Free Articles

6 Ways to Improve Call Center Productivity

1. Direct customers to your website. Record an on-hold greeting that invites customers to go to your website for frequently asked questions or easily accessible information.

2. Provide complete information on the first call. A number of callbacks could be avoided if CSRs provided complete information on the initial call. Train your staff to fully answer customers’ questions and end each call with a statement that ensures all questions have been answered. For example, “Mr. Golden, is there anything else I can do for you today?”

3. Invite customers to make simple requests via voice mail. Customers don’t always need to speak with a live person to get their problems resolved. At Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, a large percentage of phone calls into Customer Care are from customers wanting to ensure their frequent flyer miles (from a partnership promotion) have been posted to their airline account. The company has an opening message on the Customer Care lines that directs all frequent flyer inquiries to leave their name, frequent flyer member number, and date of rental on voice mail. Customers are assured that the mileage will be posted to their account and will appear on one of their next two billing statements. This invitation to leave information on voice mail frees up CSR time to talk to customers who really need to speak to a live representative.

4. Make your website double as a “virtual CSR”. The banking industry has done an excellent job at this. Most banks have websites in which customers can check account balances, transaction history, order checks and more. At www.myragolden.com clients can enroll in and pay for seminars, purchase resources from our library, and even review the to-do list for everything they’ll need to host one of our seminars onsite. Our website functions as a virtual assistant. What more can your website do for you?

5.  Give Service Representatives time for administrative tasks. Many Customer Care professionals spend 90% (or more) of their time on the phones, yet their after-call work requires 30% or more of their time. Allow reps to spend at least 30% of their time off of the phones for investigation, response, follow-up, etc. This time off of the phones will allow them to get more done in less time and minimizes the burnout so typically associated with heavy call volume.

6. Set and monitor service response standards. Clearly define and communicate your goals for talk time, file turn around time, and email response. When your employees have a clear understanding of your expectations, it’s so much easier for them to meet them.

Improving the productivity of your call center will improve the level of service your customers receive, while at the same time reduce the level of stress your employees experience.