Quality call monitoring is a simple and easy process that will produce significant results on your company’s bottom line. It is essential for any call center interested in improving service quality while decreasing costs.
Call monitoring allows managers to identify problems, maintain quality standards, improve the customer experience and improve agent, call center and departmental performance.
Below is a list of suggestions to help you improve your call monitoring methodology and practices.
1. Make sure that you have call center software that allows for call monitoring, recording and call barging.
2. Involve call center agents, managers and stakeholders in developing scorecards/evaluation forms that will measure call center agent performance as they are on the call;
3. Train all managers on how to “score” agents performance and assess for inter-rater reliability.
4. Use the scorecard to train agents so they have an accurate understanding of which behaviors will be assessed.
5. Develop a coach and manager training program to ensure that they are most effective at monitoring calls.
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6. Use the scorecard to monitor live calls for:
7. Provide agents with immediate, consistent and constructive feedback.
8. Have an action plan in place for agents, departments and teams when their performance does not meet predefined standards.
9. Routinely communicate performance expectations and results.
10. Include call quality performance in the annual review process.
11. Incorporate Call Quality Results into Employee Compensation and Incentive Plans.
12. Acknowledge excellent interactions and reward them (match the reward to the person and the achievement).
13. Monitor the same calls that are being surveyed.
14. Drop in on critical calls (ensure that you have call center software that allows agents to alert a manager when they need assistance).
15. Ensure that the call monitoring processes is standardized and consistent in order to gain a more reliable measure of performance.
By engaging in systematic, standardized quality call monitoring practices, you will ensure that your team is delivering consistently excellent service. You will increase agent effectiveness, customer satisfaction and company performance while decreasing agent turnover and costs. It is a small investment with a huge ROI.