Your business calling agents are the front-line customer service providers. Dealing with high-volume calls from customers regularly is no joke. The call center agents have a huge responsibility on their shoulders and are more likely to be burnt out most of the time. Thus call centers have the responsibility to give an extra dose of motivation to their agents. Motivate call center agents using the following 5 quick tips:
Smart goals
Every business sets goals on a yearly/quarterly/monthly and even weekly basis. Similarly, if you want to motivate your call center agents you need to have a set of SMART goals too. Why? An ambitious yet achievable set of goals motivates the agents to give their best and at the same time, it doesn’t exhaust them. It must have popped to your mind that why does your call center need SMART goals and how will it motivate call center agents. Smart goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound goals. The definition of these goals will further clear your doubts.
SPECIFIC
Give your agents quantitative goals to achieve instead of just saying “I expect more calls/customer. Lay down a real number that they need to achieve within a given practical deadline. Be ‘specific’ about what you expect from them and for that you need to have answers to the following questions:
- Who is involved/whose responsibility it is?
- What do they need to achieve?
- By when do they need to accomplish the task?
- What are the constraints that might hamper the task?
- WHY, do you need to achieve the goal?
- What will be the consequence of the accomplishment of the task?
- How will these goals help in improving the performance of your call center?
MEASURABLE
Set criteria for measuring the work done towards your goals. Measuring the process is important because it helps you stay on the right path. The goals become more achievable when you can see the progress you have made so far. Furthermore, it would be easier to figure out what changes you need to make in your implementation to achieve the goals faster. By measuring your progress you will be able to make a distinction between the strategies that are working for you and the ones that are not.
ATTAINABLE
When you set a goal for your call center you need to analyze how attainable it is. You have identified your goal and what you will achieve from it. It is now time to see how much effort it will require to achieve the goal. Look at the workload of your agents and make sure that these goals do not hinder your other projects.
REALISTIC
There is no harm in going big when it comes to your goals. But taking small steps will be an easier as well as a faster process. Set realistic and practical goals that do not overwhelm your agents.
TIMELY
No goal could be achieved without a detailed time frame. Thus, make a schedule for all the goals that you aim to achieve.
Try to curate your goals in a manner that they also help your agents achieve their personal goals. 91% of businesses have their goals linked to the individual goals, guessing why? An agent will work more efficiently when their work goal is congruent with their individual goals. The result will be beneficial to both the agent and your call center’s performance.
Positive working environment
The environment one works in affects one’s productivity as well. To motivate your call center agents try to keep them happy, it will act as reinforcement at the workplace for them. Studies have shown that happiness around them increases their productivity by 12%. One tends to work better when one is encouraged to make decisions and take up new initiatives. The positivity at the workplace also makes one more creative and efficient.
To build a positive work environment, invest in your employees. Have a clean place set up for them with all the necessary office supplies one can ask for. Investing in basic amenities is an underrated act however, it should not be ignored under any circumstance as this is the surrounding an agent has to work in for hours. Do not hold back from making a separate area for your agents to relax and take small breaks from work. Furthermore, be a little more understanding towards your employees and sensitive towards their situations (if any). It is these small actions and efforts that would be enough to build a healthy, optimistic, and motivating positive environment for your agents.
Right technology
Investing in your employees does not only mean giving them a good place to work but also the right equipment they need to work efficiently and attain goals. Nothing acts as a buzzkill for an agent’s motivation than do drudgery with outdated technology. Especially, in the case of a call center, it is important that the updated and advanced technology is leveraged. As you must know, call centers need to deal with a few thousand callers every single day and sometimes even more. You cannot take any risks if you want to keep your agents dedicated to the tiresome work and also keep your customers happy.
Cloud telephony is the technology that you need for your call centers. It will not only motivate your agents by being their support system throughout but will also give a satisfactory calling experience to the customers. The following are the few benefits of cloud telephony that will not only motivate your agents but also upgrade your call center’s performance:
- It is hosted on the cloud thus, you do not need any physical set-up for it. It means you can switch to having a remote call center software and can save infrastructural costs as well.
- Your data will be safe and secure at all times on the cloud and you can access it anytime anywhere.
- It is a highly customizable technology that can be updated whenever there is a new technological advancement.
- Your agents will not have to worry about manually routing calls, as the IVR system will take care of that.
- Your agents will now be able to dedicate their full attention to the callers as the manual tasks will be off of their plate.
- You can also set-up a cloud calling software.
- Toll-free numbers for business allow customers to reach out to your call center without incurring any charges,
Open communication with regular feedback sessions
A sincere feedback session is a real motivation for call center agents. When they will get to put their piece forward without hesitation they will feel more respected and will gain faith in their company. Also, an open communication session will let you know what are the hurdles being faced by your employees. You can then eradicate them and make their path clear for effective work. An employee wants nothing more than being respected and heard in their organization. Thus all the steps that you will take for your agents will eventually, motivate call center agents.
Give rewards and incentives
Verbal appreciation is one thing but nothing can come at par with the motivation that rewards and incentives drive. By rewarding your call center agents and offering them incentives you make them believe that you have faith in their capabilities. This instills confidence and motivation in them to make utilize their potential.
Working constantly can drain anyone’s motivation. Your agents are your valuable assets, they are working and making your call center a success. All you have to do is be considerate along the way and keep giving them extra motivation side by side. A small act of generosity and a little understanding in the workplace helps in building a positive and motivating work environment.
