In our last article, we discussed the first four of the seven habits that make a call center manager highly effective.
To recap, we discussed the importance of talking to your agents regularly to keep an open line of communication and stay ahead of potential problems.
The importance of acting as a true leader and taking responsibility for your team’s success and jumping to the front during challenging times, different ways you can make your call center a great place to work, and, of course, how you should regularly jump into the trenches and show your team how it’s done.
This week, we are going to discuss the final 3 habits that will truly make you and your team stand out and allow you to succeed at high levels.
1. Keep Apprised of Evolving Technologies
Darwin spoke about the importance of adaptability in the world of evolution, and his statements are equally true in business.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve, if you want to beat out your competition, and win the game of business, then you must adapt and evolve with the times.
This means staying up to date and in the loop about evolving technologies.
Whether this means finding new and more efficient software that will streamline the processes at your call center or simply requiring regular maintenance of your current technology to keep your company running at full speed, staying on top of the technology in your office and your industry is an absolute imperative.
2. Review Workforce Management
Keeping tabs on staffing levels to properly balance workflow and meet call center demands is an essential activity of any call center manager.
Taking the time to make sure your call center is neither over-staffed nor understaffed can be a challenge and it’s difficult to predict how many agents are actually needed.
Explore alternatives to over-hiring including call back options for customers through automated call solutions like the ones we offer.
3. Focus on Agent Engagement and Retention
This is the biggest challenge for nearly all call center managers.
Call centers are a notoriously difficult and menial place to work and not only does that make them unattractive for potential employees, but it instills a negative stigma in the minds of most new workers.
It is essential that you learn how to keep your team actively engaged with the work that they are doing to ensure that they perform well and stay around.
This is more of an art than a science, but there are a couple of ways that you can really stand out as a manager and keep your employees happy (despite the notorious stigma your workplace might have).
The first is to keep tabs on what really matters… Results!
You should be very clear about what your priority is (number of calls, revenue, and customer service) and then keep your leadership congruent with that priority.
Next, be sure to reward successful agents and reward them regularly.
Do not fall prey to constantly changing their comp plan, instead be happy to reward them for a job well done