Running a successful call centre requires a balance of strong leadership, efficient processes, and engaged employees.
Call centres are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and customer experience.
Call Centre Helper’s Jonty Pearce, spoke to award finalists Catherine Miles, Project Manager at The Contact Company, Juliette Brown, Operations Manager at Ai Claims – Blackpool, and Julie Smith, Contact Centre Manager at HMRC – Cumbria, to discover their top tips for success.
Video: Call Centre Hints and Tips
Watch the video below to hear Catherine, Juliette, and Julie share their top tips for call centre success:
The videos were all filmed at the North West Contact Centre Awards in Manchester.
With thanks to the following people for contributing to this video:
- Catherine Miles, Project Manager, The Contact Company
- Juliette Brown, Operations Manager, Ai Claims, Blackpool
- Julie Smith, Contact Centre Manager, HMRC, Cumbria
Four Top Call Centre Hints and Tips
Here are four key tips to improve contact centre operations and create a better experience for both agents and customers:
1. Listen to Your Agents
Involving agents in business decisions helps them feel valued and engaged. Seeking their input on workplace improvements, can lead to better morale and productivity, as Catherine Miles explains:
“Listen to your agents, make sure they really understand what their responsibilities are. Involve them in your business as much as you can.
You know get their opinions on things, a great example is we’ve bought this new building and we’ve got them to trial a lot of different chairs for us, and ultimately they will select the one that is that they feel is the most comfortable for them.
So you know and people say oh you can’t do that in huge, you can, you really can it’s just you have to make that effort, and you have to always be focused on the fact that they are our products, they are the people who make us successful, and you know the focus has to be on them.
So never forget that, never get too high up, never get too distracted by little things. Always remember that they’re the guys who are going to make your business a success.”
Agents are at the heart of the business, and their insights contribute to overall success.
2. Review Your Processes Regularly
The contact centre industry moves quickly, and without regular updates, businesses risk falling behind.
Monthly process reviews ensure that procedures align with business goals and market demands. Engaging both managers and agents in these reviews helps maintain efficiency.
“Constantly review your processes and procedures, and look at whether they align with where your company is actually going to.
Business, particularly in contact centres, changes rapidly. It’s a fast changing market and if you don’t do constant reviews then basically you sit on your laurels and you get left behind.
I like to constantly review the processing procedures within the contact centre on a monthly basis, and encourage the agents to do that as well.” – Juliette Brown
3. Your Agents Have the Best Ideas
Frontline agents interact with customers daily and often have valuable suggestions for improving services.
Leaders should not leave all decision-making to management but instead engage directly with agents to uncover innovative solutions and enhance customer experiences, as Juliette explains:
“Never lose sight that the agents are your first point of contact with your customer. You know they are your eyes and your ears, and not only do they represent the company, but they often come up with your best ideas as well.
So don’t leave it all to management level when it comes to making decisions and looking for how to improve things.
Get right down amongst your staff to see what they have to deal with, and what fantastic ideas they can come up with as well.”
4. The Importance of Planning
Planning is essential in a fast-moving call centre environment. Maintaining service levels, adapting to customer demand, and focusing on staff well-being are key to smooth operations.
“Remembering that planning is obviously vital in a contact centre business. In a real-time environment that can be very fast-moving.
Make sure your service levels are kept up to date, and reacting to the business and the customer demand, the customer experience. But as I’ve already said remembering your staff are your greatest asset is absolutely key.” – Julie Smith
A well-planned approach helps businesses stay responsive while keeping employees motivated.
If you are looking for more great insights from the experts, check out these next:
- 10 Expert Tips for Remote Working
- Understanding Shrinkage in Workforce Management
- How British Gas Transformed Their Call Centre Metrics
- How to Reward and Recognise Contact Centre Teams
Author: Robyn Coppell
I cannot access the video itself; is there a link here somewhere? I see just a white space under “Videocast: Call Centre Hints and Tips.”
I can’t see it either Mark. Is anyone else experencing problems or overcome them? Please let us know.
HI all,
I’ve tried it under IE, Firefox and Opera using
Win 7 and Vista. It’s rendering fine.
Is there a chance you have some restriction
regarding plug in’s?
Regards
DaveA