Free Call Center Advice
Call centers have become an important part of many small businesses. They can handle dozens of phone calls at the same time and provide a central location for questions to be answered and information to be processed.
Here is some free advice on how to improve your call center:
1) Have your phone message mention the website.
You should always have your automated message bring up your website when callers are on hold. If you’ve set up the website properly, a lot of their questions and issues can be handled there. This can help to reduce queue times and give your employees more time to deal with callers who have more complex issues.
2) Make sure the automated options are easy to use.
Call centers want their customers to make it through the phone tree as quickly as possible. It’s thus important to make sure the available options aren’t too complex or have too many subdirectories. If the person calling gets tired of navigating the menu, you’re out a potential sale.
3) Streamline the agent desktop
Many call centers have desktops that are cluttered with unnecessary applications. This can increase the time it takes for an employee to handle a phone call since they have to find one icon among may. Take the time to simplify the desktop and you can greatly lessen the frustration of both your agents and callers.
4) Create a bulletin board
A bulletin board is a great place for employees to share important news. They can discuss potential issues that have arisen at the call center and come up with ways to solve them. It also keeps the discussion in one space so you don’t have to worry about everyone’s email filling up with the online conversation.
5) Multi-skill your agents
Multi-skilled agents can handle numerous different types of phone calls. This can greatly improve the staff retention of your call center, and provides flexibility when specific employees are not there. It also provides additional variety that can break up the monotony of the daily schedule.
6) Start a quality assurance program
Your call center can always be improved. A quality assurance program can take a look at your procedures, see how they’re utilized, and determine which ones need to be altered. You can also determine whether a particular agent is causing issues that is bringing the rest of the numbers down.
7) Reward your employees
It’s important to keep morale high at a call center, and one of the simplest ways to do this is by rewarding your employees for a job well done. It shows that you appreciate their work and provides incentive for them to continue to do so in the future.
