How To Improve Call Center Agent Performance?

Call center agents handle up to 50 different client calls per day. And with every single interaction, agents lose time switching between tabs to pull up customer data.

While each tab switch may only take a couple seconds, that time can add up. And depending on how many tabs are open, computer systems can slow down or even crash. With the right technology, contact centers can simplify tasks for their agents and improve their overall experience to boost productivity and efficiency. 

How? We’re glad you asked! Let’s break down how switching between tabs stunts productivity for call center agents and which tools can help! 

How Does Alt-Tabbing Decrease Productivity? 

We’re all familiar with the term “multitasking,” but what you may not know is that originally, the term was defined as multiple jobs performed simultaneously by a computer, not a human. Why? Well, simply because our brains aren’t wired that way. What we’re really doing when we “multitask” is switching our focus from one task to another, and in the process, we actually lose time as we adjust to the new task. 

For many of us, multitasking comes in the form of switching between tabs, apps, or softwares as we go through our days. The click of a single tab switch may cost us only a few seconds, but we also lose time because humans aren’t able to process new information immediately. So we lose productivity not only in the time it takes to physically switch between tabs, but also in the time it takes us to adjust and process new information in different tabs and softwares. 

In a contact center environment, agents may encounter a wide variety of customer queries and issues as they navigate through their workday. In the process of serving clients, they do a lot of tab switching to access client information and other data. Getting this information is vital to solve customer problems efficiently, but with the right tools at their disposal, it doesn’t have to be nearly as cumbersome. 

4 Steps to Improve Call Center Agent Performance

Call center agents need to pull up client contact information, any past communications, contracts, orders clients may have made, and more. In addition to the time it may take to switch tabs, agents also need time to enter and adjust to whatever information they are processing and trying to convey to clients. If that information isn’t easily accessible or is stored in multiple places, that can take a bit of time. 

For example, say a customer is looking to learn about different services you may offer that can help them. Agents first need to pull up that client’s information, then pull up any past interactions they may have had with your company in order to best address their inquiry and previous pain points. They will also then need to review what services the client may currently have with your company to suggest the right course of action. And if they do move forward with an order, that will result in more tab switching to facilitate that. 

Luckily, there are ways to reduce tab-switching and improve call center agent productivity and performance in the process. Here are some suggestions!

1. Use a Contact Center Solution 

With an omnichannel contact center solution, agents can interact with prospective and existing customers with different interconnected communication channels like telephones, online chats, emails, text messages, and social media.

Omnichannel contact center solutions can compile all client data onto one screen and help reduce “alt-tabbing” or switching between different apps and softwares. They can provide agents with a single snapshot view of each customer's unique journey, right down to every interaction so that agents can help customers quickly and efficiently. 

In a typical call center, agents and customers only interact via voice interactions over the phone. But with an innovative contact center solution, agents aren’t limited to phone calls only and may be able to handle more interactions in a day to help boost overall productivity. 

This provides customers with more ways to contact you and can lead to better customer service overall. For example, a customer can reach out via a direct message on WhatsApp and agents can respond quickly to address a problem and provide a resolution. 

Contact center solutions are designed to act as a co-pilot for agents as they navigate through their workday to streamline the process. 

Related: Contact Center vs Call Center

2. Make Data-Driven Decisions with Analytics 

Data is the key to solving client issues efficiently. Innovative solutions like uContact can pull analytics to build up-to-date reports to help you streamline the customer journey. You and your agents can see both current and historical customer data to improve the customer experience, and quickly. 

You can create reports and set up alerts to notify you of certain thresholds such as: 

• Call volume
• Average wait time
• Average handle time
• First call resolution rate
• Customer satisfaction score

You can even schedule reports to be generated automatically and customize them to suit your needs. Reporting is necessary for business leaders to create a proactive customer success strategy, and by being able to create detailed reports in a snap, you can do just that and more.

With data available at your fingertips, you can take proactive steps to fix problems before they happen.

3. Elevate Customer Success with Automated Responses

In addition to helping improve agent productivity and performance, you can level up your customer experience with the help of automation. By automating responses, you can reduce call volumes by answering frequently asked questions before customers even have to pick up the phone. 

For instance, automated chatbots can actually reduce operational costs  by a whopping 30%-60%.

From the customer’s perspective, rather than waiting in call queues, customers can get answers to their questions quickly, which leads to a better customer experience overall. 

Some solutions can even integrate with CRM platforms. With this connection, contact center agents are able to increase their productivity as well as their performance. They become empowered to create a consistent and personalized customer experience. 

By introducing technology to help reduce call volumes for issues that are more simple to solve, you can free up your agents to handle more complex problems and truly level up your customer success. 

4. Manage and Empower Your Workforce

Finally, you can help improve your agents' performance by offering support where they need it. Part of being an effective leader is about empowering your team to achieve success. There are tools to help with this too! 

Workforce management software can help turn your agents into superstars and unlock their full potential. By recording interactions, you can provide your agents with targeted coaching and feedback to help them improve. You can also get access to supervisor and client ratings for your agents. Other aspects like whisper coaching or intervening during calls allow you to provide effective and ongoing training to further hone your agents' customer service skills.

As previously mentioned, you can also create reports to measure agent performance and call volume to determine if you have additional staffing needs to manage heavy call volumes. 

One Screen To Rule Them All

Working in a contact center environment is no walk in the park. Agents are expected to juggle multiple tasks at once while keeping their cool and delivering top-notch customer service. As we’ve discussed, the human mind can only handle so much at one time and switching between tabs is frustrating, monotonous, and time-consuming. 

The good news is there are tools to help agents manage their client interactions with ease and enhance the customer experience in the process. All-in-one solutions like UContact can take you to the next level. With seamless voice interactions, integrated omnichannel touchpoints, automated integrations, analytics reporting, and even agent management tools, the possibilities are endless.

If you’re looking to pump up your agent productivity, check out UContact and see how it can streamline work for your agents today!