The percentage of contact centers that allow remote work skyrocketed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this phenomenon has also highlighted the need for specialized work from home call center solutions.
In the US, only 7% of employees reported working remotely at least partially before the pandemic. As of June 2021, that number has increased to 30%, and call centers workers are among the professionals leading the charge. However, contact centers need to make the right adjustments in order to allow their employees to work remotely for an extended period of time.
Our team at Autopilot Reviews works closely with hybrid and fully remote call centers to ensure that they collect valuable information from their customers. In this article, we’ll go over the difference between in-person and remote call centers. We’ll also provide steps to improve the performance of your remote agents and go over tips to create an environment that promotes teamwork.
Are Specialized Work from Home Call Center Solutions Necessary?
Before diving into the nitty-gritty, let’s take a moment to go over work from home call centers and explain why they need specialized tools.
While some organizations allow part-time or hybrid setups, most work from home contact centers have permanent remote teams. From training to operations and any potential ascensions, work from home employees usually remain remote throughout the duration of their contracts. However, employee behavior slightly changes when working remotely, so call center managers need to make adjustments that set agents up for success.
For example, many companies fear that the lack of in-person interactions can result in agents that are not engaged while working. Additionally, 40% of remote employees find that unplugging after work is their biggest challenge. This, in turn, can lead to agent burnout and underperformance.
While it’s possible to use some tools in both in-person and remote call centers, many platforms are designed for location-based facilities. Instead of using these and working around their limitations, your best alternative is to choose tools that are designed specifically to encourage and improve the performance of remote agents.
How Are In-Person and Work from Home Call Center Solutions Different?
All on-site call centers are different, even if they are part of the same ownership group. This means that every call center faces a unique set of challenges and, thus, also requires a distinct set of solutions.
With this in mind, it’s safe to assume that every single employee has unique working conditions. From the physical setup to the device being used to the speed of the internet connection, there are dozens of variables that call centers have to take into account while managing a remote team.
Moreover, because agents are not in the same facility, monitoring energy levels is not as easy as walking around the floor and interacting with a few employees. Therefore, you need to find creative ways to keep them engaged and productive.
Here are a few different elements you need to have in order to manage a remote team.
Powerful Video Conferencing Platforms
Communication is key in all businesses and call centers are no exception. This is the reason why teams usually hold weekly meetings in conventional contact centers. Even though your remote agents are not in the same location, your team can use video conferencing platforms to hold group meetings or individual feedback sessions.
But, remember that not all video platforms are the same. Even if you run a small call center, you’ll probably need to leverage a business video conferencing platform that contains the features you need while also being fast and reliable. There are many options, so you need to assess your team’s requirements and choose a provider that meets all your needs.
Even the most powerful video conferencing platforms experience downtime, so make sure to have a backup plan. This doesn’t mean that you have to purchase two subscriptions from different providers. Just make sure that your team knows what to do if your usual video conferencing tool is not working properly.
A Strong Company Culture as a Part of Work From Home Call Center Solutions
Being in a work environment surrounded by coworkers helps keep agents motivated. However, this element is not present in a remote setup, so you need to make up for its impact by cultivating a strong company culture.
Your company culture helps determine the type of behavior that your agents find acceptable at work. Call centers with a strong company culture have agents that hold themselves accountable, understand their impact on the organization’s performance, and stay more engaged throughout their shifts.
Building a strong company process is a gradual process. If not done properly, this can also produce certain setbacks like a high agent turnover rate. This means that you need to ensure your recruiting and training teams understand the type of agent you want to attract.
Robust Remote Agent Management Tools
Managers rely on in-person interactions to deliver feedback and gauge agent engagement levels. Video conferencing platforms can help a bit in this area, but managers also have to learn to use remote management tools to monitor performance and determine what obstacles are preventing them from succeeding.
The key here is to identify the right key performance indicators (KPIs) on each monitoring tool. For example, if you want to monitor conventional metrics, focus more on customer satisfaction than handle time. Additionally, don’t be afraid to explore new alternatives, like platforms that allow you to collect reviews directly from customers after every call.
There are many different work from home call center solutions for managing large teams, but you shouldn’t choose one based only on its features. Instead, you should take a look at your objectives and make sure that the features on your agent management tool of choice help you achieve these goals.
Work Tools that Allow Collaboration
The decentralization of knowledge has been a major focus point for call centers for more than a decade now. Even though an off-site setup requires adjustments, it’s important to understand that you can still create an environment that promotes collaboration and the transfer of knowledge in your call center.
Your customer relationship manager (CRM) should be one of your work from home call center solutions. It should include built-in features like the ability to leave comments on each account in order to promote collaboration. Moreover, make sure that there are always knowledgeable senior agents (sometimes called mentors) available to help agents that need assistance or have questions during a call.
A Comprehensive Training Program
As we mentioned earlier, remote agents often receive training from home. Call center managers need to adapt their training programs accordingly and make sure that all the right information is transmitted in a clear, concise, and engaging manner.
The gamification of training is an effective strategy that works in all settings, so it is one of the best work from home call center solutions. You may need to work with your development team to create a custom solution for some activities. That said, there are dozens of training activities that can be performed remotely with just a piece of pen and paper, so you can implement a simplified version of this strategy right away.
Work From Home Call Center Solutions With Frequent QA Evaluations
It’s normal for call centers to conduct individual agent QA evaluations three or four times per month in a physical facility. However, remote agents aren’t in the same location as the QA team, so they can’t ask questions or clear up doubts as easily.
You can counter this by conducting more frequent QA evaluations. This can be resource-intensive for your QA team, so consider adding a new member to this department if necessary.
Note that an agent’s QA monitoring sessions are different from those conducted by the team leader. In other words, you should have two sets of feedback for each agent: one from the team leader which should revolve around general performance and one from the QA team, which should center around having the best possible QA score.
Rewards and Other Types of Positive Reinforcement
Yes, all employees work for a salary and call center agents are no exceptions. That said, modern employees are not only looking for competitive wages, but they also want to feel appreciated and excel at their jobs. Instead of assuming that a good salary will keep your agents motivated, you should create reward systems and find other types of positive reinforcement to maintain an engaged workforce.
In addition to promoting friendly competition and creating a reward system, you should also organize digital social gatherings, create a budget for activities during work, and test out other motivational techniques to keep your agents energized.
Detailed Monitoring and Feedback Collection Platforms
Team leaders and QA specialists in your call center need to conduct frequent traditional monitoring sessions. However, these are resource-intensive and they don’t always provide a full picture of each interaction.
To get the best results, you should consider integrating monitoring and feedback collection platforms that give you a different perspective. For instance, Autopilot Reviews can help you collect feedback from every customer after each call. Besides collecting this data for analytic purposes, it’s also sent to agents right away so they can better understand every interaction as soon as it finishes.
Remote Troubleshooting and Assistance Mechanisms
It doesn’t matter how good the computers, how fast the internet connections, or how knowledgeable the agents, technical difficulties are a daily occurrence in every call center. However, you can’t have an IT expert at every agent’s house, so you need to find reliable remote troubleshooting and assistance tools.
There are many different options, but make sure that the provider you select offers the ability to work on multiple issues at once. Additionally, make sure to have one main remote troubleshooting platform as well as a secondary alternative, similar to video conferencing services.
How to Improve the Performance in Your Work from Home Call Center
Maintaining an engaged, productive team is an essential element within every contact center, and organizations that allow agents to work from home are no exception. Fortunately, there are many work from home call center solutions and tips that can help maintain and improve the performance of your site.
All call centers are different, regardless of the setup. So, instead of implementing all these tips right away, take a moment to evaluate each suggestion. If it’s suitable, feel free to implement it immediately. In case you find a suggestion that’s not entirely suitable for your contact center, adjust it based on your organization’s unique requirements.
1. Show Some Non-Monetary Appreciation
All agents like bonuses, commissions, and higher overtime rates, but showing non-monetary appreciation is just as important for their engagement levels.
You should find ways to keep your team motivated without involving a financial reward, like creating a home dashboard that’s shared by all team members and putting up a birthday calendar at the beginning of each month. You can also try giving teams a weekly 15-minute group coffee break where they can log into a chatroom and talk about miscellaneous topics.
While these rewards still represent an investment, they can help your employees feel more appreciated and create a feeling of camaraderie among your team members.
2. Promote Friendly Competition Through Activities
It’s important to boost each team’s morale, but you can also encourage individual agents by organizing activities that promote friendly competition.
Putting up a board of weekly statistical leaders in the shared dashboard is a good start, especially if you’re running a customer service or sales call center. Then, create a set of activities and choose winners based on their weekly performance.
The goals of your activities should match your site objectives. So, if you need to improve your site’s QA score, the winner of each activity should be determined by quality metrics, rather than sales or other numbers.
3. Collect Customer Feedback for Agents, not the QA Team
The QA team is in charge of monitoring, evaluating, and helping agents improve the results. QA specialists have a variety of tools and all the recordings they need to do a great job.
Agents, on the other hand, are not usually allowed access to this information first-hand and receive it only via relay. This leaves a lot of room for miscommunication and loss of data, both of which can impact agent performance negatively.
Rather than depriving agents of this data, you should opt for monitoring and feedback collection channels that also involve your frontline employees. Autopilot Review’s specialized mechanism ensures that both agents and your QA team have access to customer feedback right after each call is finished.
4. Create a Community for Your Employees
Collaboration is part of human nature and this phenomenon is visible even through online channels. You can use this to your advantage by setting up channels that promote the creation of an online community.
Forums, IM services, and CRMs that allow commenting are among the best ways to encourage the formation of a community. The goal is for your agents to rely on each other, share their best practices, and improve the team’s overall performance without having to make a major shift or investment.
5. Let Agents View Their Metrics at All Times
Having a weekly leaderboard tells agents how they performed the week prior, but this doesn’t give them an idea of their current output. To keep your at-home agents encouraged, you should let them see updated metrics at all times.
In the vast majority of cases, agents are only interested in the stats that affect their commissions and bonuses. So, allowing them to see basic metrics (such as handle time, quality score, customer satisfaction, etc.) that affect additional rewards is enough to keep agents motivated.
6. Regular Training as a Part of the Work From Home Call Center Solutions
Consumer behavior and technological advancements are two elements that greatly influence the performance of your agents. But, both of these are in a constant state of flux and not all agents have the ability to acclimate without assistance.
It’s common for call centers to deliver additional training when introducing a new product or service to their offerings. However, managers also have to identify the behavioral variables that need to be addressed and organize ongoing training sessions to help remote agents navigate these changes. At-home agents don’t have the luxury of being able to just stand up and ask questions, so you need to give them a lot of opportunities to get their doubts answered.
7. Work From Home Call Center Solutions – Virtual Rewards
Virtual rewards are technically a type of non-financial motivation, it’s worth noting that these have an added benefit.
For many at-home agents, working remotely is a new reality. In a lot of cases, agents go through a learning curve, especially when it comes to performing their jobs with the same intensity and staying focused.
Virtual rewards like motivational images, digital raffles, and streaming service gift cards can make a huge difference to the performance of your team. Just make sure to select goodies that your agents will actually be interested in.
8. Carefully Manage the Flow of Your Phone Calls
Call center managers often help decide how agents are categorized and what types of calls these employees receive. Different types of calls present distinct challenges, some of which are more demanding than others. Instead of giving your best agents the hardest calls all the time, you should control the flow of these interactions and ensure that your frontline workers are rotated from one queue to another regularly.
9. Consider the Impact Remote Work Has on Customers
Call center managers are not the only ones that notice the slight changes in remote agent behavior. For example, if your remote workers are taking longer to return calls or solve issues, consumers will take note and express their dissatisfaction.
To prevent this, you should consider the impact that a remote setup has on your customers and implement changes that help mitigate any negative effects. For example, if your agents are taking longer than usual returning calls, you should remind them to set follow-up reminders and the importance of a timely response in relation to their quality score.
10. Adjust Your Recruiting System and Adapt It to Remote Work
Recruiting the right type of agent will set you up for success. Call center experience should still be the most important element, but you also have to adjust your recruitment process to favor prospects that have worked remotely in previous jobs.
Tips to Boost Teamwork Among Remote Workers
In this section, we’ll share a few tips to help you boost teamwork and ensure that your remote team feels like a tightly-knit unit.
Incorporate Ice-Breaking Activities
Growing call centers are always adding new team members. You can minimize disruptions and help new agents hit the ground running by incorporating ice-breaking activities whenever a team member is introduced for the first time.
A simple one is to give team members a five-minute break, ask everyone to join a call, and let each agent introduce him or herself along with a few of their hobbies.
Work From Home Call Center Solutions – Games
The gamification of training has been well documented in the past and this concept can also be applied to operations-level agents.
There are many work from home call center games you can organize for your team. Note that conventional call center games may require some adjustments to suit your remote team. With this in mind, you should be able to organize a variety of activities without any help from your IT department, so don’t be afraid to try out a few games right away.
Teach Agents How to Create a Workspace that Keeps Them Motivated
An agent’s workspace directly impacts his or her productivity. You should explain this to each one of your employees and give them tips on creating a work environment that keeps agents motivated. Some tips you can offer include finding a quiet space, getting ergonomic seating, ensuring that the screen is at the right height, and hiring a fast internet connection.
Additional tips you can implement to improve your remote team’s performance include:
- Provide or promote the use of the best technology
- Give your team members clarity and tell them whether they will remain working from home post COVID
- Establish remote work norms and allow informal communication
Want to Improve the Performance of Your Call Center? Get the Best Work From Home Call Center Solutions
QA monitoring is essential for the success of your call center, but you can also implement tools that help you collect feedback directly from customers. Autopilot Reviews ensures that your agents have access to feedback after every call, allowing them to make adjustments to deliver the best possible service.
To learn more, get in touch with our team today.
