Fostering Relationships

Call centers have undergone a seismic transformation in recent times, adopting a more hybrid working model. Agents are working in disparate locations within an assortment of networking and connectivity conditions.

One unwavering truth in this constantly shifting landscape is that brand differentiation always aligns with customer experience (CX). And we know that CX can rise or fall with call center agent relationships.

Putting measures in place to understand and support remote call center agent performance is notoriously tricky, but with our  5 top tips you can confidently maximize remote agent performance and control the CX narrative.

1. Create a Detailed SOP

Detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) act as your agents’ compass, assisting in both onboarding new agents and reorienting your veteran staff. They are indispensable to remote agents, who cannot simply pop down the hall or shout over their cubicle to ask a colleague or manager a question that might require an immediate answer. Good SOPs should include the following:

• Administrative/Human Resource policies.
• Software and technology.
• Details of all software and technologies (Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, etc.) and their correct use.
• Training and mentoring opportunities and expectations.
• Feedback procedures and opportunities.
• This feedback should work both ways.
• Human resource information.
• Scripting template.
• Covering the expected and the unexpected conversations that may take place.
• Glossary of terms.
• Provide a full breakdown of all jargon terms

Keep SOPs clear, concise and update them regularly, removing outdated or obsolete information.

2. Test Remote Environments

Supporting your remote call center agent is much easier if you have full visibility into their voice quality and network connectivity conditions. However, it is important that the measures you put in place to test call center agent performance don’t become too cumbersome for your agents and support teams to manage. 

Our Agent Assure tool is a self-service, call center agent performance test that provides agents with full visibility into their own communications conditions. With one click, they can launch a test that returns clear quality scores and actionable guidelines they can use to improve voice quality and network connectivity conditions. The result is empowered remote agents and unburdened support teams.  

3. Invest in the Right Tech Stack

Providing the best possible tech stack boosts remote call center agent performance by facilitating easier call and project management, greater communications possibilities with managers and colleagues, and better access to knowledge bases and policy and guideline repositories. With the right tech stack, remote call center agents feel less remote, more included.

Some of the most useful technologies to invest in to support remote agents include:

• Synchronous and asynchronous messaging tools like Zoom and Slack that assist with relationship building and the exchange of information
• Project management tools like Trello and Monday that allow managers to assign tasks, track progress, and spot bottlenecks and areas for improvement.
• Client relationship management (CRM) tools like Salesforce and HubSpot  that make client call and purchase data immediately available, speeding up MTTR , and making callers feel recognized and understood. 
• Time tracking tools like Harvest or Toggl Track help managers to measure remote call center agent performance, weighted against stated KPIs, and assign accountability, while helping remote agents to become more focused and productive.

Test your agents’ voice and network connectivity environment regularly with tools like our own Agent Assure solution to ensure that they can make the most of the tech stack you have assembled for them.

4. Provide Regular Training Initiatives

Training initiatives serve the dual purpose of fortifying remote call center agents’ ability to carry out their duties effectively, and building a sense of belonging through a deeper understanding of their role. There are a multitude of training avenues to pursue, here are two we advise you to consider:

• Group Training: Group training helps to build remote agents’ confidence while fostering a sense of fellowship. Group onboarding for new remote agents or veteran agents moving to remote work for the first has lasting emotional resonance built on a shared experience of their new role. Ongoing group training reinforces these bonds and creates powerful pathways to constructive team building and cooperation.
• Personalized Training: Agent’s join teams at arbitrary times making it impossible to include them in all group training initiatives. Personalized, pre-prepared onboarding/training packages are indispensable here. Remote agents can access them immediately and at their own pace and still engage with managers and mentors via video calls, etc.

And not all learning requires organized training initiatives. Remember, remote agents can familiarize themselves with policies and procedures, for example, independently. Providing access to a searchable, regularly updated knowledge base will cut down training commitments even further.

5. Create a Healthy, Happy Team Environment

We all work best in environments that feel safe and supportive, while encouraging the highest possible quality of service. For remote agents, this is doubly true. Remote work environments preclude the possibility for real, in-person interactions with colleagues and managers and can therefore leave staff feeling detached. It is imperative that you put measures in place that help remote agents to feel as pivotal to your call center support teams as any on-site agent. Here are our suggestions:

• Prioritize constructive communication. Listen to your agents, get to know their needs and interests, and encourage them to share their experience and learning with you and their team. Impress upon them that there are no silly questions, just opportunities for learning.
• Encourage productive feedback. Feedback must work both ways; staff must feel comfortable discussing how managers/systems could work better to support remote work.
• Consider using gamification as part of training and team building initiatives.
•  Try to develop schedules that work for your agents and support a work-life balance, and where possible, allow them to self-schedule.
• Don’t reward high performing remote agents with more work. A recent report states that remote workers are working much longer hours and are frequently more productive than on-site workers. Look at their schedules and find opportunities for them to take some time off or perform less pressured tasks.

Peak Performance

According to Microsoft’s recent Global State of Customer Service report, when businesses fall short of customer expectations, 58% of customers show little hesitation in severing the relationship. And, as we have already discussed, call center agents are crucial to these relationships.

The transformation of call center services to a more hybrid model of support means it is vital that we focus our efforts on monitoring, testing, and bolstering remote call center agent performance.

Using the tips we have provided, you can stay on top of remote call center agent performance. And by including our Agent Assure remote call center agent performance platform to your software and tech stack, you can ensure that you have the same insights into the quality of your remote agents voice and network connectivity conditions as for your on-site agents.

Get in touch with us today and find out how easy it is to supercharge remote call center agent performance with Agent Assure.