Your success hinges on understanding how to improve call center agent performance. Your agents are often the only point of contact customers will ever have with your business—they represent your brand, just as much as your products or services.
When they’re at their best, it means:
But how do you achieve this? Organizational changes, job satisfaction, development opportunities, and the right tools can make all the difference in the world.
Below, we’ll show you how to improve contact center agent performance with 15 top tips. Plus, potential triggers for poor performance and how to avoid them.
The best agents have exceptional communication skills, empathy, resiliency, and the ability to think critically under pressure. Qualities like these ensure employees can handle diverse customer interactions effectively (while still maintaining a professional attitude).
A structured hiring process that includes behavioral interviews and scenario-based evaluations can help identify candidates that will thrive—and be able to grow within their role, so you avoid future turnover and maintain high-quality CX.
Call monitoring tools, agent scorecards, calibration, regular feedback, self-assessment, and more can all help you identify what your agents are doing well—and where they might be lacking.
And, when you identify what top-performing reps are doing well, you’ll better understand how to improve call center agent performance across the entire team.
The right QA software can make all the difference, too. It should be comprehensive and easy to integrate with your existing tech stack, with features like 100% AI auto scoring, customizable scorecards, personalized agent dashboards, and more.
Monitoring performance metrics gives you a clear picture of operational efficiency, customer experience, agent performance, and more, so you can pinpoint exactly where your team is excelling (and lagging behind).
A comprehensive performance tracking system (or even something like your QA software) can help you get ahead of potential issues before they spiral out of control (and show you how to improve agent performance).
Specific KPIs will vary depending on your organization and its goals, but some key metrics you should consider tracking are:
Setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals helps align agent performance targets with wider business aims. You can use SMART goals as part of an action or development plan for individual agents.
SMART goals offer clear direction, so agents know exactly what’s expected and feel greater motivation to achieve it. Plus, they help foster accountability, as progress is measurable and success is tied to tangible outcomes.
By using data collected from QA software, training teams can come up with SMART goals to give agents a clear path forward—and then use the software’s reporting functionality to track progress over time.
If you’re wondering how to improve call center agent performance, the simplest way is almost always putting a bigger focus on coaching and training. Targeted learning is critical for:
AI-powered QA tools can auto-score every customer interaction, so you can quickly analyze conversations to find out what agents are doing well and where more training is needed. By doing this, you can create a targeted call center coaching plan to drive development.
Disjointed processes, excessive steps, or outdated systems can frustrate agents and slow down their ability to resolve customer issues.
Streamlining means eliminating redundancies, automating repetitive tasks, integrating different aspects of your call center software, and organizing tools and information so they’re easily accessible.
Even ‘simple’ integrations like interactive voice response (IVR) and skill-based routing can be huge if you’re trying to find out how to improve call center agent performance. Smoothing out cumbersome, tedious parts of the job can help staff focus on more meaningful work (and get it done faster).
A well-organized knowledge base gives agents quick access to the information they need to help customers. Ideally, your knowledge base should have everything agents need to improve their performance, including:
By creating (and regularly updating) this resource, you’re giving employees the power to better assist customers. And, once it’s set up, let your agents give feedback on how it can be improved. They’re the ones actually using the knowledge base, after all.
The software you choose is the backbone of your call center operations. Modern call center solutions to consider include:
Choosing effective software—and using it right—simplifies workflows, helps you improve agent performance quicker, and gives you an edge over competitors. For example, AI and automation tools help reduce the manual workloads, and can provide real-time support for agents during customer interactions.
Employee feedback is crucial in understanding how to improve call center agent performance. Agents have unique insights into their own performance, customer needs, workflows, tools, training—basically every aspect of your contact center operations.
Seeking and analyzing agent feedback can lead to meaningful improvements in processes and overall morale. Plus, it creates a sense of ownership and engagement. When reps know their voices will be heard, they’re more willing to speak up and contribute to organizational changes.
Accessible support—whether it’s escalation resources, team leads, or supervisors—guarantees agents can resolve complex issues quickly and confidently. With support, they’re more likely to handle challenging situations effectively, improving the overall customer experience.
Accessible support means:
Even simple actions like sharing company updates or giving staff the chance to speak to management can go a long way to improving morale and agent performance.
When there are simple tasks that can be done without human intervention (like taking payment details or retrieving basic information), self-service tools free up your agents to take on more interesting, complex work that will keep them engaged.
A well-rounded self-service system that leverages AI chatbots not only improves response times but also reduces agent workloads and minimizes burnout (while still ensuring customers get the help they need). And, with generative AI becoming more powerful and accessible, these chatbots can now take on increasingly complex tasks and queries.
Call center agents operate in a high-stress environment, often dealing with frustrated customers (32% admit to yelling at an agent). So it’s essential that you support staff wellbeing and build a positive, collaborative culture through initiatives such as:
Promoting wellbeing translates to higher productivity, lower turnover, and a better morale across your entire call center.
By focusing on engagement (via rewards and recognition), you’ll learn how to improve call center agent performance more organically.
Gamifying work with leaderboards, points systems, and milestone rewards (for achieving better AHT, for example) helps create a sense of friendly competition and accomplishment among your team.
Empowering agents means giving them the autonomy to make decisions within set guidelines. This can be as simple as giving them permission to go a little off script, or allowing them the power to resolve certain customer issues without supervisor approval.
Agents that have the power to make decisions feel trusted and are more likely to take ownership of their work. And, in the end, it improves their performance and productivity, while also boosting customer satisfaction (since they don’t need to wait for approval to resolve issues).
This might seem obvious, but when you train and promote your agents from within, they do better overall. Investing in your agent’s growth through career development programs, cross-training, and mentorship opportunities can significantly enhance their performance.
When agents see a clear way for advancement in a customer service career path, they’ll be more engaged and committed to delivering high-quality service. Plus, they’re more likely to stay with your company and drive a positive change within other agents too.
Your agents are the backbone of your call center. So when their performance drops, it means trouble:
By using the tips we’ve provided (and understanding why they’re not performing in the first place), you can curb these issues before they get out of hand.
Keeping your QA process at the forefront of your operations is critical to catching issues with agent performance and course-correcting before they escalate. This is where a tool like Scorebuddy comes in:
Ready to elevate your QA and discover exactly how to improve call center agent performance in your organization? Get in touch today for a free demo.
