Adding young talent might be an edgy situation for a call center because few recruitment rounds cannot determine a candidate’s efficiencies and abilities. Despite the fact, new agents are repeatedly hired by call centers. To expel the chance of a risk, inexperienced reps are given training, by their respective managers before introducing them to the clients.
Customer’s expectations are consistently going high. They rely only on those organizations where they get a quicker solution to their problems and get to interact with skilled agents. So, this is why the agents are provided with qualitative training for meeting the client’s expectations and increasing agent’s productivity significantly.
Here are the 7 Golden Rules of call center agent training which can be used to enhance their sessions:
1) Intensify the Agent’s Skill
A major part of the training sessions should be devoted to the development of the agent’s skill. Here are the few aspects to be covered:
- Clear Intercommunication: Make sure the agents clearly articulate the words when offering something to the clients, whether they are offering discounts or giving them something complementary. Avoid jargons or usage of slangs.
- Empathy: Make sure your agents imagine themselves in the customer’s shoes, this way they will be treating the clients like they want to be treated. Look through their matter and provide them with instant help. They will surely appreciate the gesture.
- First call Resolution: A customer would hate to call you again and again, and at the same time repeat calls add cost to the call center. So, train your agents to perceive its importance.
2) Make them your Product Influencers
Provide your agents with thorough product knowledge. Your reps shouldn’t just know what you are selling they should even believe in it. Doing this can make your agents more like influencers and eventually when they talk to the customers, they will be perceived as an authority. This way they can impress the clients and establish a slender line of trust and credibility.
Along with the product features, the agents should even master the technological tools. The reps should get familiar with CRM, ACD, dialers and different channels of communication.
3) Map the Training Sessions to KPIs
Make sure the training sessions are target-oriented. Figure out a way for your supervisors to keep a record of the training plans and the agent’s individual growth. By having KPIs associated with your training program, you will be able to estimate the status of problems and opportunities for improvement.
4) Couple Theory and On-The-Job Training
Theoretical knowledge is not sufficient; you have to make sure that the reps are implementing the lessons in their workstation as well. For example; calming down furious and anxious customers is not simple. You need to show it in a demo to show how your reps can deal with them and not let them go.
Keep a sure watch over your agents and give them authentic feedback on exactly what steps can be taken to improve, how to improve them and lastly create a plan to execute the appropriate behavior.
5) Create an Ongoing Agent Training Program
Managers overseeing a call center know that their agents require regular training to hone their skills and deliver an exceptional customer service experience. Regular training is crucial for call center agents, whether it’s about any newly launched product, modifications in the existing product, or about hosted contact center solutions.
6) Develop a constructive feedback mechanism
The agent’s level of performance should be measured and evaluated after every training session. It is done to know how much the agent has grasped from the training. And if a rep is lacking somewhere, mentioning them about their problems won’t be enough.
It is crucial to provide them with the adequate directions, so, they would know how they can make an impact in the future. This is a part of the program, it is majorly done to perceive as how many more sessions are required by the reps or they are already qualified for the job.
7) Chart a clear growth path
An agent should be acknowledged about the company’s policies regarding the career growth right in the beginning. This way the new agent will be able to set the goals as where they want to reach after 3 or 5 years. The desire for quicker promotions will motivate the reps to work more effectively and efficiently. Subsequent training sessions can really polish the skills and increase the competency of an agent and turn them into top performers.
How are you coaching your call center agents? I would love to hear your thoughts.
