7 ways to motivate customer service reps

Level: Beginner

Customer service agents are the ones who deal directly with your customers: they listen when they have a problem, follow up on their issues and help them find solutions. Essentially, they are the public face of your brand. If they are demotivated or uncomfortable in their role, they will never be able to provide excellent service.

Considering that 61% of customers have switched brands after receiving poor customer service, looking after the agent experience should be part of your customer loyalty strategy.

“61% of customers have switched brands after receiving poor customer service.”

Microsoft

While financial compensation is a direct factor in motivating customer service reps, a good salary is useless if they don’t feel heard or valued, for example.

That’s why we’ve compiled seven best practices to help you motivate your customer service agents by investing in their long-term happiness.

7 WAYS TO MOTIVATE CUSTOMER SERVICE AGENTS

1. RECOGNISE AND ADDRESS EARLY SIGNS OF BURNOUT

You’ve probably heard the term “burnout” lately; it’s a phenomenon that affects millions of workers worldwide. According to Jeff Toister, an expert on the contact centre agent experience, 59% of agents are at risk of burnout.

“59% of agents are at risk of burnout.”

Jeff Toister

Excessive workloads and daily stress in the contact centre directly contribute to burnout. Poor attitude, failure to meet targets or repeated absenteeism are some of the ways in which this phenomenon manifests itself. 

If some of your reps are exhibiting these symptoms, it is time to take action. The reasons for agent burnout may be due to one specific factor or a combination of things, so it’s best for supervisors to talk to each team member personally.

If you notice widespread burnout, we recommend evaluating customer feedback. With a contact centre tool that can store an intervention history, you can review recent complaints and identify common issues.

2. RECOGNISE THEIR SKILLS AND TALENTS

Did you know that agents who use their skills during customer interactions are 8% more productive? This data from Gallup reveals something important: people feel fulfilled when they can use their talents and achieve results.

The best way to ensure reps are using their soft and hard skills is to have customer service software that enables skills-based routing.

By identifying each agent’s skills, advanced contact centre programs can route specific inquiries to the best available agent who can handle them more effectively.

3. ENSURE AGENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS

Agents should only have to worry about listening and resolving customer queries. If the programme they’re using doesn’t make this task easier, they won’t be able to remain productive. 

The most powerful technology currently supporting millions of contact centre agents is artificial intelligence. With the ability to automatically transcribe conversations, query the CRM to identify a customer, and solve common queries, AI multiplies agent productivity.

Having customer service software that incorporates new technologies such as AI allows agents to focus on more complex tasks, freeing them from mechanical and unproductive actions.

4. PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO AGENTS

Feedback is the most powerful and cost-effective tool contact centres can use to increase agent productivity. Both a sense of progress and recognition are key motivators in the workplace. 

There are two ways to create a feedback culture:

• Monthly: Schedule monthly follow-up meetings to gather agents’ opinions, identify potential shortcomings and set new goals.
• After each interaction: After every customer interaction, create a survey for customers to rate the agent who helped them.

Ongoing feedback not only prevents burnout, but also keeps the team motivated.

5. CREATE A POSITIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Did you know that 83% of contact centre agents have at least one toxic colleague? Toister identifies toxic agents as dishonest individuals who deliberately provide poor service to customers or harass other team members.

“83% of contact centre agents have at least one toxic colleague”.

Jeff Toister

Recognising these behaviours and taking action is vital to creating a positive working environment. If agents are caught in a spiral of negativity, you’ll notice a drop in their productivity.

6. SUPPORT AGENTS DURING CALLS

Sometimes agents are faced with difficult customers or requests they can’t handle. That’s why it’s important to have customer service software that allows supervisors to monitor agents in real time. 

Supervisors can see how much time each agent is spending on a call and even connect live to provide guidance without the customer hearing it.

7. OUTLINE A CAREER PLAN FOR EACH AGENT

You’ve probably wondered whether it’s better to hire new talent or promote someone internally. Making this decision will be much easier if you work on a career plan for each agent. 

Remember that agents who move to positions of greater responsibility or change departments have a great deal of internal knowledge and culture that you want to preserve.

BOTTOM LINE

Turn agent burnout into motivation by continuously improving the contact centre. Establish a culture of recognition and feedback, eliminate potentially toxic agents, create personalised career plans, and above all, empower agents with software that makes their daily tasks easier.

Discover the real impact that advanced customer service software can have on agent productivity. Contact our team of experts on +34 900 670 750 or chat below.