Three Ways to Improve Agent Performance in Real-Time

Today, we receive real-time flash sale notifications, alerts for bank and credit card transactions; we know how many “likes” we have on a social post… So why shouldn’t agents receive real-time advice, feedback for improvement and valuable information on your performance?

What Tools Does the Call Center Have to Help Agents Perform at Their Best at All Times?

What if every agent could be trained in every interaction? What would the Customer Satisfaction Impact (CSAT) be?

1) Call Transcription and Artificial Intelligence

Today’s contact centers can use real-time call transcription and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate scores and prompts to guide agents on specific behaviors they need to improve. These real-time interactions can lead to the best possible CSAT outcome for clients. Thus, an agent can know what to improve while still on the call.

To optimize interactions in real time, a notification about how to “improve active listening” or “show empathy” can be displayed so that the agent knows that their current behavior should be modified given the current sentiment of the customer and the content of the conversation. You may also receive a notification such as “high propensity to quit” to let the agent know that the customer is upset and to adjust her approach, tone, and demeanor to aid retention. Automatically notify agents in real-time is an opportunity to improve current engagement is helpful for companies.

2) Real-time Screen Monitoring

While alerting employees in real time is helpful, there are still times when an agent needs the help of their supervisor. But in 2020 and also in 2021, in response to COVID-19, being physically present in the call center to assist an agent in an interaction is no longer an option, as most agents work remotely.

To aid in complicated calls, a supervisor interface can be used to listen to any live interaction to assist the agent, or even join the active call, anytime, anywhere. But many times, listening to the interaction in real time is not enough. To help the agent, supervisors must be able to see their screens to understand what is happening, in the specific history of that customer, etc. That’s where real-time screen monitoring comes into play to win, as it allows supervisors to see the agent’s screen in real time and hear the interaction.

Real-time screen monitoring is essential to provide effective advice and assistance to agents, especially in a work-from-home environment.

3) Real-time Performance Dashboards

But for many call center agents, every day is a challenge when it comes to dealing with inquiries and questions from customers. We’re talking about how agents are performing against important metrics.

Often times, agents only know their performance when they receive a weekly or monthly scorecard with all their statistics. But at that point, what’s done is done, so they can’t change their previous performance. While they can use past performance to help them improve in the future, real-time performance dashboards allow agents to improve their results now. The best contact center performance management software ensures agents know in real time how they are performing relative to goals and peers, and uses social engagement and gamification to motivate them to improve.

Real-time Tools Have a Real Impact

Helping agents improve performance in real time has a real impact across the organization. Whether employees are in the office or working from home, these tools allow agents and supervisors to do their best work every day to make every day and every customer experience a positive one.