First 30 minutes of the call center shift makes all the difference

The contact center game begins when agents walk through the door for their shifts. The supervisor gets a split second chance to start things off right. When supervisors fail to start the process correctly, agents fail to respond. The first thirty minutes of any contact center shift should be controlled entirely by the supervisor, not the agents. Make the entry to your contact center PHENOMENAL. And create a theme that resonates from the minute agents walk in the door.

Do you feel that your contact center lacks an introductory game plan each day? If you or your supervisors don’t have a solid plan to keep your agents motivated and focused, then you are probably failing to do all you can do to affect performance, and retention.

Imagine a restaurant where you seat yourself but no waiter comes to serve you. Or a restaurant where you try to serve yourself at the buffet table but there’s no food in the trays. Imagine an airplane full of passengers while the pilots are in the employee lounge, or a stadium packed with fans while security employees are just beginning to organize their duties.

The communication presented to contact center agents in the first 30 minutes of their day sets the stage for the rest of the day’s performance.

Behavior from management matters greatly; providing agents with messages of hope and letting them see your positive spirit  helps create a culture that brings out the best in people. The mundane nature of the agent’s job dictates they should come to work leery. Every day has to be fresh. They need management to set the tone, to create an environment they want to do their best work in. When managers lead, contact center agents fall into step.

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Call Center Zen

A recent study found that call center managers who spend their floor time listening to call center agents are 999% more effective than their competitors.

True or False? Well, false, there was no actual study done, but it’s definitely true that managers and supervisors who spend more time listening than talking are wildly more successful. The best communicators are the best listeners. And I would say that to a certain degree, the same can be said about managers and supervisors. The zen of call center management says, “Seek to understand”. Don’t worry about being understood. Take yourself out of the primary position. Even as a manager with a capital M, you don’t come at every situation with the answers already figured out. Heck, you don’t even have to come to a new situation with all the questions figured out! Instead, approach employees and customers seeking to understand.
I play a game with myself these days. Every conversation I have, I’m trying to be the one who does the least talking. I’m really competitive, so it’s a struggle, and there are even some awkward moments, but I’m forcing myself to focus my attention on the other person, what s/he is saying and NOT saying. The zen is getting out of my own head and into the space between us where so much that is communicated is usually lost.
You know how people say “read between the lines” or “listen for what’s not being said”? Well I never knew what that meant, and I still don’t what that means, but good listening skills are more than common sense, they speak to something deeper. The something that’s a little deeper is humility. This year be willing to try something new, listen for what’s not being said.

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Writing Goals Down Helps Make Them Happen

The American business author and former management professor at the University of New Orleans, Michael Leboeuf, said: “When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.”

There’s also research that says writing goals down makes them more likely to be achieved. There’s some neural pathway that’s ignited when you commit a goal / plan to paper.

If you want to improve your concentration, productivity, and output in 2012 STOP MULTITASKING!!!

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Research proves that managing two mental tasks at the same time significantly reduces the brainpower available to concentrate on either one, ultimately damaging the quality of any final product. Plus it takes the brain four times longer to recognize and process each thing you’re working on when switching back and forth among tasks. Work literally takes much longer because of all the time lost switching gears. The growing body of scientific research asserts that multitasking can actually make you less efficient and, well, less smart.

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The Inside Sales Engine

Inside sales is magical when companies embrace it.  Inside sales can be used in two key venues:  1) Hunting for new business, from leads.  2) Nurturing relationships with customers.  Imagine inside sales as your most profitable return on investment.  A team of any size will do. And, when implemented and operated, the inside sales engine becomes very successful for the growth of your business.

Here’s a quick taste of inside sales. Imagine that people never think about you, even when you think they should.  So, staying in-front of them is critical.  It is remarkable what happens when you call somebody up and say “hello, do you need anything”?  In fact, just calling people up – and staying in front of them – is a giant reason why inside sales is so successful.  Remember that inside sales is more than just calling, too. It involves email, blogs, direct mail, webinars, and more.  When you create an inside sales team, you are creating an engine of touches to captivate customers, prospects and leads.

Here is another taste of inside sales.  Imagine how the magic of compound interest can work wonders for your business.  For instance, when your inside sales team touches a customer, or sells a new customer, it is the start of the relationship.  Then, using inside sales to keep the relationship is important – because your profit with that client is in its second, third, eighth, and fifteenth purchase, not the first.  While the “hunter” inside sales department continues to on-board new customers, your “nurturer” inside sales department continues to get more from existing customers.  The compound interest adds exponential revenue to your business.  And, more customers mean more opportunity.

What do we recommend you do now?  Plan the development of your customers for 2012.  Identify what they did in 2011.  Then, create a system of buckets to manage those customers in 2012.  Right now, your team should be identifying the buckets they want to manage customers from, and then prepare to “cook” those buckets in January.  From there, your team can identify which customers need to be targeted first, and you can start the inside sales process.

For more information on inside sales development, email Training@CallCenterToday.com.  Or call 888-835-5326 x111.  Or visit www.CallCenterToday.com.

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Make Compensation Planning Work For Inside Sales

Your inside sales agents are your engine; your managers are their coaches; and your senior directors and leaders are supervising the empire.  Get compensation right the first time – because compensation will drive performance from all levels of your team.

In particular, it is critical to identify the key elements that power performance within your inside sales group.  We encourage clients to “weight” the top 3-5 elements of compensation, and hold your team members accountable based on those 3-5 elements. For most companies that are smaller in size and rely on the top line to power revenue, the top line is where the majority of your compensation lives. Profit is great if you have top-line revenue to gain profit from.  But, without the top-line, it doesn’t really matter.  Front line agents think top line, it is what they understand and care about.  So, we always look at top-line as a driver for the heaviest weight of the comp plan.  If you ask power hitters to hit home runs, and reward them to hit home runs, they usually will hit home runs.

It is also equally important to keep all groups together.  If you want to commission your front line agents on conversion of data, then your managers and leaders should be in the same boat. If the managers have the same motivation to encourage conversion of data, it becomes a serious attribute.  However, if the manager is being compensated in part on the letter “W”, and the agent in part on the letter “F”, then this disconnect causes lots of troubles.

Your organization probably has many choices in compiling an inside sales compensation plan.  In review, we encourage you to weight all the important characteristics. We hope you will focus on top-line as a driver for agents.  And, we believe you should have all team members aligned to better keep focus and intensity in the right place.

For more information, visit us at www.CallCenterToday.com or email MyCallCenter@CallCenterToday.com.

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The Magic Of Tactical Customer Service Training

Call Center Today recently hosted a five hour web based marathon focused on customer service.  Several dozen companies registered and attended.  We did something different with this on-line customer service conference.  We focused on five simple tactics and spent an hour exploring how to practically make each tactic succeed in the customer service contact center.

Click here to see all 5 powerpoint presentations, and all 5 audio sessions.  You can order on-line as well.

The tactics of customer service can be broken into two venues. One, of course, is the people on the phone.  That usually focused on customer service phone skills, in particular delighting the customer and establishing the brand.  This session Call Center Today hosted was an on-line customer service conference about the supervisors, directors and leaders.  These are the folks that craft the operation and set the expectations for performance.

All the sessions were terrific because we spent 25-40 minutes on teaching, and 20-35 minutes on open question and answer brainstorming.  Those questions and answers were captured on the audio part of the workshop and available for all customers who buy the program to hear.  The practical and tactical approach to customer service management is what we teach, at Call Center Today. We focus on what works in the contact center to compel customer service to be successful.  It is our belief that the programs should not be complicated, and in fact the programs should not be overly detailed.  Just a logical approach to great customer service–followed by spectacular execution of the customer service approach- is required.  When you implement/execute in spectacular fashion, and you implement/execute the programs as they are deigned to work, then your agents, customers and manager team will be rewarded with wins.

We taught the five areas that most affect the customer service call center in a very practical and organized approach. And we spent a multitude of time during the on-line customer service conference teaching how to execute/implement these practical programs to make customer service become successful in your center.

Customer service training takes all shapes and forms.  And, sometimes it simply doesn’t do much for your team members. It may be the correct thing to do – teach your people exceptional service phone skills and supervisory strategies – but if it doesn’t lead to ROI and results in your center, it is basically not a realistic process to undertake. I feel very strongly that Call Center Today mastered the practical, realistic and powerful way to train customer service managers in the customer service call centers.

For more information visit www.CallCenterToday.com or email MyCallCenterToday.com.  Or call us direct at 888-835-5326 x111.

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Call Center Training Was Missing A Link: Practice

Call Center Today spends so much time conducting call center training in the classroom and on the web, so it is no surprise that we fingered a missing link to the entire training process.  That link?  Practice!

From classroom and web training for call center phone agents to on the telephone sales and service, the training process consisted of those two steps:  training and on the phone.  Sure, there are always elements or gimmics, such as quizzes and side by side, but those were secondary to the key components of training and hit the phones.

Now, there is practice.  Through Call Center Today’s Assault Role Play Simulator, agents can practice what they learned in training – in a safe and secure environment. Call Center Training becomes spectacular because the practice allows management to certify the agent is ready. And, it allows agents to become confident, comfortable and secure; they can handle all objections, obstacles and questions from customers or prospects. This is brilliant call center training!

Practice makes perfect.  Call Center training was missing a link:  Practice.  But not anymore.  With Call Center Today’s Assault Role Play Simulator, training and learning organizations can validate classroom and web training worked before sending agents to the main floor and on the phone against your customers and data. THAT IS MAGICAL.  The ability to create practice sessions so you can certify an agent is ready for live calling.

The Assault Role Play Simulator is a real-life call center training tool.  Literally, agents call a robot or take a call from the robot, and agents sell or service against the simulator.  Many times, agents forget they are talking to a call center robot.  Many times, agents find it literally the same, virtual reality, as presenting live. 

Most important the Assault Role Play Simulator is all about the call center agent, not the simulator itself.  By and large, it is not so important how the simulator works.  What is important?  How the agent handles an objection, question or comment or obstacle from the customer.  How the agent communicates his transition phrases; questions; engagement features; value propositions.  When the Assault Role Play Simulator provides an objection, question, comment or obstacle, it is management’s job to certify how the agents handle it: With warmth, patience, confidence, etc.  Certify the agent, and be ready to ensure the agent is ready to hit the phones, live against your customers or data.

Call Center Today has changed the art of telephone training.  Now, there is a middle step between call center training and on the phone live:  It is the time to practice, gain skills, gain confidence, and prepare for being on the phone live.

For more information on Call Center Today and the Assault Role Play Simulator please email Training@CallCenterToday.com or call 888-835-5326 x111. Visit us at www.CallCenterToday.com.

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Register For The On-Line Customer Service Training Conference

Join Call Center Today and our team of experts as we host a 5 hour online customer service training conference focused on improvement for call center management and trainers.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm EST.

For 5 straight hours, Call Center Today’s consulting team will lead participants from across the globe in 5 unique customer service training sessions. At the top of each hour a new 30 minute training session will begin, followed by 30 minutes of questions and answers with Call Center Today team experts.

Do not miss this deeply inventive and practical on-line learning conference focused entirely on customer service skill sets for managers in the call center.

An entire company can attend with one registration.

Just for registering your team members will receive 5 special customer service training sessions, even if they can’t attend the event.

The sessions will also be made available for 24 days after the event, so any team members who cannot attend sessions can download presentations anytime.

PLUS, everyone that registers will receive a FREE e-book titled “101 Lessons for GREAT Call Center Management”, absolutely complimentary just for registering.

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A Look Into Call Center Compensation

Instituting a new compensation agreement is one of the great emotional challenges for call center management.  It’s like playing with matches, lighter fluid, and gasoline in a forest of trees. The wrong agreement can destroy an entire call center culture.  The wrong plan usually leads to another wrong plan, which leads to another plan.  In a matter of weeks or months, the revolving plans take any steam right out of the job.  Agents become distrustful.  They don’t have the passion they once had for the job.  They simply lose their focus.  Management must create a new compensation plan once, and it must be very good;  one that can last for the short term, and for the long term.  Management must make a strong effort to consider the emotions of their agents in creating the new agreement.  A compensation plan is not only a set of numbers that determine pay.  It is an emotional pact between management and agent that shapes a culture, identifies the values of a corporation, builds relationships, and constructs the foundation for the future success of the call center.

Perhaps management forgets that they need to develop a compensation plan that works for the call center while also creating a plan that works for the agents. Management may understand they need to look out for their agents. But realistically, they are in management to incorporate the best plan as a whole, and agents can very often come out on the short end of the stick.  On the other hand, agents see one point of view regarding compensation plans -  theirs!  Yet management has a multitude of scenarios they must take into account. If the compensation plan doesn’t motivate agents to do well, the company suffers and the plan becomes an albatross.  The entire environment becomes one of complaints, bickering, and attrition.  Emotions rage because management has tinkered with the agents’ most prized possession.  If the compensation plan compensates agents too well, the company can also suffer, and the plan becomes an “agent vs. management” issue.  All of a sudden, management is paying above budget for performance, and bottom lines become affected.  Management then takes steps to correct their first error, and raging emotions become prevalent again.

Creating a new compensation agreement involves creating change.  From one plan to the next, agents must change their mindset and personal goals to meet new objectives.  Because change is considered by many to be unfriendly anyhow, change involving the way one gets paid accentuates agents’ concerns.  If the compensation plan penalizes agents in comparison to what they had before, they feel this is retribution, and turmoil ensues.  They want to know why the plan has penalized them.  They want to know why they should continue to perform at the same level, or even a higher level, when they are being paid less. They want to know how management developed this new plan, and during what timeline management may change it again.  The truth is that management almost never changes compensation plans to give their agents more money.  They may change a plan because goals have changed.  Or they may change a plan to reduce the level of income attainable.  But agents and management recognize that changing compensation plans always has some sort of “dent” involved.  It may be a change in policy or a change in payment, or a reduction in money or a change in payable terms, etc.  When management makes changes, it is nearly always not to the benefit of their agents.

So, when beginning to look into call center compensation, what is the plan?  Here are three ideas:

The compensation plan must be centered around a company’s ability to pay

Every company is different when delegating a certain percentage of pay to its agents. Management must be cognizant of how much money and investment the company can make in the call center.  Traditionally, outbound telesales agents always earn more commission than inbound customer service agents, because it is believed that outbound telesales agents have the more difficult job of creating new business.  But have you noticed that, more and more, member service and retention has played a larger part in growing businesses?  Once a finite portion of the market has been reached in a sales campaign, the battle for business comes from achieving winback sales from competition, not creating new sales.  Therefore, the ability to retain a member through member service retention and customer service soft selling can become more valuable to a firm than generating new sales.  Businesses are beginning to spend a high percentage of their resources on maintaining client relationships so competitors can’t steal their clients away.  In many industries, maintaining relationships with current clients is more profitable than farming for new business. Therefore, I ask the question:  “Where does a business want to spend its money?  Why?  What exactly is a firm’s ability to pay?”

The compensation plan must be centered upon demand

Developing a compensation plan in the heart of a large city is quite different from coordinating a plan in the middle of a small town.  Simply put, part-time agents located in small college towns demand a different pay scale than full time employees in major cities.  What is the demand in your city for call center agents?  In addition, demand applies to more than the battle between part-time and full-time agents.  There is internal demand as well.  As a call center executive, I have seen top employees transfer to other departments, depleting my staff.  We were never disappointed if the agent left for better career opportunities.  We were always disappointed when they left to work in a department that paid more, even when we felt the value of their work in that department paled in relationship to the value of their work in our department.  My philosophy has always been that it is better to overpay an employee a little than to lose an employee of value because you paid too little.  When designing a plan, ask about the demand within the company for quality employees.  Observe the demand within your industry.  Weigh whether it is valid to pay a little too much, or a little under par, for your agents.

The compensation plan must be centered upon job requirements

The job duties for agents are completely different from project to project. No two call center jobs are the same.  Some duties involve answering incoming e-mails, others involve making outgoing telesales calls.  Just because an agent has “XYZ” job duties in one call center or in one project does not mean his job duties will be exactly the same on a different project or in a different call center.  A compensation plan must be centered on the objectives of each particular job.  Requirements to explore include:

“What skills does an agent utilize on a daily basis?” 

“How does this role differ from other roles in the organization?” 

“What type of candidates are we looking to attract?”

“Is the position inbound or outbound?”

“Is the position full time or part time?”

“What hours will the agents be working?”

“What are some of the key skill sets required?”

“How much of a factor does technology play in the role?”

“How critical is the role to the effectiveness of the organization?”

For more information on how Call Center Today can craft a compensation plan with your contact center please call us at 888-835-5326 x111 or email MyCallCenter@CallCenterToday.com.  Or visit us at www.CallCenterToday.com.

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