Hold regular training essions for all agents

The first thing to make sure you have in your plan is regular formal group training sessions for employees, somewhere between once a month and once a quarter.

These are your chance to bring together everyone and keep them in the loop on new policies and procedures, safety programs, software, hardware, etc. They can also be used to provide regular, customized training from an outside company.

Incorporate storytelling into your contact center training

Who doesn’t like a good story?

Stories are more engaging, but stories also enhance learning and help us retain information better.

But storytelling is more than that; it’s what makes us human. The power to imagine, to tell stories, and by doing so, to transmit information and work together across natural boundaries of all types. Using real examples, you can identify potential problems and allow employees to conclude how to solve issues quickly and effectively. Telling a story is the only way to activate the parts of your brain that can pair the information with the listener’s own experiences and ideas. An account is how we transfer data

Use technology to monitor agent efficiency and performance

Many contemporary call center software monitors agents’ performance and helps to identify problem areas and time wasters.

The most effective way to do this is to set up each employee with their own ‘Performance Dashboard,’ to see their numbers and one for the managers.

Use incentives and gamification

Interested in a reward for a job well done? Very few people argue with the logic of workplace incentives. Small gifts and public praise motivate employees to work smarter, not harder.

Incentives create a positive atmosphere, increase productivity, and discourage absenteeism because people like to feel good about what they do. Add a few gamification elements, and your call center will be singing.

We’d suggest incorporating various incentive levels, including public ‘shout-outs’ for excellent jobs with customers, ‘High-Five’ peer-to-peer recognition for helping out or doing a good job, quarterly performance target individual and team prizes, and employment anniversary gifts.