In today’s highly competitive business environment, efficient and customer-focused call center operations are more critical than ever. So, owning call center software is a must for every business.
Adding call center software will help you improve customer service, enhance communication, and increase agents’ productivity. 96% of consumers believe that excellent customer service builds trust. Most businesses use call center software, which has proven effective in increasing productivity and providing excellent customer service.
There are heavy call volumes during peak business hours, and managing calls can be challenging. So, to respond to all the customer queries and provide necessary assistance, the call center comes into play. With call center software, businesses and agents can manage calls more efficiently, increase agent productivity, and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
So, let’s talk about call centers, call center software, some challenges, and how to use call center software to improve agent productivity. If you read the blog till the end, I guarantee you will install call center software today and improve productivity.
So, let’s dive right in and explore more about call center software.
What is Call Center Software?
Call center software is an application or tool that helps manage and streamline business calling operations. Call center software provides features and functionality that help to manage large volumes of inbound and outbound calls. Moreover, some call managing tools like call queueing, call routing, waiting, and IVR help businesses efficiently manage phone calls and meet customer expectations and demands.
Call center software is very crucial for agents. The call center software offers integration with multiple business tools, a unified interface, multichannel communication, and a personalized workplace.
In addition to enhancing agent productivity and delivering a better customer calling experience, these features enable agents to provide customized customer support on multiple platforms in real-time.
Some call center software has inbuilt cloud telephony that also provides international virtual phone numbers. With such software, you can easily reach out or support clients from foreign countries conveniently. For instance, if you own a call center company in the Philippines but have to serve an American client, you can easily get a USA virtual phone number through such software and communicate using that number. This helps to build trust and enhance professionalism.
Challenges that Hampers Agent Productivity in a Call Center
Even though the call center helps agents manage and handle calls better. Call centers face several challenges that can hamper agent productivity. These challenges may vary depending on the nature of the business, the complexity of the calls, and the technology used. The following are some common challenges:
High Call Volume
The business receives numerous phone calls every day. There may be a high volume of calls during peak hours, and handling and managing calls can be difficult if only a limited number of agents exist. Due to the high call volume, agents feel overwhelmed and frustrated. In a call center, this directly hinders agent productivity, so here are some of the solutions:
- Set up efficient call-routing systems based on the skills and availability of the agent.
- Use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for direct routing to the appropriate agent.
- Prioritize important calls
- Provide adequate staffing during peak times.
- Select a Scalable call center that allows you to add agents easily.
Lack of training
A lack of training makes agents less confident and efficient when offering products and services to clients. They may also need help handling customer queries, leading to confusion and demotivation. Agents may feel unsupported and need help with how to handle complex situations when there is no clear channel for asking questions.
Customers can experience a decrease in satisfaction and an increase in complaints. Additionally, this can negatively affect the agent’s productivity. The following are some solutions:
- Conduct training programs
- Develop soft skills
- Stimulation and role-playing
- Update agents on products and processes with knowledge-sharing platforms.
- Continuous learning
- Feedback mechanism
Outdated Technology
In recent years, the advancement of communication technology has made it possible for agents and customers to stay in touch via any internet-connected device. To transform a business, the stakeholders must upgrade their communication technology to keep up with the changing needs of agents and customers. A system that could be more efficient or updated can result in delays, frustrations, and errors, which reduce agent efficiency and lead to longer call times.
Moreover, agents may need more features such as CRM and other call management tools. A call center with these features can speed up agents’ workflow and problem-solving times, resulting in dissatisfaction between the agents and customers. The following are some solutions:
- Use the latest phone system and establish a functional call center.
- Upgrade technology infrastructures; prefer using cloud-based platforms instead of old traditional PBX.
- Ensure a smooth workflow by regularly updating and upgrading software and hardware.
- Enhance agent experience by implementing user-friendly interfaces.
Lack of Integration with CRM Systems
Integrating your call center with business tools is very important in today’s era of business communication. Agents may need seamless integration to access customer information, resulting in repeated questions and longer call durations. A lack of integration capabilities will make it difficult for agents to appropriately manage customer inquiries and route calls.
Additionally, agents cannot analyze and track customer interactions to improve customer service, which hampers productivity. Here are a few solutions:
- Integrate call center systems with customer relationship management (CRM) tools to provide agents quick access to customer data.
- Look out for CRM with API (Application Programming Interfaces).
- Provide adequate training to agents about using CRM.
Insufficient Tools and Communication channels
Call centers without the tools or limited communication channels can significantly reduce agents’ performance. Agents might need help to solve customer issues, resulting in call abandonment rates and creating a bad company image.
Furthermore, customers who prefer alternative methods of communication, such as chat or email, may need more communication channels, which leads to customer satisfaction. Here are some solutions to it:
- Provide functional call center software such as KrispCall with adequate call management and handling features.
- Enhance agents’ problem-solving capabilities by providing advanced tools, scripting resources, and decision-making support.
- Provide customers with a choice of channels, including phone, chat, email, and social media.
How to use Call Center Software to Improve Agent Productivity?
Call center software helps businesses improve overall calling operations, but here are some tips for using call center software to improve the agent’s productivity and enhance effective communication, delivering excellent customer service:
Use IVR for Segmenting Your Customers
Using the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system in your call center will allow appropriate handling of calls according to the customers’ queries and issues. During a call through an IVR, the customer interacts with the answering machine, which routes their call to the appropriate agent problem based on their issues.
Utilizing IVR systems helps agents handle simple inquiries and route complex calls to agents with the best skills, providing customer first-call resolution (FCR). This ultimately reduces agents’ workload for basic tasks, allowing them to focus on resolving more complex issues and improving overall productivity.
Empower your agents with the best technology.
Today, customers’ communication has changed with the technology; some prefer calling over the phone while others prefer texting over different communication channels like(emails and social media platforms), so use call center software with integration features.
Also provides agents with user-friendly and efficient call center software with the best technology, which consists of various tools for call management, data access, and customer history. So that agents can provide faster issue resolution, personalized interaction, reduced handling times and abandonment rates, and improved overall efficiency.
Leverage customer self-service solutions.
Agents can significantly increase their productivity by implementing self-service platforms such as online chat, automated responses, FAQs, and knowledge bases. This self-service platform allows interaction with AI and empowers customers to find answers independently without performing calls.
The use of customer self-service platforms reduces call volume and allows agents to focus on resolving complex issues. Additionally, this reduces stress for agents and increases their productivity.
Implement a workforce management solution.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your agents’ performance, consider using workforce management software (WFM). The WFM software helps businesses optimize agents during peak periods to ensure adequate staffing levels by scheduling and predicting fluctuating call volumes.
By minimizing wait times for customers, Workforce Management software prevents burnout among agents and ensures the efficient handling of calls. The use of WFM software increases agent productivity, reducing operational costs and increasing customer satisfaction. The use of WFM software also allows businesses to identify areas for improvement and allocate resources more efficiently.
Use rewards to improve agent productivity.
Use rewards, incentive programs, or gamification to keep agents motivated and improve performance. Research shows that 70% of employees would work harder if better recognized. As a result, create a reward system for meeting performance goals or providing excellent customer service.
Since employee happiness is key to the success of an organization, keeping the employees or agents happy will automatically boost the organization’s productivity and efficiency.
Conclusion
Using a functional call center is the best option to enhance the overall calling operations of the business and boost the agent’s productivity. Not only does call center software manage and handle calls effectively, but it also provides valuable insights for agents to deliver personalized calling experiences and satisfy customers.
After reading this blog, you must be clear about what functional call center software can do and how it can help enhance your agents’ productivity. Why don’t you use KrispCall’s call center software and boost your agents’ productivity? And deliver top-notch customer service.
FAQS
What affects productivity in a call center?
Agent motivation increases productivity, and tools and environment impact productivity. A call center’s efficiency can be significantly improved by technology.
What tool technique is used in call Centres to increase productivity?
The tools used in call centers to increase productivity are:
- Call Routing
- Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)
- Integration with multiple channels
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
- Predictive dialers
- Speech analytics
- Workforce management software
- Gamification
- Real-time Productivity Metrics
How do you calculate agent productivity in a call center?
Calculating agent productivity in a call center involves assessing various key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine their efficiency and effectiveness. Here are some of the metrics that are commonly used to calculate the agent productivity:
- Average Handle Time (AHT): AHT is a measure of the time an agent spends handling a single interaction (call, email, chat), including talk time, hold time, etc
- First Call Resolution (FCR): FCR refers to the number of resolved calls without the customer having to call back. A higher FCR indicates a higher level of productivity.
- Occupancy Rate: Occupancy rate measures how active an agent is while handling interactions. It is the ratio between total handle time and total logged-in time.
- Number of Calls Answered: This measures how many calls an agent answers during a specific period.
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): CSAT measures customer satisfaction with the service provided by the agent.
Also, here’s a formula to calculate an agent’s productivity based on output and input:
Agent Productivity = (Output / Input) * 100%
How to improve call center performance?
Here are some tips on increasing call center performance:
1. Select the best call center software for your business
2. Provide regular and adequate training to your agents
3. Make use of IVR and call routing features to organize customers’ calls
4. Share the best practices for analyzing calls and texts
5. Pay attention to the needs of the employees
6. Recognize and reward successful agents
- What kind of practices negatively affect call center agents’ productivity?
- There might be many reasons and practices that can negatively affect call center agent’s productivity, and some of them are:
- Outdated Technology
- High call volumes
- Poor Performance Metrics
- Lack of training and guidance
- Poor management and communication
- Demanding and evolving expectations of the customers