Let s look at some simple ways your workforce optimization solution can ramp up agent training and development, and ultimately, agent performance:

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1 Coordinated Systems, Inc. 165 Burnside Avenue, East Hartford, CT USA (860) Call Recording and Workforce Optimization Solutions Top 11 Ways To Boost Contact Center Agent Performance This white paper touches on the ways your contact center can improve agent performance by using a call recording and call monitoring solution. Improving agent performance has many benefits, including creating a healthy work environment, where teams of agents can collectively strive to achieve common goals. It also makes sense that improved agent performance will also yield an improved customer experience. *We ve recently updated this whitepaper to include real-time agent webcam monitoring and recording as a difference-making tool. See #11 below. Let s look at some simple ways your workforce optimization solution can ramp up agent training and development, and ultimately, agent performance: 1) Use recorded calls to allow agents to hear themselves speak Even the best agents make mistakes. Most don t even realize this when they re making them. Playing back their recorded calls will enlighten them. When an agent first hears themselves going Uhmmmm, you can see the funny look on their face as they think, that s what I sound like?. Chances are after they realize that there IS room for improvement, they will embrace the opportunity to do just that. If you have integrated screen capture, your agents will also be able to watch how they used their applications as they handled the call. This may end up unleashing their harshest critic yet: themselves! 2) Use real-time dashboard analytics to give agents a glimpse at their performance vs. their peers

2 If your system has an Agent Portal, (giving agents the ability to log into the quality monitoring system) chances are it provides authorized agents with dashboard views which allow you to drill down through multiple levels, from organization-wide data to department views to agent views down to question views and the ability to click right to the referenced event s recording. In the case of Virtual Observer (CSI s solution), the Virtual Observer Agent Portal also enables agents with the proper permissions to view standard performance and trending reports. Phonetic-based speech analytics can ramp up the training process by identifying calls which contain improper phrasing or slang words used by agents in realtime! Many call monitoring systems now offer sophisticated speech analytics functionalities, giving QA managers and their teams the abilities to find critical calls quickly through simple keyword phrase search; automate the process of script adherence and call scoring using speech analytics evaluation forms; and create dynamic, real-time analytics reports and dashboards giving key personnel the metrics they need to make informed business decisions. 3) Automate the E-Learning process to more quickly help struggling agents E-Learning is a great concept: delivering training material electronically to those who need it. Many of the newer E- Learning capabilities available in today s quality monitoring solutions also take it to a higher level, enabling agents to log in and access a queue of learning tasks right from within the portal. Fully automated systems, such as Virtual Observer, will follow the E-Learning task through completion. Ideally, agents can access their histories of learning and materials for later reference. Supervisors now have the ability to see which agents respond best to their training materials. Pictured: CSI s Virtual Observer Speech Analytics 4) Empower contact center supervisors with more agent assistance capabilities With an Agent Portal, supervisors can view the progress of their agents E- Learning efforts and correlate to actual performance metrics, viewing how their training materials are assisting in agent development. In many ways, the capabilities in an Agent Portal will compliment or even replace the resources required for face-to-face coaching. Call Recording with screen capture functionality allows for greater understanding of how agents use their applications. Screen capture Page 2 of 7

3 technology isn t only for nabbing solitaire players or web surfers during business hours it can also be used to watch an agent navigate through a crm while helping a customer on the phone. Often time-saving process improvements can be made after observing CRM usage. Screen capture, and especially video-mode screen capture (where every on screen movement is captured, not just stills), can also make a supervisor s job that much easier. 5) Provide management with real-time dashboard analytics to keep them in the loop on agent development Executives, Managers, Supervisors, and even agents are being empowered with access to analytic reports and dashboards. With a web-based user interface, even non-technical staff can access critical and timely data such as most recent evaluations, last 10 evaluations, recent calls, 30 day averages, and more. Agent performance metrics are now, and always, on display. 6) Utilize statistics from workforce management schedules to find time slots for E-Learning Many organizations work with both call monitoring solutions and workforce management systems in their contact centers. It s beneficial to have the systems share some data, such as user profiles, work schedules, and such. For example, an E-Learning tool could look at the WFM schedule and determine availability for training. Many vendors have taken this as far as to integrate both systems within the same user interface. Calling this WFO (Workforce Optimization), it typically involves a technology acquisition or multiple acquisitions. At CSI, we ve researched extensively before identifying the best-of-breed workforce partner. We re now working toward an integrated offering. Page 3 of 7

4 7) Include the agents in your quality monitoring processes A call recording and quality monitoring solution such as Virtual Observer is a robust tool for employee development, but most of it is supervisor-intensive. The new Agent Portal feature facilitates agent improvement by closing the loop and including the agent themselves in the process. By including the agent, their involvement alone may make them take ownership of their own training and improvement initiatives. 8) Reduce training cycle times and agent turnover Call Monitoring systems offer scoring and evaluation functionalities which speed up the learning curve. This one seems rather obvious before the evaluation process was automated, supervisors had to sit side-by-side with employees, take notes, fill out spreadsheets, develop training material and provide feedback to employees and compile reports for management. If this process took three hours, the automated process takes three minutes. That s not an exact calculation, of course, but you get the picture. Even worse, recording calls without an evaluation element keeps you from improving at the rapid pace that is available to you. Page 4 of 7

5 9) Give agents more incentive to improve themselves Preparing to research a Call Monitoring Project? here s a quick checklist which you ll need to have ready: - # of agents/seats in your call centers - # of call center locations - Make and model of phone system model & handsets - # of Supervisors who will need to playback calls Call center customer service agents, knowing they are going to be recorded, may be motivated to start stepping their game up. They'll want their scores to be decent. If the implementation of the call monitoring system is rolled out in a positive manner, the employees will embrace the effort to make them better at their jobs. Important questions you ll want to bounce off your team: - Do we want to record every call? - If multi-location, do we want all recorded calls to be saved back to a centralized server? - Do we want to record screens? - Do we need PCI Compliance? - How long do we want to archive calls? - Do we have evaluation forms to use in the system? - What reports do we require? 10) Give agents more confidence and reduce turnover Call Monitoring can reduce turnover and stagnation by providing a measurable means of improvement. A good quality monitoring system can provide managers with the ability to focus in on skill areas where employees need help. Implemented properly, a call monitoring system can provide a continuous improvement of agent performance. Agents will grow less frustrated and stagnant. As their skills improve, so will their ability to get to the next level. The best contact center tools enable teams to work to common goals and expectations. No QA program should be implemented without first having everyone on board with both the concept and the goals. Both management and employees should have common goals, expectations and metrics the momentum of a cohesive team effort will often empower the ability to exceed those goals! For more information regarding the Virtual Observer Agent Portal, an included feature in the Virtual Observer Call Recording and Quality Optimization solution, please inquire at 11) Consider using agent webcam recording Real-Time Webcam Contact Center Recording & Monitoring is a Virtual Observer exclusive feature and was developed from listening to our Page 5 of 7

6 customers who wish to learn more about smart phone abuse and other distractions that lead to agent performance issues (# s of calls per hour, out of adherence trends, fraud prevention, safety and security (reviewing what actually occurred during unplanned emergency events). Supervisors can now use webcam recording and monitoring to monitor agent motion and activity, facial expressions, body language, behavior patterns, employee code of conduct and ethics. This new feature is a logical extension of the original contact center monitoring goal: to make your agents the best they can possibly be. The feature, intended to be another performance tool in your contact center s utility belt, can be enabled or disabled for environments who wish to not have web cam capabilities. The new webcam feature also presents itself in the playback experience, allowing supervisors to watch what the employee was doing on their PC while they were interacting with a caller, at the same time they can hear the conversation and view what is captured from the screen. This will allow the evaluation process to now include all agent perspectives, from their voice, to their screen and now their body language and behaviors (such as smart phone usage when out of adherence or during extended hold times or when writing down credit card numbers). Used as a training tool, VO webcam recording & monitoring encourages a positive body language, which translates to how the agents come across during interactions. It is recommended to involve your agents in the webcam rollout. Being open and honest about implementing a tool which will help them in their career is the best way to proceed. Page 6 of 7

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