Call Center Management Made Easy: The Definitive Guide

First impressions are critical in the call center industry. That’s why it is vital that all call center staff, especially agents, consistently follow set protocols and standards. Their performance hinges on whether or not customers will have a good experience with your center. Establishing a solid set of training and development processes is essential because:  

• 64% of customers say their experience is more important than the cost of a product.  

• 49% of consumers will share their experiences, good or not, on social media.  
• 62% of organizations view call center customer experience processes as a competitive differentiator.   

These statistics demonstrate why consistent processes are so vital. But how can you make sure your call center is set for success? It starts with proper call center management from your leadership team. Call center management is essential for retaining customers, keeping your call center team engaged, and continuously improving customer and employee experience.

What is Call Center Management?  

Call center management refers to how call center supervisors and leadership teams manage the center. This can include:  

• Managing schedules  
• Agent coaching and training 
• Onboarding practices 
• Customer experience processes 

It is essential to understand that these management areas should be proactive in nature. Good call center managers should make sure they are constantly monitoring and adjusting their approach as needs change.  

What Makes for Successful Call Center Management? 

Call center management can’t function without a knowledgeable call center supervisor. These supervisors need to be excellent communicators who can motivate and inspire call center staff to improve continuously. Tasks for the call center supervisor can include managing and motivating the team, overseeing hiring, handling issues and identifying KPIs.  

Best Practices for Managing a Call Center 

Managing call centers can be challenging, with much responsibility and a challenging workload. But with a bit of organization and proactive thinking, it can be done quite effectively. We’ve outlined some best practices to make it as seamless as possible.  

Prioritize your Call Center Staff 

Your call center staff are the lifeblood of the organization. Without prioritizing the engagement of these employees, your call center management processes will be ineffective. There are several types of call center staff to consider, including:  

• Call center managers  
• Team leads 
• Call center agents 
• Call center trainers  

All contact center staff members need to be prioritized in your call center management plan, no matter who they are. But pay special attention to the contact center agents, as they are the ones who deal first and foremost with customers.  

Your Contact Center Agents  

Contact center agents are charged with inbound and outbound calls. Today, contact center agents also manage customer queries through other channels, such as social or email. Typical call center agent duties include:  

• Answering customer service calls/messages in a professional way.  
• Recording relevant information to effectively handle calls.  

• If required, learn to cross-sell and upsell.  
• Meeting targets set by management.  
   

These agents work hard to provide customers with excellent service. It is essential to recognize call center agents for their hard work and prioritize them in your call center management plan. 

Define and Manage your KPIs 

Call center managers need to monitor customer behaviors and the performance of staff. In this vein, managers need to gather data and analyze metrics to identify trends, Customer Experience (CX), agent performance and overall call center performance. An example of these types of metrics, called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS measures how likely customers are to recommend you to their friends and family. Other KPIs that might be worth measuring include:  

• Average Handling Time (AHT). This is the time a call center agent spends resolving a customer issue.  
• First Call Resolution (FCR). This multi-channel KPI measures how an agent handles a point during a customer’s first call.  
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSat). This KPI measures how satisfied a customer is on a numerical scale.  
  

Organize your Call Center Processes 

Now that you’ve got the perfect team and the ultimate list of metrics, you’re ready to go! Well, not quite. Call centers require more than simply phones and people. You need to make sure your call center processes are tightened up and ready to go. Here are a few reminders as you get started:  

• Establish internal procedures and processes for your teams to follow. When an agent has an established process to follow, it reduces wait times and solves issues faster.  
• Implement processes to track important call center metrics. Customer service software can help enormously in this instance.  

Watch out for patterns and trends that your data reveals and implement change based on these preferences.  

Put The Customer First  

Customer expectations are high and are constantly changing. The call centre needs to evolve to provide the best possible service to your customers. If we group customers, it can help to manage them. This is where quality assurance comes in. Analyzing your KPIs, like the NPS, can help you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your approach. An NPS score can also help you see the following categories of customers: Promoters, Detractors, Promoters, Detractors and Passives.  

You need to: 

• Follow up with your Promoters. These are the customers you want to thank for their loyalty. By reaching out to the Promoters, you demonstrate your company’s continued commitment to their satisfaction. 
• Contact your Detractors. While dealing with unhappy customers is no one’s idea of fun, it is essential to understand why your Detractors feel the way they do. Their feedback can provide valuable information about how your call center team could improve their actions to meet customers’ needs better. 
• Stay in touch with your Passives. These customers are the ones you can sway in your call center’s favor. They can help you find both small and large ways to solve problems better, which means moving these customers up the scale to Promoters and improving your call center’s overall function.  
  

Getting the right call center solution 

Improving your call center management processes requires digging into your metrics and data. A quality assurance (QA) program is ideal for creating an actionable plan for process improvement. After all, you can’t improve your ROI and revenue without first understanding if you are helping your customers. We can help. Scorebuddy’s QA platform is completely customizable for your specific needs. Learn more about call center management and QA by requesting a free trial today!