Call Center - Improving Quality through Coaching

BMW, The Ritz-Carlton, Kodak, Dell, Microsoft, Volvo, Smuckers, Kleenex, Crayola. Do these places all have customer service Call Centers? Are they relevant to our audience? Does that matter? I think you only need to name five.

What do these companies have in common? They are all known for their quality. Merriam-Webster defines quality as a degree or grade of excellence and an inherent or distinguishing characteristic or trait. For Call Centers, providing a “Quality Experience” to your customers competes for priority with other metrics such as call handle time, call volume and full time equivalent. However, it can become a distinguishing trait. So how can Call Center managers improve the quality of their customers’ experiences?

Focus Points to Higher Quality

Creating a quality call experience requires three primary focus points. First, you need to define what quality looks and sounds like in your Call Center. This may be defined by your customers’ needs, the financial? Needs of the Call Center, or by scores or other deliverables for which you are responsible. However you define quality in your working environment, it is essential to communicate that effectively to front-line employees who interact with your customers the most.

The second focus point involves monitoring. In order to know what kind of experience your customers are having, you have to listen to how your customer service representatives handle calls. When you monitor a representative’s quality, you must consider tangible behaviors like using the correct greeting, description of product and documentation methods as well as intangible behaviors including manner of speaking, tone of voice and attitude toward customers. You should be able to document and discuss these behaviors in order to correct what is not working and to expand upon what is working well. Once you identify these behaviors, apply the last focus point, which includes feedback and coaching.

The third focus point for creating a quality call experience is coaching. Representatives not only need to know that they are being monitored, but also that somebody cares about the type of job they are doing. Quality Assurance (QA) scores alone, while helpful, rarely have enough impact on a representative to change or improve their behaviors. Effective communication is the first step towards enhancing performance and as a follow-up to that, Connective Coaching can make all the difference between success and frustration.

The Connective Coaching Model allows managers to build on employees’ existing skills, to offer relevant suggestions for improvement and to provide employees with a platform to monitor their own successes and coach others. Managers can easily apply this five-step model.

Invite: Let your customer service representative know that you will be coaching them and will provide any help or support they need.

By informing them of your intentions before hand, the representative becomes engaged in the coaching process.

Also in doing so, the manager not only shows concerns for the representative’s performance, but also established an atmosphere in which feedback and development are accepted and viewed as positive

Observe and Ask: After observing representatives, ask them to assess what they did well and which skills they can improve.

To open a feedback session, use questions, which show interest in the representative’s self assessments and help them think about their performance.

Socrates felt that by involving his students with thought-provoking questions, he could enhance comprehension and learning.

Specific Observations: Offer your observations, providing specific examples of two things they did well and an example of one skill they can improve. The key to making this effective is being precise.

“Susan, I agree that you asked really good discovery questions. I also think that you maintained control of the call. What will enhance your close rate is developing some statements that will allow you to overcome common objections…”

Express Confidence: An important element in a feedback session is to express your confidence in the representative’s ability to make improvements and to offer your support in helping them do so. This is an effective use of positive reinforcement.

“Susan, I believe that you can develop some powerful statements to help you overcome those objections that you find so difficult to address.”

Establish Follow-up: Finally establish a time to follow up and check progress. An effective manager must demonstrate commitment to their representatives’ growth. This confirms your sincerity to assisting with their development and success. Indicate a specific time for the follow-up meeting.

“Susan, why don’t you work on it for a couple of days and I will follow up with you Wednesday afternoon.”

Connective Coaching for improved performance and higher quality service can be one of the most rewarding and challenging interactions you have with your employees. As an effective coach it is your responsibility to guide, discuss, educate and encourage employees to achieve outstanding results. In the absence of good feedback, employees will provide their own. If a manager never gives effective feedback, inexperienced employees may think that they are doing a great job and more surprisingly, capable employees may have a negative impression of their performance.

Creating high quality requires an investment in the processes through constantly reviewing and refining goals and skills. By defining the standard, monitoring and coaching you can improve your representatives’ performances, enhance your customers’ experiences and add your name to the list of high-quality, icon companies.

Carole Sue Jones is a Trainer and Instructional Designer with 10 years of experience in Call Center Management and Training.

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