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Build Employee Loyalty for Business Growth

Today’s workforce is very different from the 20th century workforce when it was once common for an employee to work 10+ years with the same company. They would do this with their best interest to the company because of the long-term employment benefits such as pension, job security, career progression and medical insurance. I believe employers are still offering these rewards, but something has changed. It is increasingly difficult to find an employee with five years experience in one company. My thought is employees are just not as loyal today, they tend to move to the proverbial greener pastures the moment something opens up. Employee loyalty can be defined as an employee being devoted to the success of the company and is not seeking any alternative employment. Why is employee loyalty important? Increased productivity – productive loyal employees lead to rapid business growth. Low turnover costs – it is expensive to keep recruiting and training new employees to replace the ones who leave. A low turnover decreases this cost significantly. Customer satisfaction – an experienced employee creates value for the customer leading to higher satisfaction. Profitability – when customers are satisfied, they bring in more business. Healthy work environment – employees spend a lot of time together, and they can either build or destroy each other which affects the business. With this in mind, build loyalty among your employees despite its intangible nature. These five tips on how you can easily build employee loyalty will give you a head start: 1. Increase Employee Confidence in Leadership Employees look up to the leadership team for direction in everything. If a manager is not loyal to the company, employees will pick it up and follow suit. Nevertheless, when employees are confident with your leadership, it builds their loyalty. You can increase confidence by continually communicating and implementing the company objectives. In doing this, employees will understand you know where you want the company to go and how to get there. Loyalty towards the company starts with you as a leader and trickles down to the employees in equal measures. Lead by example. 2. Create a Pleasant Working Environment Employees spend approximately 90% of their day in the office working. They need to feel comfortable being there every day. A healthy work environment fosters open communication, work-life balance and active team spirit. When you add regular training and development programs to a great working environment, you win your employees’ loyalty. Creating a pleasant working environment shows your employees you care about their wellbeing and are willing to do all it takes to ensure that. 3. Empower Your Employees One way to kill employee loyalty is micromanaging them. Doing this communicates mistrust in their ability and work output. What you need to do is empower them and give them room to practice what they have learned. Empowered employees take initiative, make decisions, and accomplish more with less guidance from you. You can empower them by training them well and supporting them as they embrace their responsibilities. A mentorship program can also be a great addition, especially for mid-level managers. 4. Reward, Reward, Reward Rewarding employees is always a great motivator and can build loyalty. Who doesn’t like a reward after accomplishing something? A point of caution though, you need to reward appropriately. Plainly lay out the reward system and explain how it works to all employees. Otherwise some may feel you favor others even when they are clearly not performing which can result in contempt among employees, which destroys loyalty. Although money is important, rewards do not necessarily mean money. Acknowledging an employee in front of others, or giving them a gift publicly, works well too. 5. Hire the Right People Start on the right foot by hiring the right people for the job. An employee who fits well with the job will naturally be loyal as compared to one who struggles in that position. Check for job compatibility during the on boarding process. This can help you pick only those with a good match. Increasing employee confidence, creating a pleasant working environment, empowering employees, appropriately rewarding them, and hiring the right people will steadily build loyalty in your employees. All you need to do is start, and within no time you will see the results. What tips and tricks have worked for you? This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.

3 Best Ways to Provide Unparalleled Customer Service

As a small business owner, you may not have the dedicated budget for a 24/7 support team. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t take a small, struggling customer support team to one that offers unparalleled world-class support experiences. Regardless of how great your product is or the talents of your staff, one element that customers will remember is direct interaction with your company. Service excellence starts with a consistently helpful attitude, and that begins and ends with your support team. Strengthening an Empathic and Engaged Team Your customer support team is the face of your company, and the experiences that your customers have with them are defined by the skills and quality of the responses they receive. A smart business will always be redefining exceptional service. If you are not constantly on the lookout for opportunities to improve service, then relationships will stagnate and you’ll lose valuable customers. Here are the three best ways to help you focus on providing top-notch service to your customers. Be proactive, but not pushy. Speed impresses customers, but people also like follow-up emails. This shows that you care about the outcome of their resolution with your support team. Make sure not to follow up too many times as this can be perceived as pushy. Remember that you want to be helpful and courteous, not annoying or overbearing. You will have to set up some internal limits for this, but generally two follow up emails are acceptable. Be autonomous. Trust your support team and empower them to make decisions. This helps open up their individual capabilities and their inclinations to truly help your customers. The concept is that the more freedom you given them, the more flexible your team will be when it come to resolving issues for your customers. No one likes a support experience that feels scripted or restrictive. When this is the case, decision-making has been taken away from the support team, leaving the customer without many options. More autonomy can be as simple as enabling your support team to give the customer what they want without the need to obtain approval from supervisors or a chain of command. Be flexible. To ensure that your team is adaptable enough to satisfy the demands of your diverse customer base, you should seek out team members that are amenable and flexible. The ability to handle a talkative customer one moment and an angry customer the next is critical. Being able to roll with the punches and not take anything personally enables them to see through the problem and provide an acceptable solution. It’s important to remember that no matter how proactive you are, you can’t predict every issue, but creating an easily accessible way for customers to give feedback and for your support team to respond goes a long way to resolving unforeseen problems. Listen to Your Customers The critical nature of feedback to customer satisfaction is tremendous A business that is built around delivering unparalleled customer support will see an increased ROI and enhanced customer satisfaction. By developing close relationships with your customers, touchpoints and skills that your support team possesses will emerge. Also, your customers will see your dedication to providing high-quality, proactive customer service.

Saying Yes or No? Exercise Your Power of Choice

Every day, each person on earth is presented with hundreds of yes or no decisions that have unforeseen consequences. Unfortunately, the fast pace and demands of the workplace may combine with daily distractions to easily cause individuals to make hasty decisions without first thinking about the consequences. Without fully realizing the implications of these decisions, many people are proverbially shooting themselves in the foot by not consciously making choices that align with their personal goals and commitments. Consider the following example: Sherry was inclined to say no to a commitment of holding one-on-one meetings with a new direct report because she did not believe that she had the time. She felt that her competing priorities were too much to add upon. She also had a deep desire to take on another complex project that would help her professional development. After discussing the impact of her commitment to a weekly one-on-one meeting and how it might benefit her, her department and the new direct report, Sherry realized that it was her responsibility to provide direction, leadership, and support to her direct report. Without that support, the direct report would either have to flounder along and eventually figure things out on her own, or she would fail. This would not only affect the direct report, it would also affect Sherry. Sherry realized that this was a clear and simple way for her to become more successful, and saying no to the meetings would impact both her and her direct report. Moreover, she realized that the increase in communication that comes from one-on-ones could possibly help her eliminate some of the issues arising between her and her direct report, such as challenges on Sherry’s requests and continuously missing deadlines. At that time, Sherry committed to weekly one-on-ones with her new direct report in order to increase the worker’s competency in certain tasks. Saying yes instead of no directly led to the direct report’s growth and development as a valuable member of the team, and thus helped the department reach its goals. Over time, Sherry’s direct report required less and less direction and support from Sherry, which allowed Sherry to take that newly vacant time to work on the complex project that she wanted to use to increase her own skills and development. Thinking through the implications of our choices before we react can greatly influence the direction of our personal and professional lives. Consider the following questions that you should always ask yourself before making a split second decision that may take you in a direction you did not really want to go: How much time will I really need to invest if I say yes? Will I benefit from this decision? Will others benefit from this decision? What limitations on tasks will I face if I say yes or no? Will this choice help me reach my goals, or will it decrease the time I am able to work towards achieving my goals? If a choice will not actively help you work towards reaching your goals, then the choice should be clear. However, it is vital that you take the time to determine just what the consequences of these choices will be instead of making an emotional, knee-jerk reaction that may not serve you well in the end.

3 Leadership Strategies That Improve Sales Performance

Being a leader is challenging enough, but being the leader of a sales team can mount even more pressure on your shoulders and the shoulders of your team. Rather than become mired in short term goals as a reaction to your accountability and visibility, implement three leadership strategies to strengthen your sales performance as well as the performance of your team. 1. Communicate Your Mission and Philosophy Take a lesson from the Book of Steve Jobs and learn how to properly and effectively communicate your vision to your sales team. While you’re at it, you can also use this strategy for the people buying your products or services. Make sure everyone on your team and everyone associated with your team is well aware of what’s going on and is aiming at the same target, otherwise there are bound to be redundancies and miscommunications. Let each individual member of your team know what his or her goals are and how those goals are connected to your company’s mission and philosophy. Show your team the road they’re on before you send them on their way down that road. 2. Constantly Work on Improving Talent While you’re working on yourself as a leader and achieving the company’s vision, make sure you take out time to help the members of your sales team to develop their own skills. Look up from the spreadsheets you might have on team performance and actually sit down with team members to discuss their skills, personal goals and what they expect from you as a leader. Clear communication and understanding are beneficial to all and ensures that everyone is working to their full potential. Just as you make efforts to improve yourself as a leader, you should also make sure you make efforts to improve your sales team. Ask yourself if there is any type of training or seminar that can benefit your team. While such training and seminars might cost money, you’ll be improving your team’s skillset. Look at long-term goals rather than become fixated on short-term costs. Even if the training only benefits one member of your team, it makes that individual that much more adept at his or her job and benefits the team as a whole. 3. Give Thanks Once you’ve communicated your mission and have sat down with the members of your team, make sure you show your team thanks whenever they reach their own goals as well as the team’s shared goals. It’s common for sales teams to not receive the thanks they deserve, which can make members feel as if they aren’t appreciated, which can negatively impact future projects. Take out time to write each team member a personally tailored thank-you note rather than a single note of thanks you send out to everyone. Writing individual letters takes longer, but is much more appreciated. You don’t want to lose valuable team members because they feel looked over. Sales performance is something on which you’re constantly working, which makes it vital that you spend your energy as well as your team’s energy on effective strategies. No matter what your sales goals might be, make sure they’re rooted in proper communication, an effort to improve talent and giving thanks. This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.

3 Ways to Start Turning Soft Skills Into Core Skills

What makes a great leader? Is it the ability to turn goals into accomplishments? Is it a strong command of hard, technical skills? While technical capabilities are certainly important, even more so are the less tangible qualities like ease of communication and the ability to empower and engage others. Unfortunately for many businesses, these important virtues often get the label “soft skills” and therefore take a back seat to measurable traits like conversion rates and new leads generated. It’s much more advantageous in business, and in life, to think of these invaluable, central characteristics as core skills. Remember that people are always an organization’s greatest investment and its greatest asset. When you make skill like good communication, transparency, and the capacity to motivate others priorities, you give leaders the resources they need to help their teams achieve success. Here are three ways to start shifting the mindset at your company from soft skills to core skills. Assess Your Present Situation Making core skills part of the culture at your organization starts with assessing your present circumstances. First, determine the extent to which your organization places importance on developing core, people skills. Does it find traits like empowerment integral to its success, or do these so-called “soft skills” play second fiddle to measurable things like sales and marketing? Once you know where your organization currently stands on core skills, take a look at its larger objectives and goals. Determine if these could be achieved more effectively with an increased emphasis on core skills, as well as whether or not you are positioned to create change. Determine the Necessary Steps to Develop a Core Skills Culture If you think you’re in a good position to start changing the conversation from soft skills to core skills, it’s time to create an action plan. Begin by assessing your organization’s current leadership climate. Take a look at some of your leaders and evaluate their: Ability to reach immediate goals Ability to meet future goals Core and hard skills Competency needs After taking a look at the current leadership culture, identify how a shift in emphasis on developing core skills would help leaders better meet current and long-term business objectives. Take Action to Foster Core Skills in the Workplace Now that you’ve done the legwork, it’s time to take action. Be prepared to share your analysis with colleagues, especially upper management. Seek their support in making core skills training a chief priority for your organization, so that you can begin to create a company-wide culture of learning. Next, work with individual departments and senior leaders to create a core skills training program. Determine what kinds of resources you will need in order to develop implement these training sessions. It’s also a good idea to create a thorough game plan with specific deadlines and goals in order to see your new core skills training program through to success. Core skills are too important to waste, as entire businesses can crumble when their leaders don’t have the right resources to engage, inspire, and connect with their teams. Instead, give your leaders the tools they need to succeed by making an investment in people and people skills.

Social Media Customer Care

Is your call center prepared for customer service through social media? REGARDLESS OF YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, IT IS NO LONGER AN OPTION IN THE BUSINESS WORLD—IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED, THAT IS. What does success look like? Well, in many ways not all that dissimilar to what it did in generations past—happy customers. You really can boil it all down to that. Satisfied customers will buy from you again and refer you to others. The difference today is that those referrals are not just made while out watering the front lawn in a 1:1 conversation. They are made on powerful platforms that can be seen and heard by endless numbers of people. Now here’s the kicker—those same endless numbers of people can also see and hear negative things about your company. How many is “endless numbers”? According to Erik Qualman in his video on the state of social media, #Socialnomics 2014, six of the top 10 populations in the world are social media sites. Need more? Consider these statistics: 93% of customers’ purchasing decisions are influenced by social media. (Socialnomonics 2014) 14% of consumers report trust in traditional advertising. 90% report trust in recommendations and referrals from peers. (Socialnomonics 2014) 53% of consumers have used—or have attempted to use—social media for customer care needs. (sprinklr) 38% of consumers report feeling negatively about a company if they do not respond in a timely manner to a social post. (sprinklr) In addition, a Nielsen Global Survey shows that online reviews are the second most trusted source of information for products, services and companies. Personal recommendations are the first. Social media is both of these in one Customer-driven Customer Service Delivering customer service through social channels is just one more way that proves how social media has permeated our society. And, it has largely been driven by customer demand. Even if companies did not promote using their Facebook or Twitter accounts to contact customer service, customers went ahead and did it anyway, forcing businesses to respond. Research shows that, not only do customers expect to receive service via social platforms, but they expect responses—fast and around the clock. Any business that chooses to ignore service-oriented questions or comments made on social media can be assured of two things—they will further frustrate already frustrated customers and they will frustrate customers who were not previously so but who did have questions. Where Do You Start? Many companies have not yet taken the plunge into social customer service because they simply do not know how to set up such a program. Where in the world do you start? Wonder no more, we’re here to help. There are two primary things you need to create before launching social media customer service. One of these is a program plan that will guide your efforts and provide a framework from within which your team will operate. The other is a training program which ensures that all appropriate staff members know how to make use of social media for servicing customers—in the way that you want them serviced. Your Program Plan: The Building Blocks Your social media customer care plan should be your blueprint. There are several items that should be incorporated into this foundational plan. Following is an overview of the most critical elements to be included. Channel Identification The first place to start is by identifying which social media channels you are going to use for customer service. As tempting as it is to include as many as possible, a word of caution must be noted here. Do not bite off more than you can chew. It is far better to select only two channels and work them thoroughly with quick response times than to advertise social customer care on several channels with poor response times that only lead to increased customer dissatisfaction. For most businesses, starting with Facebook and Twitter will make the most sense. As you identify which platforms are right for your business, you should also consider creating accounts for your customer service operations separate from your more “marketing” focused accounts. U-Haul does this with Twitter. The company’s main account is @Uhaul while the customer service account is @Uhaul_Cares. Delivering customer service through social channels is just one more way that proves how social media has permeated our society. Response Times Next up should be the hours that you will staff your social customer channels and the time in which customers should receive responses. Research does show that most customers expect online customer service to be available 24/7, but if that is simply not possible for you, it is important that you post the hours that agents are available. You should also publish expected response windows. These should be achievable and give you “wiggle room.” For example, if internally it is your goal to reply to all comments within 30 minutes, you can publicly state that all comments will receive a response within 60 minutes. That sets you up to be the hero when the response is received sooner than promised, rather than being the butt of disappointment when a response is received 5 minutes later than promised. Conversation Monitoring Just as you (hopefully) monitor your current customer service phone calls, emails and live chats, so too should you monitor your social media conversations. There are two reasons that you should be tracking your customer care on social platforms. The first is to ensure that your employees are delivering the level of service that you want and expect of them and that your customers are being properly served. In addition, mining any customer service conversations can give you insights into several things. You can learn about issues with your products or services that help you proactively offer information on your website or social channels or even in product packaging that prevent service “calls.” You can also glean information about how your customers talk about you, your industry and your offerings. Things like keywords and other important SEO elements can sometimes be

Create Stronger Customer Relationships With These Live Chat Support Tips

Live chat support is an easy and effective method to answer customer questions and help resolve any issues they have encountered with your products or services. Unfortunately, many consumers have a default attitude that customer service, online or over the phone, is difficult and tiresome. Creating a strong customer support team utilizing these tips is a simple way to build stronger customer relationships. Make It User-Friendly If a customer must navigate to several different pages and fill out forms of personal questions in order to initiate live chat services, then they are not likely to use those services at all and may even develop a distrust of your business. It should be practically effortless for a customer to contact a member of your support staff. Having a pop up or link as soon as a user navigates to your website is one effective way to make chat support user friendly and build trust in your business. Clearly State Your Availability and Alternative Support Options Not every business online has the means to offer customer support 24/7. If your chat support services are only available at certain times, then clearly state your hours of operation. Make sure your customers also have alternative options to contact you if they have a question outside of your working hours. Providing phone or email contact options not only makes your business appear more legitimate and trustworthy, but it provides other avenues of contact for those customers who might not wish to use chat support. Provide Appropriate Training for Your Staff Good customer service requires a certain amount of tact and patience. Make sure your support staff receives high-quality training to deal with all kinds of situations that may come up. Your customer support staff is a reflection of your business as a whole, so you want to ensure that they are providing positive representation of your products and services with every customer. Follow up With Customers It sometimes takes more than one interaction with a customer in order to get an issue resolved. It is vital that your support staff and managers follow up with customers as necessary to make sure their needs are met and their issues are resolved. Doing so makes your customers feel like you really care about them, and they are more likely to return for business later. Customize Your Messenger Taking the time to customize your messenger to match your business’ colors and logos shows customers that you take your company seriously. This also helps you stand apart from the competition, and it reinforces your business visually with every customer who uses it. Because there are a lot of websites out there that use chat services to scam customers, it can also help to identify you as an authentic business earnestly looking to help its customers. Make Every Contact Count It’s a shame that so many website customer services get a bad rap, but you don’t have to let that happen to your business. Being transparent with your clients and making access to support easy are simple ways to build trust and keep your clients coming back. Be sure to use these tips to your advantage.

Generosity and Leadership

Life’s lessons are often taught to us in very unexpected ways. In some cases, this means that those lessons are also taught by unexpected individuals. While we may believe traits such as leadership and generosity are learned over years of hard work and discipline, there is living proof that is not necessarily always the case. Consider the story of a young woman we shall call Sarah: Sarah is, simply put, an incredible girl. At just 17 she has exhibited many of the qualities and traits that some people work their entire lives to achieve, and in many cases still fall short. She took a job at the mall working in a retail position. These often thankless, brutal jobs have allowed her and countless others the opportunity to be exposed to everything human behavior has to offer. Anyone who has worked retail understands that this often involves a large amount of bad with a spattering of good. Sarah recently shared a conversation she had with a friend. A fellow coworker at the mall had experienced more bad than good and was commiserating with Sarah about how terrible her day had been. It was filled with an angry manager, rude customers and missed sales goals. Her coworker felt anxious and defeated at the end of the day. Although Sarah had no power to make customers choose kinder words, calm the angry manager’s temper, or increase her friend’s low sales numbers, she was not completely powerless in the situation. Sara knew that she could listen. She also knew that after she had listened, she could more fully examine the situation to determine just how she could help her friend get through her difficult day. This intentional, service minded attitude gave Sarah both the opportunity and the ability to assist her friend when she needed it most. In this case, the simple, kind act of treating her friend to a smoothie and chatting made Sarah the perfect example of generosity and leadership. According to Hilary Davidson and Christian Smith, the authors of The Paradox of Generosity, when people engage in generous acts, it actually results in an improvement of the generous individual’s well-being. While Sarah’s friend was certainly cheered by their encounter and Sarah’s kind, understanding words, Sarah also received something for her unselfish act. When asked about her experience, Sarah stated with a bit of surprise that she felt a strong sense of contentment when she thought about what she had done. As a leader in business, you are given the chance each and every day to make a difference in the lives of those around you. One of the clearest ways that superior leaders can show they value their coworkers is by holding regular one-on-one meetings. This is a great time to give direct reports, listen closely, and offer the direction, support, and praise that most workers crave from their leaders. It not only shows that you care about their role within the company, but that you care how they fare as a person. This type of interaction usually results in stronger working relationships, increased job performance, and an overall greater morale in the workplace. Like Sarah, leaders may also come away from the meetings with a great feeling knowing they have done something worthwhile. Making a positive difference in your workplace is as simple as being generous with your time. It’s beneficial for all involved. This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.

What are the best incentives Call Center Managers can offer Agents?

Many people know that turnover among agents in the call centers are high, but most leaders don’t know how to prevent it nor do they know what type of incentives have the most influence over agent’s performance. There are many books written on ideas how to change this in the call center I have read over my career. In this article I am going to talk about what types of incentives enable our agents to perform better and get our agents rallied around one common goal. Contest incentives are typically best executed around a theme of some sort and are either shorter term one day to 30 days, or long term over 30 days with a much bigger prize and more chances for everyone to win. Some contests can be activity based rewards (time off with Pay, time off with a friend to watch a movie in the breakroom with free popcorn, manger washes your car, manger dunk tanks, manager take my calls for an hour and many more). Other contests can include more luck like (spin the wheel, putting contest, go fish, lotto tickets to win other prizes.). The other types of incentives are larger level contests which have a higher level of success and service output like winning a new car, motorcycle, or a trip somewhere. Etech has a proven track record of these bigger type contests, and our agent surveys tell us they prefer these well thought out an planned contests where everyone has a chance to win something life changing. Cash and prize incentives tied to sales or service results when properly executed can sustain really long term results. Both of these incentive programs have their place. One does not substitute for the other. At Etech we have tried points-based incentive programs, metric driven programs for sales and service and even setting up our own Unique Boutique store in our contact centers. If you are not careful these programs can become overly administrative and burdensome. The best advice I can give is keep it simple. If the agents spouse or significant other cannot understand how the agent wins or gets paid, then it’s too complicated. Agents need to clearly understand how they can win, both short term and long term. Points systems are too complicated and de-focus reps off the real goal. Also in terms of sales or service – Sales should be net revenue per phone hour, net profit, or sales per hour. For service customer satiation as surveyed by the individual agent’s customers on a random basis. To receive incentives agents should also meet some minimum standards of quality, no person should ever receive incentives if compliance or quality becomes an issue. Evaluating a program’s effectiveness is easy for a company to measure as long as it related to company revenue not some internal process metric.

4 Ways E-Commerce Websites Can Enhance Live Chat Function

Live chat support is the single most preferred resource for customers in need of assistance online. They’re also an excellent opportunity for businesses looking to win over visitors with outstanding e-commerce customer services. If your chat features are lacking, you may be missing out on much more than help requests. Even worse, you may be turning customers away. Here are four ways to enhance your live help services and turn customers into lifelong brand advocates. 1. Respond in Real Time When was the last time you enjoyed waiting in line for an undisclosed amount of time? The answer is likely, “Never.” The same is true with live chat support. Even if you’re juggling ten other conversations and can’t respond to a new customer right away, it is absolutely essential to let him or her know how long it will be before you can help. Because customers can make purchases online at anytime, they expect you to be able to help them right away if they need assistance. People don’t mind waiting for two minutes if they know they’ll get help, but leaving them wondering if their message was ever received is one of the quickest and easiest ways to lose a customer. Aim for an average response time of 30 seconds for maximum customer satisfaction. 2. Make It Personal Most chat operators have a go-to file of canned or pre-written responses. While these are great for increasing speed and handling more conversations at once, they can be deadly if the message isn’t personalized. Customers want to know they’re talking to a realh2 person who is genuinely committed to helping them, not a live chat robot that’s clearly running out of memory space. This isn’t to suggest you should ditch the canned responses altogether. Instead, find ways to insert personalized touches like: 1. Using the customer’s name 2. Discussing purchase details 3. Relying on past history information 4. Engaging in casual chit chat 3. Find the Right Balance There’s always a balance between responsive support and aggressive assistance. Most customers prefer to reach out to the customer service representative or chat operator on their own terms, rather than field unsolicited, “How can I help you?” pop-up messages. When in doubt, give the customer control. Even if you utilize pop-up chat windows, give your customers the freedom to minimize the message. If you don’t use pop-ups, make your live help feature easy to find on your website. 4. Be Accurate and Efficient It may seem obvious, but an operator’s spelling and grammar count during a live chat. While it’s OK for customers to make mistakes, an error on the operator’s end will have them questioning your legitimacy and professionalism as a brand. It can be tempting to slip into colloquial language and abbreviations in order to save time, but it’s best to stick to formal spelling and grammar rules. A better way to increase is efficiency is to use as few words as possible and deliver the most important pieces of information first. Your ultimate goal is to help the customer by resolving problems and maximizing satisfaction. Don’t compromise either for the sake of speed. With an emphasis on delivering real time responses, personalized touches, accurate and concise information, and giving the customer control, you can transform your live help feature into a wow factor in no time.

4 Rules on How to Improve Leadership Skills

Anyone who is a leader is also a student, one who never stops learning no matter how far out the career road stretches. It makes no difference if you’ve been a leader for a short while or if it seems as though you’ve been leading people your entire life, there are several things you can do to make yourself a better and more effective leader and student. 1. Constantly Work on Improving Yourself No matter how hectic work and life get, you should always be striving to educate yourself on the developments taking place in your industry. Read business books and magazines when you have a few minutes, and attend conferences whenever possible. If you can, engage in discussions with other leaders as well as the individuals you’re leading. You have just as much to learn from them as they do from you. 2. Recognize the Leadership Qualities and Skills You Don’t Posses Nobody’s perfect. There are bound to be plenty of skills and qualities you lack as a leader, but what you should focus on is recognizing those qualities and working on them. Take a long and honest look at yourself and your leadership capacity and determine where you can make improvements. Know that you may never gain each and every skill a leader should have, but all that matters is that you’re making an effort to improve yourself. 3.Know How to Make Yourself Better As you’re working on the leadership qualities you lack, know that you should always be looking forward to where you’re going rather than looking back at the mistakes you’ve made and opportunities you missed. Turn those blunders into learning opportunities.In addition to leadership skills, there might be personality traits you lack. Such traits include delegation, integrity and patience. Making yourself a better person in everyday life is bound to make you a better leader in business. Knowing what you want is also key to becoming an effective leader. While accomplishments are great, they’re better when you have a target or goal to aim for, otherwise you may never know when you’ve reached your goal or hit your target. 4. Properly Cultivate Your Leadership Skills On your journey to embodying the leader you know you’re capable of becoming, you should do more of the things that matter to you and less of the things that can impede your success and forward movement. Throw out, abandon, walk away from and eliminate anything that keeps you rooted or anchored down in negativity. Take a look at how you spend your time and how you’re living your live. Are there activities that are a waste of time and energy? If so, they’ve got to go. There are only 24 hours in the day, and each of them should be spent on something positive and worthwhile. You don’t want to wake up five years from now and realize how much of your life and effort you’ve wasted on fruitless endeavors. Start laying down the proper foundation for the future of your career and your leadership abilities. Things may not always work out according to plan, but as long as you’re learning and making an honest effort, everything else is sure to fall perfectly into place. This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.

Top 10 Ways to Enhance Call Quality Monitoring

Without proper focus on quality monitoring best practices, it’s impossible to improve the efficiency of a contact center. The most important practices include those that link directly to ensuring customer satisfaction. First-call resolution has the greatest effect on a customer’s willingness to return to a company and recommend it to others. Call quality monitoring makes achieving ROI quicker and easier. The Important Metric of Customer Satisfaction The goal of quality monitoring is to identify the calls that fail to provide acceptable customer satisfaction and then determine the reasons. Once you figure out why customers aren’t satisfied, you can refine training and coaching, correct broken internal processes, bridge skills gaps or enhance workforce scheduling. The best way to achieve this is with call quality monitoring and evaluation. Here are some top tips that can help improve call quality monitoring in your call center. 1. Train, coach and monitor. Investing time and effort into training and coaching your agents enables and empowers them to improve their skills. The more effort you place on monitoring will ensure better customer service for your customers. 2. Assign quality ownership. When agents own a process, it can be calibrated to ensure effectiveness or improved and adapted to the changing needs of your business. 3. Set up a call quality forum. Ensure that all stakeholders agree on the criteria and reach consensus on what enhances call quality. 4. Reward best practice. Reward your staff for their high-quality work when you receive positive messages from customers. 5. Quality people ensure quality monitoring. Identify someone other than the supervisor to handle monitoring, training and evaluating. Then give them the resources to carry out methods to improve staff expertise. 6. Put information gathered to good use. Call quality monitoring provides valuable insight into how you are performing and what customers are experiencing. Use the information to further staff development. 7. You don’t have to commit to high-tech. Even basic monitoring is better than no monitoring. Start with simple activities, such as a spreadsheet that you manually complete. 8. Getting things right. Regular monitoring is an ideal method to maintain best practices and ensure that advisors get details right, such as greeting customers appropriately, adhering to the precise call structure and using positive phrases throughout the call. 9. Ensure that advisors understand the need for monitoring. Call quality monitoring shouldn’t be viewed as a negative activity. In the best contact centers, it is seen as an integral part of the skills program. 10. Provide feedback, support and more training. Feedback from the monitoring process should be objective, using a method of scoring and evaluation that is fair, consistent and regular. The most important thing is to provide support and further training when needed. Customer satisfaction rates should have an impact on call quality monitoring practices. With innovations in technology and social media channels, customers expect faster responses and more attentive service. Optimizing Your Call Monitoring Processes With regular quality monitoring, you can eliminate bad habits before they spread among the advisors and to your other call centers. Setting realistic targets is the cornerstone of quality assurance. Achieving them will be motivating and help pave the way for other more ambitious goals. Regular monitoring, feedback support and training are all essential tools for maintaining your high-quality customer service.

Vital Components to Quality Call Center Agent Training

Just like phone support, live chat support staff needs high-quality call center agents training in order to handle a wide range of situations and perform effective services to resolve customer issues. Here are some vital components to training for live chat agents. Starting a Chat Your opening line should not be too short, nor should it be too long. Keep it simple. Make sure to use the customer’s name, if given, and ask how you can help. You can even go more personal and ask how the customer is doing before inquiring about how you can assist him or her. Clarification and Verification Once the customer has explained what the question or problem is, you should ask for any clarification, such as saying, “Tell me more about…” If no clarification is needed, you should still verify the question or issue by repeating it back to the customer, such as saying, “Let me see if I have this correct…” Admitting “I Don’t Know” It is important not to waste a customer’s time if you do not know the answer to the question or problem. However, it is also important that you do everything in your power to help the customer. The words, “I don’t know,” do not need to leave your lips, but you can apologize and admit you do not have the information, then offer to find out for the customer. This may mean putting the customer on hold or getting contact information to follow up with him or her later. Transferring Calls If you absolutely must transfer a customer, be sure to explain to them what you are doing and why before you actually do it. In addition, make sure the agent you are transferring the customer to already knows what the question or issue is so as to better help the customer after transfer. Holding a Call Putting a customer on hold is necessary when you need to investigate the question or issue. Ask the customer if he or she will hold. If they do not wish to hold, offer to contact them later. If you put the customer on hold, make sure to thank them for holding when you get back to them. Apologize for long waits, and try to minimize the length of time the customer spends waiting. Admitting Fault If you or someone in your company makes a mistake, it’s okay to admit fault. For your own mistakes, simply apologize and admit you made a mistake, then right it by providing the correct information. If the mistake is someone else’s, apologize for the company using “we” and “our” instead of naming an individual person. Saying “No” Although you might want to, avoid saying, “No,” as much as possible, as this comes off as rude. Instead, you can put a positive spin on it. If it’s something as simple as someone not being available, apologize and ask how you can personally help the customer. If it has to do with a product or service, apologize and explain that you do not or cannot provide that service, but offer something similar. Handling Upset Customers To keep situations with angry or upset customers from escalating, show empathy and acknowledge how the customer is feeling. You can also apologize that they are experiencing these problems and offer to help them deal with the issue or find a compromise. Wrapping Up Make sure your customer’s needs have been met and that they have no other questions before ending your chat. If your business’ agent training contains these vital elements, your customer support should be quite solid.

How to Facilitate a Successful Calibration Session

Calibration sessions are beneficial to overall call center performance and should be done regularly. Through consistently calibration, campaign leaders, trainers, and quality monitoring team have an opportunity to review customer interaction, compare quality scores using the evaluation form, and have productive discussion around the campaign. The goal is to have the groups’ scores within a 5% margin of variance. Today we will look at how to carry out a successful calibration session. Distribute materials Before starting the calibration session, you need to distribute the selected calls, chats, or emails to all participants for evaluation. The members should include managers, supervisors, quality monitoring team and any agents that you want to include. I have found that having the agents present whose interactions are being reviewed is a great learning exercise for them. They are able to hear the groups’ feedback directly and better understand the scoring process. Always review the interactions first to make sure that it will not be a negative experience for the agent. Anything that would result in a reprimand should be done in a private setting not in front of the calibration team. The Quality Monitoring team should be prepared for the session with pre-scored evaluation forms. Blank evaluation forms should be distributed with the interactions to be reviewed. The participants can complete the score before the session begins or as the review is taking place. However, they should have a score determined before the discussion begins to capture the variance. Typically 2 -3 interactions are enough for each session depending upon the length of each conversation to be reviewed. Quality Monitoring Team Acts as Facilitator The QA team should facilitate the session. Your SPOC (special point of contact) on the team will lead the discussion. He or she is in charge of time allocation for each participant, venue logistics, material distribution prior to the meeting and technology for reviewing the interaction. Sending out the summary from the session and providing follow up to interaction opportunities would also be part of the facilitator’s responsibilities. It is critical that any areas of improvement found during the calibration be communicated to the agent, coached, and monitored to ensure compliance. Establish meeting ground rules. To have a successful meeting, the facilitator and participants need to understand the ground rules and adhere to them. The aim is to ensure that everyone feels free to share and challenge the performance guidelines. To create that open environment, follow the below suggestions: 1. Set the start and end time in advance 2. Listen keenly without reacting or interrupting 3. Be honest and open throughout the discussions 4. Focus on consistency, not agreement or being right 5. Uphold confidentiality after the discussion 6. Ask all the participants to add onto the guidelines if they feel something is missing. They will easily follow them when they formulate them. Review Previous Discussion Start the process by reviewing the outliers, the highest and lowest scores. These two ratings are easier to discuss compared to the “almost exceeded” scores. If it is your second calibration session, use the previous discussions scores to locate any standard deviations. However, if it the first calibration session, you can set the scores. It will take time to get your team calibrated, therefore, do not rush to process. The key is to have frequent one-hour meetings. Review the first interaction After setting your calibration goal, it is time to play your first call, chat transcript or email exchange for group review. If the interaction had not been scored by participants previously, take time for the group to complete the evaluation including score. Compare the scores from each participant. The facilitator should keep track of all scores to judge variance. Put Together the Feedback Open the floor for the call feedback discussions. The facilitator should ensure all the comments go back to calibration goals or the call center goals. The focus is to clarify quality performance standards. The facilitator takes charge of the discussion by asking for specific feedback. For example, the positive things that the agent did during the call, the negative things that need improvement or suggested improvements in the particular negative. The final decision should be a consensus, which will benefit the company and the agent, resulting in a better customer experience. Review the quality standard definitions A key benefit of a calibration session is the opportunity to consider the quality standard definitions. The quality assurance team will note the suggested improvement points and compare with the corresponding point. These new definitions will offer guidance in the future in case they encounter the same issue. Write all the suggestions in the QSD (Quality Standard Document). Repeat the above process for the next calls. Bringing it together Start by distributing the materials, select the facilitator, set the meeting guidelines, review the previous discussion, review the first interaction, put together the feedback and finally review the quality performance standards. As you conduct a calibration session, always keep in mind the desired quality performance standards.

Are you using Proactive Live Chat for your business?

As your company grows, you face many challenges like strategies that will guarantee exceptional customer satisfaction, dealing with the competition, lowering operational cost and increasing profits. At the center of all these challenges are customers. They are the key element of how fast your business grows. Today’s online customer is sophisticated with high expectations of the kind of experience they want. They expect fast and reliable service. On the other hand, the company is looking for the highest return on investment on the platform they use to deliver that superior customer experience. The solution is Live Chat because it saves money and time while building trust and confidence. It is a win-win situation for customers and the company. I recently read a study conducted by Forrester and the findings show that. “Chat earns 15% on click to chat (reactive) and 105% on proactive chat. This statistic is the basis for our discussion today, what is proactive chat is, its benefits and the how you can incorporate it into your customer service strategy. Live Chat is an opportunity to speak with a company representative, sales, service or technical. The commonly used live chat functions have been reactive in nature, where the customer has to reach out to you for a service. The service with the highest ROI is proactive, where the company invites you to chat with them. Here are the top four benefits of proactive live chat Increases sales conversion In a retail store, once the customer walks in a sales representative greets them and initiates a conversation. Most often, the customer will walk out of the store with an item, because the sales agent was proactive with the customer. They didn’t wait for the customer to ask questions, they anticipated their issues and offered solutions as they talked. Proactive live chat brings this same approach to the online platform. The agent anticipates the needs of the customer by looking at the areas they are browsing and sends them an invitation to chat. For example, “Got questions? Speak to a specialist.” The visitor will readily explore that option to get the information they were looking for faster. If they had a question about a product they want to purchase, the information provided would help in their decision-making. Research shows that 83% of online shoppers want to contact a real person before buying. Increases customer satisfaction A happy customer will be loyal and become your brand advocate. Important to remember is who your customers are. Today’s online shopper has more information readily available and wants results immediately. They do not want to wait, for example, when someone wants to call an agent, they have to deal with the hold times, and the dreaded messaging “hold for the next available agent.” Do you think this customer will be satisfied? Live chat, on the other hand, provides the opportunity for the customer to get immediate help. Proactive live chat when deployed correctly makes this even better by inviting the customer to chat immediately if they have any questions. A whopping 94% of customers who were proactively invited to chat were very satisfied with their experience. Live chat makes it convenient for the customers to contact your company. They can do it anywhere and at any time, for example, in the office, on their way home or at home. They do not have to worry who is listening in to their conversation, leading to increased satisfaction levels. Reduces operational costs You cannot have a high return on investment without watching your operational costs. If your operational costs are higher than the sales you are bringing in that is a loss, which will destroy your company. However, when your sales exceed your operational costs, your growth is a guarantee. For example, an agent can chat with two or three customers at the same time, but can only speak with one customer via phone. Therefore, you will need fewer agents to handle more clients. This cuts your staff overhead by half. The savings achieved can be used for business expansion. Helps Research and development How proactive live chat works Speak to a leading live chat software company; they will do all the work for you. Once set up, a live chat invitation can use rules to only invite people who want to chat. Every person who visits your website is important, however they are not all equal. You are notified that you have a visitor online. You will see what the visitor is interested in as they browse through the pages. It is your call; you can proactively invite the visitor to chat about your products and offer to answer any questions he might have. The visitor also can click to chat with you. In summary, live chat has loads of benefits to your company and integrating proactive live chat in your customer service strategy will increase them. Make the move by either doing it in-house or subcontracting a contact center.

Importance of Calibration Sessions

We all know the impact of excellent customer service to the business. In light of the digital era, most customers rely on contact centers for customer service; therefore, the strategies used should result in happy customers. A key strategy to yield measurable outcomes is through calibration sessions. Calibration is a standardized scoring process and customer interaction evaluation that provides a quantitative measurement. It ensures that clients, quality monitoring team, supervisors, and trainers can evaluate agent performance and improve customer service. A calibration session takes time, and all parties must participate for it to be effective. Importance of calibration It standardizes scoring across multiple teams Calibration ensures consistent scoring, which is the basis for measuring the performance of agents. In addition, it eliminates the perception of favoritism among supervisors. Some agents feel that their supervisor is lenient compared to the quality monitoring team. However, after all responsible parties – quality monitoring, supervisors, and client – complete the calibration session, the results are the same. Therefore, it does not matter who did or did not do the call monitoring and scoring. Consistent findings help drive improvement across the entire team. By including the training team, learning’s can be immediately implemented within the training curriculum. It determines the quality of agents performance Agent’s consistency in service delivery to the customers How effective the agent is adhering to contact center standards and procedures. Confirming whether the agents’ behaviors you are measuring lead to quality service delivery. Before a calibration session, you will have determined the scoring benchmarks. Once you calibrate these scores and carry out the exercise, you will know how each agent is performing. In particular, it will reveal the following: Understanding where your agents are failing will guide the improvement needs. Through this process, the agents will also get to know what matters when it comes to offering quality customer service. It reveals coaching improvement needs A calibration session takes time and resources to be successful. Therefore, the desired results of improvement should be achieved. It reveals the exact challenge the agents are facing, either compliancy behaviors like not reading the recording statement or communication soft skills like speaking too fast for the customer to understand. Since the agents are part of the calibration session, they will understand firsthand how their behaviors and soft skills are playing out. During these sessions, it is the right time to address all these issues, and ensure that each agent understands the right way of offering quality customer service call.The coaches (managers and supervisors) get to know where to focus their energy and time for customers to receive quality services. Remember to be specific, give both positive and negative feedback and on time. It refines the quality assurance standards In most cases, we use Quality Standards Definition Document (QSDD) as a guide to all components of the evaluations. It is a great tool to use during your sessions. However, these standards have to be in line with your company quality procedures. The more calibration sessions you hold, the more you understand the guidelines that do not adhere to your procedures. You can refine them to your particular needs. Ensure that all stakeholders understand the recommended changes to avoid confusion in the implementation process. In conclusion, calibration sessions are beneficial to all stakeholders from the client, management, trainers, and quality monitoring team to the agents. These four benefits stand out: standardizing scoring across multiple teams, determining the quality of agents’ performance, revealing coaching improvement needs and refining the quality assurance standards. Consistently performing calibration sessions will ensure overall improvement in customer service delivery, which will lead to satisfied customers. I will look at how to carry out a successful calibration session in the next post.

Becoming a More Effective Leader Through Improved Communication

In order to get the absolute most out of your employees and have the best chance of meeting company goals, you’ve got to know how to communicate with your team properly and effectively. Rather than resorting to generic communication methods that might be outdated and ineffective, get to the core of what it truly means to say what you mean and mean what you say. Let Your Employees Know You Appreciate Them and What They Do Simply giving your employees a pat on the back or a thumbs up when they do a good job isn’t enough. You may not be aware of all of the time and energy they put in their work, and a simple “good job” may make them feel as though they aren’t appreciated. Be specific in your praise and what you like about how they work and what they bring to the company. Vagueness doesn’t do any favors and it’s not a good way to retain good employees. Thank Your Employees While you’re heaping detailed praise on your employees, thank them. Even better, thank them in public as well as personally. This shows you’re paying attention to what they’re doing and want to acknowledge their contributions during one of the many times you have a daily interaction with them and when you have staff meetings. If you never seem to cross paths with an employee you wish to thank, send him or her a thank you email or leave a yellow sticky note. Ask Your Employees What They Think Let your employees know they have a say in how the company operates by asking them their opinion and what they think of a new project, plan or process. Try your best to refrain from the generic approach of taking employee ideas and using them as your own or making your team believe there’s only one right answer. Leave room for improvisation and true creativity. Your employees are sure to appreciate having a safe place in which to speak their minds just as much as you do. Make Sure Your Employees Always Know What’s Going on and What They Can Expect Just as you hate to be blindsided while driving, the same is true when it comes to work. Show your employees your respect by making sure they’re aware of upcoming changes, no matter how small they might be. You never know how a sudden small change can completely obliterate an employee’s “work flow.” In addition to informing employees of upcoming changes, be honest about why those changes are taking place. Your team is integral to the success of your company, and they deserve to know what’s going on and why. Treat them as equals and less like employees. Give Your Employees Feedback Getting and giving praise is great, but giving your employees honest and constructive feedback on how they can improve their performance is even better. You don’t always have to wait for performance reviews to let your team know how they’re doing and the new goals they can set for themselves. Proper communication is essential for every type of relationship, both professional and personal. While you’re implementing the above suggestions, take some time to learn your employees’ first names and address them as such. Rather than resorting to raises and benefits to make your employees want to stick around, learn how to talk to them in a way they’ll truly appreciate. This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.

How to Incorporate DMAIC Processes into the Contact Center

The globalization of the contact center industry has created a competitive environment which demands that companies not only meet client expectations, but do so as efficiently as possible. Many in the field are finding that integrating a data driven approach for creating and improving processes provides the methodology for implementing change and improvement. One such methodology is DMAIC. A Six Sigma tool, DMAIC is a scientifically proven process that ensures continuous performance improvement. It stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. Many companies use this method because it provides a closed loop and thus eliminates unproductive steps. DMAIC works well because it looks at the inputs and processes used to influence the output. Here are the five steps in detail. Step 1: Define This is the starting point, which sets your project for success. Three main things need to take place at this stage Setting the goals – what are the problems and the key metrics? Set the tasks, milestones, responsibilities, deliverables and a communication plan. All these should summarized into 1 goal statement for example; Increase the contact center customer satisfaction from 60% to 80% by the end of the 3rd quarter without increasing operating costs. Chartering the team – Who are the stakeholders? Identify the stakeholders and their roles. These may include customers, management and staff. You will require training the staff in the DMAIC process at this stage too. Mapping the process – what is the scope? This is the how and where to gather the data. It will help you to know the problematic areas. Step 2: Measure If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. The measurement step is critical to the success of your project because it helps you know where you stand. Do not rely on your gut feeling, but use data and facts to make decisions. You will do the following: Identify and define key metrics – what data is available? For example, data collected from customer surveys. Design and develop a data collection plan Assess the measurement systems for accuracy, stability and repeatability. Collect the data – manually, automated and new metrics as you see fit. Display the data by using charts and graphs – to help you detect any variations. Step 3: Analyze Analyze stage is all about getting to know the root cause of the problem. It helps you look at the genesis of the problem as opposed to treating the symptoms. To carry out a proper data analysis, do the following: Measure process capability – compare the current performance to industry standards. Root cause analysis – you can use a cause and effect diagram to get to what may be the root problems. Other tools can generate the root problem. Identify possible factors that affect your output and are causing variations- for example, why are wait times higher on Fridays? Refine improvement goals based on the above outcomes – a better forecast is possible. Step 4: Improve The rubber meets the road here. You have defined, measured and analyzed your data; it is time to improve your processes based on the insights gathered. These are the mini steps you take to improve:- Generate creative solutions – use various techniques to test and verify solutions. For example, will you add staff on Friday to reduce the wait rate or serve customers through other channels? Select the most viable solution – verify the relationship between your goal and suggested solution. Implement the solution – you can use a pilot program and measure it, if satisfied with the results then use apply it. Step 5: Control Last but most important is the control step. This is the manage part of the first statement. The purpose of this step is to successful implementation of the recommended solutions. Develop a control plan – how will the management and operations monitor the implementation. For example, the supervisors to ensure enough staff are present on Friday. Implement the process control – document all the data and start the implementation process. Rollout the project – include things like training of the staff for a successful outcome. Bringing it together The DMAIC process is simple and flexible to use. The systematic nature gives you a structure that ensures you will not miss any step. Do you have a process improvement project? Just Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control for successful and sustainable solutions.

Engaging Generation Y: Important Dos and Do Not s

Generation Y has been the most challenging workforce for many organizations, especially when it comes to managing their talents. These challenges start from the recruitment stage to training to retaining them at workplace. The human resource department, which oversees most of these functions, can tell a long story on this. Generation Y forms a majority of entry-level employees while the leadership senior management and middle-level management are Generation X and/or Baby Boomers. These two generations have a different characteristics and perspectives about work and life in generation. Here are a few examples of their differences at work:- Work ethics – Baby boomers are driven, workaholic and equate worth to ethic while Generation Yare ambitious, multi task and keep looking for the next big thing. Time at work – Generation X are project oriented and believe they are paid to get the job done while Generation Y take the job as a “gig” and leave work at exactly 5 o’clock. Work life balance – Baby Boomers work to live while Generation Y lives to work. Career development – Generation X seek to grow by acquiring more degrees and experiences within the organization while Generation Y grows by seeking opportunities, if the organization does not have what they want, they look for it in another organization. There are more differences than the outline above, but you can see the pattern. The leaders believe one thing and the followers another. The good news is, not all is lost as you can learn and incorporate some principles to engage the generation Y workforce and maximize their potential. Here is a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to engaging the Millennial. Do Offer Them Flexibility Generation Y work to live, therefore, they will work best with flexible schedules. A millennial will work hard and long given that it fits within his or her schedule, they do not want to make work their life. They do not like the 9 to 5 office life, and if one stays in such a job, they will be on social media half the time. Leverage on technology and evaluate them on results not how much time they spend in the office. Do Encourage Open Communication This generation has grown up negotiating everything from bedtime to play station time. They appreciate open and honest communication. As a leader, when you communicate where the company is and what their role is, you engage them more because they feel part of the team. Listen to their ideas as well when they speak up. Once you adopt the idea, include the employee in the implementation team. This builds their confidence thus productivity and engagement. Don’t Reprimand in Public When you talk down to a Generation Y employee, especially in public, it leads to resentment. They will resent the job and you as the leader. They think highly of themselves and when they make a mistake, they do not want their image tarnished in front of colleagues. Call the employee to your office, and explain to them where they failed and what how they could have done it. Listen to their explanation of the situation as well. Don’t control the internet They are tech-savvy and all their fancy gadgets need internet connection. They communicate with each other and the world through social media. Some organizations limit internet use or lock some social media platforms. This is like squeezing life out of a Gen Y. Let them be responsible with what they do with the internet during working hours. You can also guide them to engage in conversations online that build the company not just personal interests. In conclusion, when you fully engage Generation Y at their workplace, they form a powerful team. These simple do’s and don’ts will lead you in the right direction to engage your Gen Y employees. Capitalize on their strong ambition and self-motivation to achieve organization goals faster. Enjoy!

How Do You Find The Right Agent For The Right Job?

In the corporate world, we often hear the terminology “he/she is a great fit for this position” or “he/she was just not the right fit for the job”. Finding employees who are a good fit for a certain position is critical to the over-all success of any business. The same holds true among Call Center Agents. People unfamiliar with how call centers work often assume that agents are hired simply to fill seats and receive incoming calls from customers looking to purchase products or sign up for a certain service. However, there’s more to it than that. Let me explain. Companies will hire a call center to help them with various aspects of their daily operations. Sometimes those operations can be for receiving inbound calls and sometimes call centers will oversee outbound calls, which can often be of a sales nature. Each of these functions are important, but each require a specific skill set in order for the campaign to be a success. So, how does a call center manager ensure that he or she is putting the right agent into the right job? Here are three aspects that, I believe, are helpful in correctly staffing your call center to meet the specific needs. Key Competencies: First, determine what the specific task requires. Is the task of a sales nature? Will the agent be contacting current customers in an effort to “upsell them” to a larger cable package for example? The key competency this agent must have is the ability to convince the customer that they will benefit by investing in the larger package that offers more. If the task requires more customer service, different key competencies are needed. Are they a good listener, do they have a solid product knowledge to be able to direct the customer to the product or service that’s best for them? Taking the time to ask the questions of what is needed for the campaign will enable the call center manager to place the right people in the right job. Personality type: Personality is something that is unique to each one of us. Finding the right combination and fit for each campaign is something that has to be done by the contact center manager. Some individuals are very people oriented while others are more numbers oriented. Obviously, a people oriented agent will be more successful in a customer service or sales role than a numbers oriented agent. Determining an agent’s personality type is a critical first step in the hiring process as well as the process of assembling the best team for the campaign. Motivational Fit: Personal motivators vary from one person to another but they tend to fall into the general categories of Personal Interest, Job fit and Culture fit. Personal Interest, does the agent seem genuinely interested in the job and what it offers? Job fit, what are the person’s competencies and where will they fit best? And finally, Culture fit, does the culture and values of the company meet the priorities of the agent being hired for a particular campaign. In my years of working in the call center industry, I’ve found that taking the time to look at these three aspects when staffing for a particular client, go a long way in the over-all success of the campaign. Having the right people in the right place at the right time means success EVERY time! Source : LinkedIn

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