Agents represent the largest component of contact center spending and are the cornerstone of any effective customer service strategy. In fact, agent overhead can run as high as 60% of a contact center?s cost. ?At the same time, the average turnover rate in U.S. call centers is 43%. In large contact centers with more than 1,000 agents, turnover is even worse. In those, employee turnover spikes to 70%annually. Yet agent productivity is typically measured and enforced in the most rudimentary ways, and poor agent job satisfaction levels are accepted as normal. ?I strongly believe there?s a very strong correlation between agent productivity and satisfaction. ?If executed properly, an enlightened agent management strategy coupled with enabling technology can yield a tremendous return.
Agent Management and a Customer-Centric Strategy
Increasingly, companies are recognizing the strategic value of a customer-centric approach to their business and reaping the benefits of increased customer loyalty, wallet share, differentiation and profitability. The contact center is the backbone of this strategy, and the agent plays the central role in its execution. But while many companies now espouse customer-centricity, only the ultimate winners are taking the steps to ensure that their agents are managed in a manner that will ensure success.
Agent Productivity Chain of Benefits
Improved agent productivity and satisfaction combine to drive a virtuous chain of benefits that fuel both top-line revenues and bottom-line profitability: Among the virtues triggered by adopting policies and technologies that foster agent performance are:
- Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
- Increased wallet share
- Higher operational efficiency
- Lower agent attrition costs
Trailblazing companies such as Ericson have long recognized the strong relationship between employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
Contact Center Managers should look at these nine strategies to make the above a reality:
- Use customer information ?in flight? to set up the employee with the right information. ?Agents that aren?t empowered with the right customer information are flying blind ? often creating a frustrating work-experience.
- Implement a solution that supports interaction blending to increase occupancy. Blending activities and increasing utilization kills boredom and apathy from repetitive work.
- Implement an ?intelligent Customer Front Door? solution. ?By anticipating customer needs, agents will be empowered to delight and exceed expectation ? both a win for the agent and customer
- Build a virtual contact center to make use of economies of scale. ?Companies should leverage their entire virtual infrastructure ? it makes no sense for one contact center to run beyond capacity and taxing their agents while another sits idle in another location.
- Match the right customer with the right agent to increase first contact resolution. ?It?s frustrating for both the customer and agent when the wrong interaction is aligned with a resource that isn?t properly trained to address the issue.
- Increase the variety of work for your employees.?Employees want to learn and be challenged.
- Implement a ?work from home? strategy. ?Provide flexible opportunities, especially for segments of the workforce that require remote work arrangements. ?Some of the best employees are often found outside of the four walls of the contact center.
- Push work items to your agents when volume is low.?Again, boredom is the number one killer of agent motivation.
- Align agent KPIs with business objectives. ?Employees appreciate and are motivated by achievable goals ? incent them with sound KPIs and objectives.
Each of these nine strategies can support the objective to increase productivity and satisfaction without getting in each other?s way. ?Ultimately, the customer is the big winner. ?With happy and motivated agents and low contact center turnover rates, the customer will always receive a consistent and pleasant experience.
For more information on how Genesys Workforce Management software can help you to build an engaged workforce, download the Genesys eBook, Five Steps to an Employee Effectiveness Model: Improving Business Results with Engaged Employees today.
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