Are your agents as confident as you’d like them to be? Or could they do with a bit of a boost?
To find out how you can create more confident agents in your contact centre, our Editor – Megan Jones – spoke to Brittany Hodak, Marianne Withers, Nick Drake-Knight, and Simon Korsholm for their best tips and advice.
1. Put Pictures of Your Best-Performing Agents up in the Boardroom
A great way to boost agent confidence is to display their photos up in the boardroom for the leadership team and any visitors to see.
“One of my most successful initiatives was simply moving our “hall of fame” pictures of the best performing agents into the main boardroom.
This simple – and free! – change meant that every time an executive or visitor was in the boardroom, they’d see permanent recognition of the individuals providing the outstanding service that underpinned the success of the business.
It also generated a genuinely surprising level of engagement amongst agents and had a notable impact on performance.” – Simon Korsholm, Head of Contact Centre Transformation, PMO & Special Projects at HGS – Hinduja Global Solutions
2. Give Agents Resources to Help Support Their on-the-Spot Decision Making
Another area where agents can lack confidence is in handling customer complaints or giving out goodwill gestures. These are instances where it’s easy for agents to second-guess themselves and it can even leave them worrying that they might get into trouble later on.
So why not create resources to help support agents in their on-the-spot decision-making? Just like the team at Ocado, who give their agents a goodwill matrix – a visual guide mapping out what to give unhappy customers depending on the severity of the issue and the loyalty of the customer.
It takes the guessing out of the equation and leaves agents feeling more confident in the moment that they are giving out the right goodwill gesture at the right moment – without worrying about the consequences.
If you want to find out more ideas from the Ocado contact centre, read our article: Behind the Scenes at Ocado – 21 Simply Soup-erb Ideas
3. Ask Yourself “Does It Really Need to Be THAT Complicated?”
Take a long hard look at what’s really knocking your agents’ confidence.
Is it, quite frankly, that everything is so complicated – from your product set, processes, and all-encompassing training programme – that it’s near-impossible for anyone to feel truly confident in what’s happening and why?
If that’s the case, it’s time to address it! For example, the team at Bupa have undergone a rationalization process to help streamline their current product offering by more than 150% – all helping to make training easier and boost agent confidence along the way.
For more great tips and advice from the Bupa contact centre, read our article: 15 Ideas You Can Use From Bupa’s Contact Centre
4. Make Time to Reflect on What’s Going Well
You should always start any coaching session by first reflecting on what’s going well. This helps to get the conversation off on a positive footing – instead of homing in on the negative.
“The starting point in the methodology of Continue & Begin coaching is to first focus on “Continue” to help people celebrate the things that they are already doing well.
This gives them an instant confidence boost, as you aren’t opening the conversation by saying “Don’t do this” or “Let’s work on this.” – Nick Drake-Knight, Director, Continue & Begin Ltd (NDK Group)
5. Ask “What Will You Do to Make That Even Better?”
…Then you can steer the conversation onto positive next steps.
“For the second part of the conversation, lead with “Begin”, which is to take a positive agent-led approach to how they can start to improve, prompted by the question, “So, what do you want to do that would make your performance even better?”
It’s a far more positive way to frame it than simply telling the agent what you think they need to do to improve.” – Nick Drake-Knight
6. Make Sure Your Training Is Hands On – Not Just Theoretical!
Don’t just expect agents to learn the theory and then go out onto the floor feeling super-confident! Confidence comes from knowledge and support and feeling that their line managers are there to help them if need be.
“Give your agents the tools they need to do a great job, review your training, make it not just theoretical and online, but hands on. Undertake role-playing, shadowing, and practical exercises.
Ensure you give them the tools to handle real-life challenges. Then, be there to offer feedback, support, and encouragement.
If your people understand their positives and key development areas, their confidence will grow.” – Marianne Withers, Founder of withers jones
7. Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate!!!
Particularly in the context of a UK contact centre, there is a reluctance or resistance to self-celebrate, so be proactive in how you help agents overcome this to create a more confident team.
“It’s not a very British thing to say, “Oh, I’m amazing!” There’s always the hesitancy that agents don’t want it to come across as bragging or appearing too arrogant, which is a shame really.
This is where you really need to nurture self-celebration into the culture. Part of this is building in opportunities for self-reflection, so there’s a time and a place in every coaching session or 1-to-1 for an agent to openly say “Now I’ve reflected on that, I can see I’ve had these successes…” – Nick Drake-Knight
After all, the more often you ask the question, the more often agents will reflect on what’s gone well and be more inclined to celebrate it.
You can also overcome this resistance by regularly celebrating wins on a public platform across the business.
“Confidence comes from experience, so set your agents up for success with small, achievable goals.
Then be sure to celebrate every win – whether it’s a great customer interaction, a resolved issue, or even a well-handled difficult call.
Calling out some positive interactions on a company-wide communication platform will boost your agents’ confidence and motivate them to continue providing excellent service.” – Brittany Hodak, Keynote Speaker & Author of Creating Superfans
8. Make It Easier for Agents to Level-Up in Their Career
If an agent who has been with you for two years is on the same level and pay as someone who is just starting out, it can really knock their confidence to feel like they haven’t progressed in the time that they’ve been with you. They can even doubt the contribution they are making to the customer service team as a whole.
One way to address this is to break down your career paths into smaller incremental steps, creating more opportunities for internal promotion and celebration, as well as helping agents to feel more confident that they’ve successfully levelled up from Level 1 to Level 3 (for example).
This can also help with staff retention, as we saw on our site visit to the Superdry team, who overhauled their career path to create 10 different levels instead of 4, as seen in the table below:
9. Create an Environment Where People Feel Safe to Make Mistakes
Confidence also comes from working with a strong sense of psychological safety.
“Ensure you create an environment where your people feel safe to make mistakes and learn from them. Confidence is not just about having all the answers, it is about knowing you have the support and help when it is needed.” – Marianne Withers
This is also underpinned by how you approach agent feedback.
“When you need to address mistakes, always do it in private. Focus on what an agent is doing well before coaching on areas for improvement.” – Brittany Hodak
If you are looking for advice on improving the culture in you contact centre, read our article: 9 Ways to Create a Thriving Contact Centre Culture
10. Make Sure Everyone Knows Where They Stand and What’s Expected of Them
Always make sure your agents are working to explicit standards too, so everyone knows where they stand and what their behaviour is being measured against.
“This approach minimizes the tension between agents and their seniors, as it shifts the dynamic in a positive confidence-boosting way.
This is because it then has nothing to do with “my judgement”, it’s about how an individual is objectively performing against the standards that have been explicitly described.
Critically, these should also be the backbone of their induction training, so there’s no surprises to knock their confidence later on either.” – Nick Drake-Knight
What Have You Tried to Boost Agent Confidence in Your Contact Centre?
Join our LinkedIn community and let us know.
With thanks to the following people for sharing their experiences for this article:
- Brittany Hodak, Keynote Speaker & Author of Creating Superfans
- Marianne Withers, Founder of withers jones
- Nick Drake-Knight, Director, Continue & Begin Ltd (NDK Group)
- Simon Korsholm, Head of Contact Centre Transformation, PMO & Special Projects at HGS – Hinduja Global Solutions
If you are looking for more top advice to help your agents, read these articles next:
- How to Protect Your Agents From Customer Abuse
- 10 Strategies to Help Agents Feel Less Lonely
- How to Build Advisor Confidence
Author: Megan Jones
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson
Published On: 30th Apr 2025
Read more about - Call Centre Management, Brittany Hodak, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Marianne Withers, Nick Drake-Knight, Simon Korsholm, Team Management, Top Story
