Contact centre software that reduces turnover

Imagine you’ve bought a new house, with dreams of living happily there for years. You start to feel part of the community, getting to know the neighbours over a few BBQs, your kids walk to school together. And then within a year, almost half the families living around you simply pack up and leave, to be replaced by new faces. And then next year, another half of the street moves on. It would be pretty shocking to have that much turnover, and kind of hard to keep a feeling of community with so much change. Yet, as an industry call centres regularly face turnover rates as high as 45%  Even if (hopefully) your own number is much lower, chances are you’d still be keen to reduce it further. And while there can be many underlying reasons why staff choose to leave, in many cases there is a contact centre software solution that can help to keep your company’s numbers low.

 

The problem: your staff feel like they work alone more than they work together.

The solution: include chat functionality in your contact centre software.

There’s no doubt that keeping your call centre team’s morale high is a tricky undertaking, but encouraging teamwork between agents even when they’re on the phones can help individual staff members to stay focused and help them achieve. Consider adding chat functionality to your contact centre software so agents can talk to each other and to their supervisor while they’re handling calls. Many also continue to work once they’ve logged out, allowing it to function as a notification system. It’s the perfect way to keep chatter to a minimum, while keeping your team connected.

You may also want to assign a new hire to a veteran employee to help them learn the ropes of the company, the products/services you’re selling, and assist with training. This way, they start with a friend, and are working together as a team from the start. Just pay close attention to personality types and try not to pair up team members whom you know will clash off the bat.

 

The problem: your team struggles with work life balance.

The solution: live reporting that lets you monitor staff working anywhere.

Do you struggle with work-life balance? Chances are that you may also be seeing signs that your team members are too.  If so, you (and your team) are not alone. A 2014 report shows work-life balance is declining for up to 40% of employees. The survey suggested that the majority of employees said they would love to have more flexible working hours and fixed finishing times to improve their work-life balance.

The implication for you is that when people are overworked, their productivity and mental health suffers, which leads to higher incidence of absenteeism, and higher health costs. so how can you improve work-life balance in your call centre? It’s a radical thought, but why not allow employees to work from home?

Advances in contact centre software technology now let you live monitor the activity of every staff member whilst tracking their progress towards defined goals, no matter where they are located. Consider offering it a reward for high performing, reliable staff – secure in the knowledge that you can still view exactly what each agent is doing, whether they are dialling, on a call or wrapping up.

 

The problem: training is all theoretical – and tends to be only at the start of the job.

The solution: call monitoring in your contact centre software for regular call quality coaching.

Adequate training and company education helps to ensure your agents are knowledgeable when speaking to customers. We tend to focus on this when we’re onboarding new staff, but contact centre software can help you keep standards high by using call monitoring regularly review performance by doing a ‘virtual’ walk around the room to check on each staff member in turn.

You’ll hear first hand how they approach calls, and where they stumble. Work with them on how to read scripts, from where to pause when reading, to the voice inflections to use. Teach them various ways to get past the introduction, how to handle rejection, and how to answer any questions the prospects may have. Continue offering training sessions regularly to keep skills sharp, and any time product or service offerings change.

 

The problem: your team doesn’t feel they have the tools to really go after sales.

The solution: automate, automate, automate.

If your agents don’t have the right tools they need to get the job done, how can you expect them to be productive? But by automating a range of actions in your contact centre software, from dialers to sending emails, your agents will be able to focus more on calls. Look for call centre software that automatically tracks and schedules call backs with reminders, lets agents update customer records, handle more calls easily with on-screen scripts and objection handling popups, and more.

 

The problem: working in a call centre means being chained to the phone.

The solution: Make use of a solid workforce management tool.

No-one does well living and working like a battery hen. We all need time away from our desks to reset our brains, take a walk or have a snack. But it can be hard when the calls are coming in thick and fast, or if you just want to sort out that little bit of paperwork.  The right contact centre software can help you set up automatic prompts that remind agents when they are due for a break, and make your job easier by automatically remembering their preferred hours when you’re setting rosters.

The right workforce management tool can revolutionize the way you communicate with staff both internally and remotely, while agents will appreciate the extra flexibility in scheduling so they can truly clock out and shift their focus away from work.

 

And here’s one that requires no technology at all (other than your ears!)

 

The problem: no one really cares what I think.

The solution: take the time to listen to your team.

Whether you do it through a number of one-on-one sessions in a conference room, or as part of a group meeting, sit down and talk to your staff. Find out what they like about the job, and what they don’t. Watch for patterns in responses to help you come up with potential solutions for the grievances and ways to highlight the things they enjoy.

When you do have to onboard new telemarketing staff, make it a point to get their insights during the interview process. Educate them about your company and make sure they’re a good fit for your company culture. When employees feel at home in their workplace, retention isn’t as much of an issue.

Talking to your staff will help foster and open and honest work environment. As they provide feedback to you, listen and make an effort to resolve issues. With the two-way dialogue, you now have a chance to provide feedback to employees about their work, and keep them in the loop about what’s going on in the company. Keeping the top talent apprised of the situation, including problems and setbacks, will help prevent rumours from taking over and potentially damaging employee morale.

 

For more hints and tips on running a happy and successful call centre, download our free guide to the psychology of a high performing call centre now.