20 Great Contact Centre Tips to Start the New Year

Here are 20 great tips that were sent in by viewers of our industry-leading webinar programme, which may provide some great insights to start your new year on a high.

At the end of each webinar, we present a “winning tip” from each of the ideas that our audience shared with one another.

We hope that you like them and they provide valuable insights for the year ahead.

1. Include Empathy on Your Call Evaluation Criteria

“We created a call evaluation form where empathy is one of the key factors. We decided on the measures by using call examples to create a benchmark. We involved the team in this as they are the ones who take the calls.

“Every call is different so it’s about having a mutual understanding of expectations – coaches also collaborate in evaluations for consistency.”

Thanks to louise28

Our article An Action Plan for Customer Empathy outlines how call centres can build a culture of customer empathy.

2. Ambiguity Is the Enemy of High Performance

“A tip from me would be that ambiguity is the enemy of high performance. So the message is to give clear targets to create that results-focused culture.”

Thanks to Paul130

3. See Your Customers as Invited Guests to a Party

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little better!”

Thanks to Emily10

4. Bring a Problem Solve a Problem

Open up your online briefings or team huddles with BAPSAP

“You could open up your online briefings or team huddles with BAPSAP (Bring a Problem Solve a Problem). This is for team members to resolve the issues within their peer group. It is a quick way of building knowledge.”

Thanks to AlexU1

5. Asking the Agents What Schedule They Want

“Instead of sending a list of schedules we need agents to swap to, we send a survey asking the agents what schedule they want. We then select those that help us to balance out our staffing levels.”

Thanks to Danny15

6. Make Sure That Supervisors Are Listening to the Calls

“In order to be effective, supervisors need to be listening to the calls so they truly understand what is happening in the call centre. That should be the largest part of their jobs. If you reduce this, it pulls them away from this critical component.”

Thanks to Eric11

7. Virtual Lunch Hall

“We have created a virtual lunch hall via Teams – to simulate the canteen or breakout area. It is an area where you can log in whilst having your break, etc. It encourages social interaction.”

Thanks to Nikki11

For tips on how to engage your remote teams and invigorate morale, read our article: 15 Great Ideas to Make Remote Working Fun

8. The Best Way to Deal With a Call Is Not to Get It in the First Place

“The best way to deal with a call is not to get it in the first place. Understand what calls you are receiving and what drives those calls.

“Work with other areas of the business to look at automated processes (e.g. website) or proactive customer experience management to reduce incoming calls, without negatively impacting customer experience.”

Thanks to Allan5

9. Share Learning Around the Organization

“Empower the customer service teams to both answer the customers’ questions and to share learning with ecommerce, produce, CX and development teams. This can help reduce contact going forward by improving the CX, product offering, website design, FAQs etc.”

Thanks to Aaron14

10. How Are Your Employees?

Take time in your 1-to-1s to discuss how your employee is feeling and anything they need from you.

“Take time in your 1-to-1s not to talk about stats and performance, just discuss how your employee is feeling and anything they need from you. That is their time to discuss what’s going on with them at that time :)”

Thanks to Alex50

11. Map Out Your Processes With Emotional States

“Map out your process and overlay customer touchpoints and then overlay their emotional state at each stage. This will highlight pain points in your process that are driving dissatisfaction.”

Thanks to Robert25

12. Include Time-to-Competence in Your Staffing Calculations

“Include speed-to-competency calculations in your forecast based on new people and/or returning people to the roles. They won’t be 100% efficient from day 1– so phase this in line with expectation.”

Thanks to Garry3

Read 10 Things You Need When Calculating How Many Contact Centre Advisors You Need for information on what else you need to be aware of when scheduling staff.

13. Over-the-Shoulder Coaching Can Be Very Effective

“Be proactive with advisor feedback.

“Real-time or over-the-shoulder coaching to drive the customer experience can be as effective, if not better, than a formal 1-to-1.”

Thanks to Kim35

14. Don’t Multitask Your Advisors

“We have to be aware doing multiple interactions at the same time, just because we can reduce the quality in one of the channels. Multitasking is not effective at all, say recent studies.”

Thanks to Nelson2

15. Be Careful Selecting Advisors for Live Chat

“When selecting agents to work on live chat or direct messaging platforms, you need to be careful that they are comfortable with using the written word in the local language. Otherwise a simple request or question can quickly turn into a dissatisfied customer and potentially a complaint.”

Thanks to Ian42

Our article How to Write Good Customer Support Chat Scripts – With Examples outlines how to write great customer support scripts, to give advisors a little extra help.

16. Carry Out Workshops After Peak Periods

“After a peak, whilst the experience is fresh, have team group workshops to discuss issues. This then helps you to make changes and plan for the next one.”

Thanks to Christine21

17. Find Out What Your Staff Want From You

“Have open and honest conversations with your staff to understand what they want from you as an employer and how you can support their career development. If they feel engaged, valued and cared for, they’re far more likely to stay or be honest if they are thinking of moving on.”

Thanks to Emma77

18. Get the Agent Journey Right and FCR Will Be the Natural Outcome

“Controversially….FCR means nothing if the agent journey is too difficult to navigate. How can the agent give a great experience if their own experience is terrible? Get the agent journey right and FCR should be the natural outcome instead of chasing it like an out-of-reach target.”

Thanks to Kelly34

For more advice on how to improve FCR, read our article: 20 Tried and Tested Tips to Improve First Call Resolution (FCR)

19. Give Everyone the Opportunity to Be the Hero

“Give everyone an equal opportunity to be the hero of their own success.
“Continually recognize and reward people for their effort (and by reward, it’s not just physical rewards).”

Thanks to Nick48

20. Set Key Dates Each Year to Review the Customer Journey

“Set key dates throughout each year to review the customer journey through the customer’s perception. What blockers did you face? Where was the friction? And then focus on these areas to help improve.”

Thanks to Becky8

Thanks to everyone who has watched our webinars this year and contributed with great tips.

For more fun, festive contact centre tips, read our articles:

• 28 Great Contact Centre Tips to Start the New Year
• New Year Resolution Ideas for Your Call Centre
• 34 Winning Contact Centre Tips to Successfully Start the New Year

Author: Robyn Coppell