The success of your call center largely depends on how productive your employees are. So regularly comparing your team’s productivity against call center productivity benchmarks in your demographic is a must-do activity to grow your call center business. Doing so can help you understand where your call center stands productivity-wise.
If your call center team is doing poorly and you want to improve its productivity, this guide can nudge you in the right direction. Before we dive into it, let’s briefly discuss how you can measure your team’s productivity.
As Peter Drucker said, If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.
How to Measure Call Center Productivity
Setting appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) and measuring the productivity metrics against those set targets is an excellent way to know how your call center is performing.
Following are some essential metrics you can decide to measure in your call center:
1. Average Handle Time (AHT)
Average Handle Time is the time taken by an agent from picking up a call to disconnecting it. It can be sometimes tricky to determine the ideal AHT in your call center as AHT can neither be too long nor too short.
2. After Call Work (ACW) Time
After Call Work Time is the time that an agent takes to fill in the info and notes after an interaction ends. For a productive call center, ACW Time must be low.
3. Abandon Call Rate (ACR)
Abandon Call Rate indicates the percentage of callers who hang up before connecting to an agent. A high ACR can mean an inefficient scheduling and delegation system.
4. First Call Resolution (FCR)
First Call Resolution is the number of times agents could solve the customers’ querries within the first interaction. FCR can be a reliable metric to measure how effective your agents are.
5. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Customer Satisfaction can reveal the strengths as well as the shortcomings of your agents. CSAT score shows the quality of work done by your call center employees.
Ways to Improve Productivity in Call Centre
Now that you have an idea about how to measure your employees’ productivity, let’s explore proven ways to improve their performances.
1. Develop Multichannel Agents
Agents proficient in handling multiple customer service channels can easily connect customer info from different touchpoints. They can switch their tasks efficiently, thus, reducing the average idle time considerably.
So the productivity of your call center is directly connected to how skilled the agents are. By training agents for multichannel interactions, you help them resolve customer inquiries better and faster.
Multichannel agents can enjoy a diversified work schedule. So they have a sense of fulfillment from the job and are less prone to work fatigue. Consequently, they can deliver better and high-quality service.
Here’s how you can nurture multichannel agents:
- Integrate all service channels
- Track the journey of customers
- Determine the most popular channels
- Provide your agents with tech traning if they need
- Make customer details readily available
- Giveyour call center agents some autonomy
2. Leverage the Power of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can empower your call center employees to become more productive. You can automate many tasks with the help of AI tools. Doing so will leave your agents with more time to focus on customer queries.
AI tools, of course, can’t skyrocket your productivity. They, however, can improve the workflow and streamline different processes in your call center. AI can also help in decision-making by providing in-depth analytics on the quality of interaction, customer experience, and more.
AI tools can help improve First Call Resolution and Customer Satisfaction. They can route queries to agents who can best handle an issue.
Here are a few ways to leverage the power of AI:
- Integrate support channels with CRM
- Set up predictive routing system
- Enable assistive suggestions
- Create flexible and accessible scripts
- Answer routine customer queries
3. Improve Customer Self-service
Many customers need answers to a similar types of questions. And it can eat much of the valuable time of your call center agents. So, with a proper self-service strategy in place, your call center can serve more customers without putting an extra burden on agents.
Also, customers can get answers to fundamental problems without waiting for an agent. It significantly reduces Average Wait Time and improves CSAT.
Customer self-service options can also reduce the agents’ workload. As a result, your agents will have more time tackle complex issues.
Here are things you can do to improve customer self-service:
- Identify frequently asked questions
- Create helpful articles and video tutorials
- Integrate help content with a self-service system
- Set up IVR and call-back facilities
- Install chatbots for automated solutions
4. Reduce Repetitive Tasks
Call center agents have tons of repetitive tasks in their daily schedule. Such repetitions can make their day mundane. Whether it’s about updating the log, making call notes or sending email updates, repetitive tasks can lower your team’s productivity.
By automating repetitive tasks or parts of them, you can reduce the time your agents spend on non-productive work. As a result, they can pay attention to more demanding tasks.
Following are a few tips to reduce the number of repetitive tasks:
- Schedule to fill idle time gaps
- Manage the call center workflow
- Automate routine sales tasks
- Set up AI-based agent assistance
- Take customer feedback automatically
5- Train Agents to Upskill
The call center industry is continuously changing. Customer expectations are evolving. So your agents need to be updated with the changing landscape.
Even if you provide state-of-the-art tools, agents need proper training off and on to get the best out of the tech. Regular upskilling keeps them informed and they will be able to deliver better results.
They also need refreshers on basic skills. In an environment with so much stress and anxiety, agents are bound to lose their empathy sometimes. Regular training makes them more efficient in guiding customer conversations and providing resolutions. It helps them become agile and adaptable to new environments.
Here are a few ways to train agents:
- Organize sessions to develop soft skills
- Give them access to online learning
- Roleplay common customer calls
- Train on effective call wrap-up phrases
- Provide tools they need to succeed
- Encoruage them to participate in online workshops and seminars
6. Make Good Use of Idle Time
Idle time can pile up real soon, taking off a significant chunk of the working hours. While idle time can’t be eliminated, it can be used for productive tasks.
Putting the idle time slots to creative use can prevent agent burnout and improve their productivity. It isn’t about adding more tasks to the existing schedule. It’s more about reorganizing the tasks and making better use of the available time.
A creative reorganization of the time slots also helps in team building when you couple it with engaging, skill-enhancing activities. Agents get to do more within their working hours, which gives them a sense of accomplishment.
Here are a few things to best use the idle time:
- Break down large projects into micro tasks
- Allow short breaks for coffee and snacks
- Share quick-read articles and stories
- Provide micro-learning opportunities
- Encourage knowledge-sharing and collaboration
7. Create a Community Knowledge Base
Creating a knowledge base is the best way to encourage participation and improve productivity. Engaged and satisfied agents undertake tasks as if their own and feel valued.
Experienced agents can add helpful articles and best tips to the knowledge base. Then, those in need can search the knowledge base quickly and understand the tasks and processes.
Agents can find the best practices of others and share their own. From reduction in Call Handle Time to improvement in First Call Resolution, a knowledge base can be helpful in varied ways. Everyone can benefit from everyone’s experience.
Some of the ways to create a knowledge base are:
- Share tutorials to complex processes
- Write about solving specific issues
- Document problem-solving approach
- Give tips about communication and other skills
- Post about efficeint call-handling techniques
8. Recognize Successful Employees
Your agents work in a stressful, time-ticking environment. They sometimes need a push to give their best. That’s why incentives and rewards exist. These are among the best ways to provide that push.
Sometimes, more than money, agents need to feel valuable. A motivated agent will always be more productive. Incentives and positive treatment make them feel satisfied with their job. Appreciation and recognition keep their morale high. What’s more, rewards and incentives also create a culture of healthy competition, which further benefits you.
Here are a few tips for implementing an employee recognition program:
- Give your team mebers credits for the job well done
- Create a reward program
- Award points for fulfilling tasks
- Provide members with constructive feedback
- Offer cash bonus and gift cards
9. Track the Right Metrics
Tracking the right metrics can give a true glimpse of how your call center is doing. Only with the data can you gauge the progress of your call center.
The metrics you track vary, depending on what productivity means to you. When the goal is to wrap calls fast, the Average Handle Time can be ideal. First Call Resolution might be the best to track when you want to resolve issues with minimum attempts.
Service Level, Net Promoter Score, and Customer Satisfaction are a few other metrics that signal how effective agents’ efforts are.
You can track some important metrics and use our Erlang calculator to gauge the requirements in your call centre.
Here are a few tips for tracking metrics:
- Integrate a CRM with the call center software
- Identify the metrics that imapct most on your business
- Collect necessary insights about activities
- Allow agents to reflect on their performances
- Measure your team’s progress consistently
Conclusion
When it comes to growing your call center business, your employees are the best asset to leverage. Productive, inspired employees can catapult your growth, and poorly trained ones can drag down your growth. The tips and strategies discussed in this article can certainly improve productivity in your call center.
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