As we highlighted in our last blog, feedback sessions should be conversations that involve the thoughts and concerns of both parties – the call centre supervisor and his/her phone agent. The importance of providing quality feedback in any call centre environment cannot be understated.
Feedback should involve self-evaluation.
Remember that, as a call centre supervisor, you shouldn’t be doing all the talking in your feedback sessions. In fact, you may want to allow your phone agents to begin the conversations. Figure out how they’re feeling about their performances. Ask them where they can see improvements in the ways in which the business handles its customer service policies. This will give you better insight on how to help improve each unique phone agent in your centre.
According to CallMiner.com, “the best coaches give agents the opportunity to review their monitored contacts and allow them to express how much their performance stunk before the coach goes and does it for them.”
Feedback needs to be encouraging, not deflating.
If a feedback session with you is nothing but bad news, you’re not going to produce motivated workers. Your call centre will be filled with depressed, anxiety-filled employees who aren’t bound to make your customers feel any better. Be sure to offer feedback that is motivational in nature. Acknowledge the areas of improvement you’d like to see in your workers, but express your belief that things can be picked up.
“Often, when employees understand the reasons behind the feedback and can see the bigger picture, they are more willing to make the effort to change,” says CallCentreHelper.com, “It becomes less about them as an individual and what they might be doing wrong, and more about helping them see how they can improve their skills and knowledge to become more effective.”
Feedback must be specific.
It’s not good enough to say such things as “You definitely need to pick things up” or “I expect better from you next time”. Not only are such phrases demoralizing and borderline condescending, they don’t specify what you’d like to actually see improve. Be crystal clear about the actions you’d like your agents to take to foster improvement.
“Leaders offering vague or non-specific feedback often fall short of providing agents with the real-world examples and actionable advice they need to improve their performance,” notes CallMiner.com, “Tools like interaction analytics can help call center managers identify relevant issues and deliver precise, targeted feedback to agents and have a more direct impact on metrics like call handling time.”
Feedback can be made easier with Monitor/Whisper Control Panel.
At MeloTel, we believe there’s no better way to provide feedback than to utilize MeloTel’s Monitor/Whisper Control Panel. It allows call centre managers to “monitor” calls live while being undetected. That way, they’re able to easily keep track of call compliance while establishing powerful training tools.
The service also lets you “whisper” suggestions or jump into conversations whenever reps are in need of assistance. In the event that an interaction requires a supervisor’s intervention, you quickly “barge-in” to immediately assist and resolve any pending issues your rep may be unable to fulfill.
For more information about Monitor/Whisper Control Panel, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-888-MELOTEL. You may also use the Live Chat feature on our website!
