All business owners want their businesses to grow. And, for the most part, they all need strong teams in order to make that happen. Both you and the members of your staff need to be on the same page if you expect your brand to be successful. Are they with you in your quest to provide the best customer service in your industry? No matter what your goals are, your employees must know about them. And they must be given the tools so that they can do their part.
It all starts with training. As a provider of VoIP-based Commercial Phone Services, the MeloTel team works with a number of Canadian business owners who run call centre-based organizations. As a result, we’re aware of how much time and dedication goes into training new hires. We’ve learned that you can’t stop training once a new hire is on the phone. If anything, that’s where the real training starts!
On-the-job training is arguably the best type of experience a worker can get. And, as a business owner, it’s your job to ensure that each of your employees receive regular feedback to keep them all sharp and on their toes. Don’t assume that they’re all experts at what they’re doing. There is always room for improvement. To make your business the best it can be, don’t shy away from providing regular feedback.
Here are five effective ways to offer feedback to employees:
1. Offer specific advice. Instead of offering such tips as “try to be friendlier on your future calls”, be clear about what your phone rep said in a recent call and give a specific example of how he/she can improve. “I noticed that you ended your last call by saying, ‘okay, bye’. On future calls, please ask if there is anything more you can do to help the customer and then offer him or her a pleasantry like ‘thank you for calling, have a great evening.’”
2. Monitor your tone and demeanour. Not everyone takes feedback with the same amount of appreciation. Your call centre is bound to occupy individuals of varying personalities. Remember that when offering your feedback. Some people prefer the straight up approach. Others may respond better to subtle, yet supportive ways of letting them know how they can improve on the job. Get to know your staff members so you can get to know how to communicate with them.
3. Align your feedback with your company’s mission statement. It’s important that your employees don’t feel as if you’re providing feedback for feedback’s sake. Remind them of the goals that you’ve set out for your business in your morning meetings. If you don’t have morning meetings, it’s a good idea to get them going. They can service as great motivators and reminders as to why your team is so needed and appreciated.
4. Schedule your feedback sessions. Feedback doesn’t have to be a surprise. In fact, it shouldn’t be. If your employees know that they’re calls are being monitored and that they may be the subject of future feedback sessions, they will work to improve with each call. As well, it helps to not make people feel as if they’re being caught off guard. Let your team members get used to sitting down to talk with you at a scheduled time at least once a week.
5. Take advantage of MeloTel’s Monitor/Whisper Control Panel. This amazing feature allows you to listen in on your phone reps’ calls without being detected. And, if necessary, you can offer your feedback by subtly dropping in on the call to coach your agent live and while the call is happening. The other party won’t hear you. The Monitor/Whisper Control Panel has been known to dramatically improve call centre production and overall customer experiences.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the “Live Chat Support” feature on our website!
