7 Ways to Increase the Productivity of Your Call Center Agents

In fact, happy workers are 13% more productive according to the University of Oxford.

10:36 18 November 2022

Working in a call center can be a demanding job. Nobody likes to hear customers complain to them all day. This is just one of many reasons why it can be hard for customer support agents to stay productive. Some just burn out. 

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can keep your agents both happy and productive at the same time. In fact, happy workers are 13% more productive according to the University of Oxford.

So if your employees are struggling to stay productive, here are some ways to help them stay at the top of their game: 

• Give them autonomy over their work

Nobody likes to be micromanaged. If you try to control every aspect of someone’s work, they’ll start to resent their job and perform worse as a result. 

So instead of micromanaging, be sure to give agents plenty of autonomy. Allow them flexibility in how they work and handle cases. This gives them a sense of control and ownership over their work that will motivate them to be more productive.

In short, don’t control your employees; empower them.

• Allow them to take frequent breaks

Everyone needs breaks. Frequent, short breaks can help you recharge and get the energy you need to keep working. Without them, you risk burning out.

This is especially true for customer support agents who are constantly taking calls and cases from concerned or angry clients. Such work can be mentally and emotionally draining. So be sure to encourage lots of breaks. 

You might suggest agents follow the Pomodoro technique, which consists of working in 25-minute spurts separated by 5-minute breaks and an occasional 15-minute break.

• Measure and evaluate their performance

Peter Drucker once said, “you can’t improve what you don’t measure.” So measure your agents’ productivity with key performance indicators (KPIs) like first contact resolutions, average handle time, and average occupancy rate (time spent on calls relative to overall working hours).

Tracking KPIs is essential to quality assurance (QA). You can also use software to help you track these metrics, which brings us to our next point.

• Give them the tools needed to succeed

To succeed, agents need the right tools, such as knowledgebases, customer relation management (CRM) software, and tech automations. 

If you want to get an all-in-one solution, consider adopting a Contact Center AI. It will provide all of the above so that you can improve agent productivity, enhance customer experience, and leverage deeper insights from customer data.

• Recognize a job well done

Humans love praise, and your customer service agents are no different. Recognizing them for a job well done will help them feel valued and motivate them to keep working hard.

You can recognize employees by writing them a note, giving them a gift card, or simply saying thank you. The point is to offer regular positive feedback.

• Host agent trainings

Most call centers experience a lot of turnover, so it’s important to host regular agent trainings to keep everyone on the same page (on top of onboardings for new hires). 

In the trainings, you can teach agents active listening, clear communication, and empathy. These are important soft skills for every agent to have if you want to improve customer experience and agent productivity. 

• Provide incentives and rewards

Lastly, provide incentives and rewards for hard work. For example, you could host a contest for who can complete the most cases in an hour, day, or week. Then give the winner a prize.

Friendly competition like this helps incentivize agents to work hard. 

At the end of the day, increasing agent productivity is all about giving agents what they need to succeed and then leaving them to do their job. If you can do that, you’ll start seeing your agent productivity improve in no time.