The work carried out in the Call Centers is fundamentally a combination of two productive factors: technology and people.
The impact of both factors is what can ensure the success of a call center, regardless of the product or service they serve.
In this article we are going to focus on explaining the supervision of human resources, leaving aside the technological part, which should also be the object of attention at the supervisory level.
To establish a supervisory process in the human part, we are going to present a logical and functional structuring procedure. Very common in customer service areas and responding to the various stages that must be "monitored" by supervisors.
The proposed model is the following:
1.- Customer Needs
What this section seeks is to answer the various questions that have to do with the client. For example: your demographics, your psychographics, expectations, needs, tastes, preferences. All this will allow us to have a very clear vision of who we are working with.
We develop this phase through market studies, focus groups, satisfaction surveys, meetings with clients, handling of complaints and claims, etc.
Normally the result of this phase is the creation of the various customer profiles to be served (customer segments).
2.- Quality Framework
The previous stage does not allow to carry out this other stage. In it we are going to define the following fundamental elements:
- Service mission that the call center will have. The objectives and goals in service are defined. Policies and procedures are defined to guarantee the achievement of quality. The protocols that will be used by the Operators are defined. The metrics that will be used are defined. The profile of the operational personnel required for the call center is defined.
It goes without saying that this stage is fundamental, since it is the one that establishes the entire quality framework that the call center must provide to customers.
Define parameters and policies. This helps Operators to be clear about the service they must provide.
Once this stage is defined, the company must train the Operators on all the established service topics and initiate the operational work.
3.- Monitoring
The purpose of the monitoring is to evaluate the performance of the Operators in their jobs.
What is sought is to measure, observe or capture information on the way in which Operators serve customers.
This information is compared with the parameters set in the framework of quality and as a result of this, the deviations that are being committed in the call center can be evaluated.
Monitoring can be done in different ways. It can be individual or group. It can be done by tapping "live" calls. Or record the calls. This is defined by the Supervisor.
It is the most critical stage in supervision since it seeks to obtain the operational results of each of the collaborators.
4.- Calibration of Operators
As a result of the monitoring, some differences (GAP) will be obtained, with respect to the quality framework, then we proceed to define what needs to be adjusted. This adjustment process is what is called calibrating.
The calibration seeks to determine in a timely manner where the Operators should be intervened and readjusted.
It may also be the case that the calibration is done to the same quality framework, since it may generate needs to adjust some of the policies and parameters that had previously been set according to the results obtained.
5.- Coaching
Coaching should be understood as the communication process between the supervisor and the operators, in order to seek feedback that allows them to make the changes that are necessary.
Coaching is an art unto itself. The Supervisor must look for the way, place and time to give feedback to the Operators, since their motivation to change will depend on this.
Coaching can be group or individual. It can be done through meetings, trainings, interviews or any other method that helps the change process.
When doing the coaching, it is necessary to calibrate the operators and thereby correct those deviations that were obtained during the monitoring.
Conclusions
The good performance of a call center operator depends on a structured and well-founded effort. It is not luck.
Results cannot be requested without first having defined the parameters and policies required by the clients that the Operators must attend to.
In the same way, it is useless to have a defined quality framework if it is not possible to supervise the performance of the Operators in their jobs.
And finally, changes cannot be achieved if Operators are not motivated to make them.
