Keeping the agents focused (outbound dialling)

I manage an outbound sales team which only dial 6 hours a day (2pm-8pm.)
They only dial in 2 hour stints to keep them from going into autopilot.
The problem i have is the first session is by far the best, they come in feeling fresh and 'up for it.' but the last 2 sessions the performance drops as they lose focus and can become tricky to manage (have to constantly be on peoples backs etc.)
Does anyone else have this problem? or have any solutions to keep people working to the same standard as they day progresses?

These guys are not short of games/incentives/prizes to win throughout each day.

Thanks in advance.

The problem is telephone work is very intensive if it is being done properly , I know this with around 20 years experience and this work can become quite robotic

All the games and incentives in the world are not enough , the only thing that keeps you going on the phone is personal drive.

One thing that may help is to bring in an inspirational speaker from time to time to provide some brain food

I don,t think there is a magic bullet here ( sorry )

Hi Jsd,

it sounds as if you are doing a lot to try and improve this. Have you tried explaining to the team the potential impact of this short-fall? that is what it potentially means in terms of money to your company and the potential impact to the team members if things dont improve for example not replacing an agent when one leaves as profit margins wont support it? or losing the business entirely?

I'm not suggesting scare tactics but perhaps if they have a clearer understanding of the importance of their work and sustained effort and levels of performance, it's possible it will make a difference.

You mention you already have lots of incentives in place, what sort of incentives? can the agents suggest incentives that would make more of a difference to them? Is it always the same people that win? that can actually demotivate unless additional support is given to those that dont win.

Have you tried a leader board updated hourly with each agents performance - a bit of a name and shame exercise but also to generate a bit of healthy competition?

What about getting the agents that are doing better than average to share a tip with the team or buddy them up with another agent performing less well?

We are going to look at possibly changing the hours of dialling.
Currently they have a 'treasure island' incentive, i get one of the agents to run/manage the incentives, they are given a budget and they can choose prizes etc. each sale they get they are allowed to guess a grid number on treasure island and i will then tell them which prize (if anything) they have won. I think it works pretty well but come 7pm everyone starts distracting each other and eyes come off the prize.
performance and incentive leaderboards are update throughout the day so i dont think the issue lies here.
Will have a play around with dialling hours and see if this makes a difference, we do also have a buddy system in place where the higher performers share best practice with new people etc, however i think the ability is there for everyone its just getting them all to keep their focus and drive in the evenings.
will provide an update once the results from new dialling hours are in.

once again thanks for all the help and advice