. Go for Private Training Sessions
Although a call center coaching program is a regular phenomenon for agents, they’d still prefer it if you put them up for a private training session.
Nobody likes their shortcomings to be made a public affair; the same extends to your customer service reps.
If you make agents hear call recordings for training, make sure that the name of the agent involved in the call is not revealed.
However, it might be possible that a group training session makes more sense economically. In such a scenario, ensure a healthy and pro-discussion learning environment.
3. Make Use of Data
A feedback session without data to back your claims can be vague and confusing to your agents.
Where are they lacking? What were the exact instances in which the agents were not customers? These queries will remain unanswered if you have not conducted a proper analysis.
You’ll realize that feedback sessions can be empowered with technology. For example, AI-powered conversational intelligence platforms can elevate your analysis and obtain a powerful insight into each agent.
If your feedback is loaded with insights, agents can clearly understand how call center coaching modules would benefit them.
4. Simulate All Kinds of Customer Calls
A novel call center training idea can involve role-playing different customer interactions so that agents are ready for any situation.
You can simulate calls from an angry customer, an unresponsive customer, or the perfect customer, etc.
This way you don’t have to depend on theory to get your point across. The call center coaching sessions remain fresh and exciting for agents. As a result, agents complete their training well on time.
5. Provide Space for Agents to Give You Feedback
Agents are usually aware of the skills they lack and are up for improvements suggested by the management.
But what if they find some gaps in your coaching methodology? The importance of agent feedback can’t be sidelined!
As a manager, you are responsible for providing them with a safe space to discuss their review of your training program. Make sure that you make all feasible suggestions a part of the training.
You can motivate call center reps to assess their recorded calls and tell what they think was lacking.
Pro-tip- real progress can only be made when the desire and action come from the agents.
An organization’s call center coaching approach is only as strong as the call center software backing them.
Convin is one such tool that uses artificial intelligence to provide you with a deep analysis of all your agents’ performance. It empowers call center companies to serve each customer in an exceptional way and thus surpass the competition.
If you are also searching for a seamless call center coaching tool, why not reach out to us?
