10 Strategies to Improve Agent Productivity

Celia Cerdeira at Talkdesk outlines 10 strategies that can help improve agent productivity in contact centres.

Agent productivity is the driving force behind efficient operations, exceptional customer service, and your company’s bottom line.

Achieving optimal productivity, though, isn’t always straightforward. It requires a balance of skills, resources, motivation, and management to ensure every agent is performing at their best.

So how can you boost agent productivity in your contact centre?

In this guide, we’ll explore 10 strategies to improve agent productivity, including:

1. Recruiting and training successful agents.
2. Facilitating ongoing professional development.
3. Setting clear expectations.
4. Leveraging customer self-service solutions.
5. Using a centralized ticketing system.
6. Empowering agents with knowledge management systems.
7. Connecting customers with intelligent routing.
8. Implementing a workforce management solution.
9. Promoting work-life balance.
10. Making the best use of rewards and recognition.

These strategies will ensure you’re better equipped to create a high-performing, motivated team of agents.

How Do You Measure Agent Productivity in Contact Centres?

Contact centres typically evaluate agent productivity through specific key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs are data-driven call centre metrics that provide insights into individual and team performance, helping management make informed decisions about operations and staffing.

For example, one KPI could be first contact resolution—the percentage of customer issues that are resolved in the initial interaction. A higher first contact resolution rate shows agents are addressing customer queries with no need for follow-ups, which is a clear sign of high productivity.

Another crucial KPI is average handle time (AHT), which measures the average time an agent takes to handle an interaction, including hold and after-call work time.

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores, usually measured through surveys or feedback forms, average hold time, average speed of answer, and abandonment time are other valuable KPIs to consider.

While these KPIs are valuable for gauging agent productivity, it’s important to remember that just measuring productivity isn’t enough—if it’s low, improving it needs to be a top priority.

Not sure where to start? Here’s our suggestions.

10 Ways to Improve Agent Productivity.

We have identified 10 solid strategies that can greatly enhance call centre agent skills and productivity in contact centres.

1. Hire and Train the Right Agents.

Improving agent efficiency starts with hiring the right people for the job. The most productive call centre agents have a unique blend of excellent communication skills, empathy, problem-solving abilities, resilience, and a customer-focused attitude.

These qualities allow agents to handle customer queries effectively and contribute positively to the overall productivity of the call centre.

Once the right agents are hired, make sure they get quality onboarding. The initial onboarding helps familiarize new hires with the company’s processes, tools, customer base, and expectations while also providing the foundational knowledge required to perform their roles effectively.

2. Provide Ongoing Agent Training.

Continuous training is key to enhancing agent productivity, helping agents stay updated with the latest industry trends and improving their problem-solving abilities.

One of the key benefits of ongoing training is that it helps agents refine their customer service skills. Through regular call centre training sessions, agents can learn how to handle difficult customers, manage stress, and deliver a consistent service that exceeds customer expectations.

Ongoing training also conveys to agents that the company values their professional growth, which can boost agent morale, motivation, and job satisfaction.

Agent training features are designed to help agents enhance their skills, improve their knowledge, and become more productive. It also gives agents the tools they need to deliver exceptional customer service consistently.

3. Set Clear Expectations and KPIs.

Setting clear expectations starts with defining the roles and responsibilities of each agent. Outline the jobs they are expected to complete, detail the standards they need to meet, and ensure they understand the level of service they need to provide customers. When agents have a clear understanding of their role, they will be better focused and more productive.

After defining expectations, establish measurable KPIs that align with those expectations. Monitoring the KPIs lets you track agent performance and identify areas for improvement, and providing regular feedback based helps agents understand how they are performing and where they can improve.

4. Leverage Customer Self-Service Solutions.

Leveraging customer self-service solutions has become necessary for improving productivity because empowering customers to find solutions to their problems independently takes a huge load off your agents’ shoulders. This enhances customer satisfaction and frees up agents to focus on more complex customer needs.

One popular self-service tool is AI chatbots, which can handle simple inquiries, guide customers through basic troubleshooting steps, and provide information on common questions.

Another effective tool is a well-structured FAQ section on your website that addresses a wide range of common customer inquiries, reducing the number of basic questions directed at your agents.

Self-service features are designed to streamline customer interactions while reducing the workload on agents and enhancing their productivity.

5. Implement a Centralized Ticketing System.

A centralized ticketing system can significantly improve agent efficiency, consolidating all customer conversations from different channels—email, social media, phone calls, live chat, etc.—into a single workspace.

This means agents no longer have to switch between different platforms to manage customer interactions, saving valuable time and reducing the risk of missing or overlooking inquiries.

This type of system also provides a complete history of each customer’s interactions with your company, which allows agents to provide personalized service and resolve issues more quickly.

A ticketing system streamlines customer interactions and allows agents to manage customer inquiries more effectively, leading to improved response times and higher customer satisfaction.

6. Provide Agents With Knowledge Management Systems.

Knowledge is power, particularly when it comes to customer service. A well-structured knowledge management system serves as a centralized repository of information that agents can quickly refer to when handling customer inquiries.

Providing agents with access to this kind of comprehensive system equips them with the information they need to resolve customer issues quickly.

A quality knowledge management system should include details about your products or services, troubleshooting guides, FAQs, and any other information that can assist agents in resolving customer issues.

Knowledge management systems allow agents to resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently, improving customer satisfaction.

7. Implement Intelligent Routing Features.

Intelligent routing ensures customer inquiries are delivered to the most suitable agents based on the agents’ expertise or other relevant criteria. Matching customer inquiries with the right agents reduces response times and improves the overall efficiency of your customer service team.

For example, intelligent routing optimizes agent productivity by matching the customer with the right agent to handle. This helps companies to deliver efficient, personalized customer service at scale.

8. Implement a Workforce Management Solution.

Workforce management solutions can improve agent productivity by optimizing agent schedules. These solutions use historical data and predictive analytics to forecast interaction volumes.

They then align agent schedules to ensure the right number of agents are available at the right times, reducing customer wait times and optimizing agent utilization. These solutions can also include performance management features that provide personalized coaching and feedback to agents.

A workforce engagement management solution helps to boost agent productivity and improve customer service levels. With features like intelligent scheduling, real-time analytics, and personalized coaching, it provides the tools to manage your workforce effectively and maximize agent productivity.

9. Promote Agent Well-Being and Work-Life Balance.

A balanced lifestyle contributes to happier, healthier agents who are more motivated, productive, and capable of delivering superior customer service.

Promoting work-life balance involves implementing policies and practices that allow agents to manage their time effectively between work and personal activities.

This could involve offering flexible working hours, remote work options, or wellness programs that promote physical and mental health.

It also means acknowledging your agents’ hard work and efforts, providing regular feedback, and creating a supportive work environment that can significantly enhance agent well-being.

You can boost your agents’ morale, motivation, and job satisfaction by showing that you value them and care about their personal needs.

10. Use Rewards to Improve Agent Productivity.

Recognizing and rewarding agents for their hard work and achievements is a proven strategy for boosting motivation, engagement, and productivity. In fact, 69% of employees state they would work harder and be more committed if their company appreciated their efforts.

Rewards can come in many forms, from monetary bonuses and promotions to public praise, certificates of achievement, or additional vacation days. The key is to ensure the rewards are meaningful to the agents and aligned with your company’s values and goals.

Get More Insights Into Improving Agent Productivity.

Improving agent productivity is not just about increasing agent efficiency, it’s about fostering a work environment that inspires excellence, promotes continuous learning, and values employee well-being.

Tools like centralized ticketing systems, knowledge management systems, intelligent routing features, and workforce management solutions can streamline your customer service operations and equip your agents with the tools they need to succeed.

Promoting agent well-being and work-life balance and implementing reward programs, meanwhile, can boost morale, motivation, and job satisfaction, leading to higher call centre productivity levels.

The journey to improving agent productivity doesn’t stop there, either. There are always more strategies to explore, more improvements to make, and more insights to glean.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Talkdesk – View the Original Article

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Talkdesk is a global customer experience leader for customer-obsessed companies. Our contact center solution provides a better way for businesses and customers to engage with one another.

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Author: Talkdesk