Working in a customer call center is demanding. Agents are under a great deal of pressure to achieve their goals while simultaneously finding resolutions that satisfy often-angry customers. Under these circumstances burnout can be a major concern, especially during periods of high call volume. Here are some things that managers and leaders should keep in mind if they want to keep talented CSRs from flaming out and eventually quitting.
Focus on Quality, Not Quantity
Too many call centers focus on KPIs like Cost per Call and Average Call Time. Constantly hounding your team to get customers off the phone faster will have a negative impact on customer satisfaction and will lower the morale of your team. Instead, focus on things like First Call Resolution and Customer Satisfaction Score. Empower your team to solve problems creatively in a single call, no matter how long that call takes. That empowerment will help them become less stressed and more enthusiastic about helping their customers each day.
Set Clear Expectations
Another consequence of focusing on the wrong KPIs is agent confusion. Demanding shorter call times while also expecting improved service scores makes little sense and leads to extreme frustration among CSRs. Management should clearly define goals, expectations and metrics for each agent. If managers discover that goals are divergent, they should be willing to go to bat with leadership in order to clearly define priorities for their team.
Reward and Recognize Strong Performance
If call center agents are never given so much as a pat on the back for hard work and good performance, they will quickly begin to feel dissatisfied and unmotivated. Give team members effective and regular feedback for their performance to help keep morale high and increase their drive to work harder. Recognize success publically in staff meetings and set up a clear reward program so that agents know exactly what they need to do in order to earn bonuses, gift cards, extra days off, etc.
Make Better Hiring Decisions
It takes a tough person to stand up to the stress of a call center. If you aren’t hiring people with the right talent, personality and grit to be productive under stress, then you will constantly suffer from high turnover.
It takes a keen eye – and a great deal of time and effort – to hire the right talent for a call center. However, if you want to hit your goals, keep good employees and improve customer outcomes, you must be willing to make that effort. If you are looking for strong, engaged CSRs for your customer call center, the expert recruiters at Contemporary Staffing Solutions can help. We specialize in connecting call centers with people who have the skills and the drive to succeed. Contact CSS today to learn more about our strategy for helping you prevent CSR burnout this year.