Best Ways To Improve Call Center Productivity in 2024

Gathering call data and generating insights and analytics is an essential part of call center operation. Such data and analytics help to determine call center productivity, uncover each client’s customer experience in each interaction, and ensure security policy adherence and compliance.

It also determines whether the legal and regulatory requirements of specific departments and verticals are met.

Many businesses rely on call centers to sell their products. But the scope of call centers doesn’t quite end there. Call centers can also be used in marketing and promotion, sales, and customer support.

Productivity is one of the most significant difficulties in the call center. It determines the effectiveness of the business, the company’s revenue, ROI, as well as business growth.

It seems easy and straightforward, but actually, it’s not quite that simple.

How To Improve Call Center Productivity in 2024

Call center productivity might suffer due to increased client demand, call volumes, and worker turnover. You must maintain track of how your call center agents perform if you want the best results. The first step is to understand what call center productivity entails.

So, improving call center productivity can appear to be a challenging task. However, you can make a few simple modifications that will significantly impact how your call center functions. 

The suggestions below are the 10 best ways to improve call center productivity which can help you run a more productive call center!

1. Motivate your call center employees

According to Gallup State of the Local Workplace research, actively engaging your staff is critical to productivity. Because 85 percent of employees are neither engaged nor actively disengaged at work, $7 trillion in productivity is lost each year.

When you engage your call center employees, you make them feel more valued. And that psychologically inspires them to execute their jobs better, resulting in more productive employees. 

Give your employees options to participate in decision-making processes to keep them engaged. You want to foster a good work atmosphere where your employees believe they are integral to its overall success.

You can achieve this by seeking employee feedback, incorporating them into the quality assurance process, and including them in all parts of the call center’s operations.

You can use a variety of methods to motivate your employees, including:

i. Create a welcoming atmosphere

In call centers, managers set the tone. As a result, you must take action to promote positive attitudes, such as providing a welcoming, kind, and equitable environment. Learning each employee’s name, welcoming each shift as it begins, and having a “break room” where employees can make the most of their 20-minute breaks enhances the warmth and friendliness of the atmosphere.

ii. Create a friendly rivalry

The ability to develop a strong team-building environment by putting teams against each other while driving call center agents to exceed a sales target is one advantage of forming unique call center teams. Call center employees are considerably more likely to support and urge peers to do better if there is a competitive atmosphere or the chance of receiving recognition or awards for exceptional performance.

iii. Internal Promotion

Agents’ drive to perform and work hard deteriorates if they have no room to improve and aspire to. Internal promotion is a good idea, and it aids in the retention of top performers and demonstrates to call center agents that you value and respect their knowledge.

Set up career development plans and a mechanism to assist call center agents in gaining the skills they need to advance their careers. Identifying skill set deficits and possibilities for performance growth are also strong motivators.

iv. Encourage open communication

It’s simpler to reduce conflict, promote employee engagement, establish stronger connections, lower attrition, boost productivity, and so much more in the workplace when there’s open and effective communication.

As a call center motivation approach, open communication and trust establish an environment that leads to your success. Your agents will understand their work role and contribute to their success if you communicate openly with them.

Not to add, effective and open communication puts everyone on the same page, ensuring that everyone is working toward the same goal.

2. Reduce interruptions

Interruptions are one of the main leading causes of lost productivity. Interrupting employees can cause them to lose interest in their tasks. Forcing people to work all the time will not enhance productivity.

A little pause can help reduce agent stress, which can have a substantial impact on productivity. The goal is to schedule little breaks throughout the day to avoid wasting time while doing nothing to relieve tension.

3. Continual improvement training

Call center agents’ training is critical because improving employee productivity necessitates agents’ skill growth. Training for new software and technology installed in a call center is important for key metrics. 

For instance, they could learn about marketing so that they can manage their sponsored advertising or social media platforms. These possibilities keep your employees engaged and motivated while learning new skills, reducing turnover, and preventing your staff from working for the competition.

Furthermore, your employees are learning vital skills that will boost the company’s bottom line.

You may feel certain that each employee will receive the necessary training at the proper time if you develop a continuous training schedule. The entire operation will soon become more proficient and educated if each session focuses on new customer service abilities, best practice procedures, or unique problems in the contact center.

Training improves productivity and helps to improve skills, agents performance, and employees would work more if rewarded for their efforts.

4. Listen to your employees

Call center agents are usually the first to notice when a process or procedure is broken. They are, after all, the ones on the front lines, answering phones and interacting with clients. Setting up a feedback loop for your agents to provide comments and suggestions is critical.

You will raise your agents’ effectiveness, but you will also boost their motivation and morale by constantly implementing their ideas.

5. Provide some flexibility 

According to 64% of global business leaders (Condeco reports), flexible call center arrangements can also enhance efficiency. 

Allowing employee flexibility is the key to adaptability. Your employees will be more productive if they feel trusted and have the freedom to manage clients as they see fit. It’ll help you improve employee engagement, boost morale, and simplify call center workflow.

Flexible working improves employee retention and recruitment as well as reduces absence. Flexible working hours can be utilized as a motivator for employees to be more productive.

6. Keep tabs on your employee’s performance

Knowing how your employees are functioning is an important part of ensuring productivity. It’s critical to keep track of idle time, response rates, call wait times, and other metrics so you can understand how well your call center is performing and where you can make improvements.

Thankfully, you can use a template to guide employees’ performance evaluation and make the process simpler. Remember, performance reviews help managers to identify potential issues and come up with workable solutions. So, don’t overlook the importance of using employee performance review templates to keep tabs on your workforce’s performance and productivity.

7. Customers can be segmented using IVR

The improper distribution of inbound calls is the single most important factor that slows down performance. IVR (interactive voice response) is a useful technology since it collects data on callers before connecting them to an agent. This data is communicated to the agent in real-time.

With a well-thought-out IVR menu, your consumers will be able to find a solution more quickly; and your employees will concentrate on more complex issues. 

8. Eliminate unnecessary phone calls

Your employees will have more time to spend on truly important calls by removing calls that could be avoided. You can handle this in various methods, such as blocking unwanted phone numbers, publishing FAQs on your website to allow clients to find answers on their own, or using a thorough IVR menu ( as you can see above).

9. Provide the best technologies to your employees

When employees utilize difficult IT systems and processes, even the most motivated employees become less productive. Some call centers employ various databases, such as sales software, CRM software, etc., and this slows down your employees because they must open multiple tabs to find critical information.

Cloud-based call center software that is easy to use may be linked with all of your IT systems to reduce annoyance and make information more accessible.

10. Communicate

Customer service requires the capability to interact well, both vocally and in writing, particularly when working with persons who do not speak your native language. Should answer your queries in a clear, concise, and natural tone of voice. Customers want to know what’s going on, but they don’t need all the specifics. 

If they ask for further information, you can provide it, but most individuals want their problems handled as soon as possible. “Is there something else I can do for you today?” would be the finest question to ask at the end of each interaction, so they have one more chance to ask a question, and you know you’ve done everything you can to fix the situation. 

Also, if you put them on wait while you look up their account or speak with your management, make sure you convey the length of time they will be on hold. It’s especially crucial not to linger too long on live chat.

What is Call Center Productivity?

Call center productivity is a way of measuring how a call center effectively and efficiently utilizes its resources to help customers. In short, call center productivity is the final output of agent productivity in a call center by handling several customers and services provided by them.

If You want to calculate the call center productivity, you can use this formula;

Call Center Productivity Formula = Total Output / Total Input x 100

• Total Output – shows how long employees take to reach their goals

• Total Input – the total time spent in their working schedule.

For example:

Total Handled Calls: 100

Average handling Time: 5 minutes

Total Working hours per week: 40

Calculation:

Total output in minutes: 100 calls * 5 minutes/call = 500 minutes

Total input in minutes: 40 hours * 60 minutes/hour = 2400 minutes

The above calculation defines that a call center agent’s productivity is 20.83% while handling 100 calls during work.

What are the ways to measure your call center agent performance?

It will be difficult to measure your call center agent performance by just looking at their work, you may need performance metrics like KPI to measure and can help to improve call center agent performance. So, Here are some of the call center performance metrics to measure your call center productivity:

• Average Call Time (ACT): This metric helps to measure the time spent by an agent talking with a client, as well as it will also measure the time spent on hold, and call transferring. It is usually used to measure the efficiency of an employee. Having low ACT is better for a call center.

• First Call Resolution (FCR): FCR measures the percentage of calls that are resolved in the First Contact with the customer without any call back required. It defines customer satisfaction and having a higher FCR denotes having better call center productivity and performance.

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): CSAT is a performance metric to measure how a customer is satisfied with the services they receive from a call center. It is usually measured through feedback forms and surveys.

• Agent Occupancy Rate: Agent Occupancy Rate refers to the time percentage where an agent spends time on productive activities like talking to clients. A high occupancy rate means that call center agents are working efficiently on work time.

• Abandonment Rate: Abandonment rate is the percentage of calls where a client’s calls get disconnected without having a chance to speak to the call center agent. A call center with a low abandonment rate is preferable to a higher rate.

👉 You May Also Like: What is Call Center Shrinkage and How to reduce it

Conclusion

Employees, software, and workflows must all work together to maximize call center productivity. Investing in your call center’s employees will help them perform consistently better and retain their jobs. To maintain morale and productivity levels stable, start by applying some of these recommendations and considering the advantages of running a call center.

If you want to boost your call center productivity, sign up for KrispCall. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you require any other information. KrispCall’s call center solution will help your organization communicate effectively and enhance productivity by eliminating the need for expensive hardware and automating calling operations. 

FAQs

What are the benefits of enhancing call center productivity?

The benefits of enhancing call center productivity are:

• Enhance selling opportunities
• Increase company brand image
• Improve customer satisfaction

What are the ways to improve your call center agent performance in 2024?

The ways to improve your call center agent performance in a call center by following below strategies:

1. Create Positive Work Environment
2. Offer Mentorship
3. Empower Call Center Agents with Technology
4. Invest in Call Center Analytics
5. Motivate Employees to get Engaged in Call Center
6. Offer Training

Arun Chaudhary

Arun is SEO Analyst at KrispCall. He has written in extensively in the field of cloud telephony and call center solutions.