There is a fundamental flaw at the foundation of all call centre operations. There is one single assumption which is wrong. This mis-belief is at the heart of all operational problems: agent frustration, caller dissatisfaction, escalated issues, low employee morale, bad attitudes, poor attentence and high attritrion. All the data points to it, all the charts reveal it, and all the analytics scream in big numbers: here is the problem. Yet this misunderstanding continues, unaddressed and unacknowledged.
Management stares in confusion at reams of data, looking for the solution to a myrid of problems. They fail even to find the real issue. Scapegoats are found: immature agents, ineffective processes, inadequate monitering, not enough discipline. Problems persists, despite all manner of methods used to correct these failures. Stringent rules enforcement, increased call review, streamlining process and better recruiting programs all fail. The same problems continue to dog centres the same way that hounds will chase a metal rabbit around the track.
What is this flaw? What has been missed over and over again? What are the analytics missing?
Humanity.
The entire call centre industry is based on the concept that serving people by telephone is the same as doing it in person. It isn’t. Processes may be the same, the same systems may be used, the same people involved. But there is a huge difference in the interaction. As social creatures, human beings have developed vast methods of communication, of which verbal language is only a small part. When we interact in person, information is conveyed via body language, eye contact, and a vast array of facial expressions. Even when we do not speak the same language, we can still commmunicate. Strip away all of this and the exchange of information is greatly hindered. Communicating through verbal means alone requires great skill. Controlling conversation, asking critical questions, and conveying emotion are learned skills. Yet this is lacking in agent training.
In fact, most of the industry assumes that you can handle calls provided you can speak. Training generally focuses on systems and processes and little, if any, attention is paid to the most essential part of the agents job - communicating. All too frequently, the first coaching that agents receive is months after transistion, when their moniters say “Express Empathy”. Even then, agents are not told how to do this, they are only given examples to mimic: “Express empathy by apologising for the customer’s trouble.”
Mostly, agents are thrown to the wolves and left to figure out how to communicate all on their own. This leads to poor call quality and massive frustration for both staff and caller. Callers hate robot-like apologies and scripted responses. Staff constantly feel inadequate. Callers become frustrated and irate by agents who don’t appear to be listening. Agents think callers are stupid because the customer doesn’t get what they are saying or can’t follow instructions. Neither side is grasping that communicating via the phone is a challenge.
The assuption is that any person can process calls, provided they speak the required language. In fact, it is far more difficult to communicate over the phone. We must pay more attention to the dynamics of speech: tone, inflection, pacing. Our questions must be very clear. Words must mean the same to each person in the conversation. Time must be given for each party to adequately respond.
Supervisors, managers, and quality evaluators all seem to miss this key fact: communicating is the call centre business. More time should be devoted to communications skills than any other part of the operations. Agents with the ability to communicate well with callers are less likely to be frustrated. Callers are more likely to be pleased with the company when they feel that they were listened to and that their issue was addressed. This is the essential role of call centres operations. Performance metrics do not reveal communications skills. Time analytics cannot show quality of interaction. Staring at tables and charts in silence does reveal the problem: you are not communicating.
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