Solving Poor Contact Centre Performance the ACTC Way

The Contact Centre (or Call Centre) has become a crucial component in the growth of many businesses today. Many commercial and financial industries around the world depend on Contact Centres to sell products, market services, manage appointments, collect debts and fees and handle sales enquiries. Experience in best practise Contact Centres are repeatedly showing that it is less about the number and speed of managing customer calls and more about the Quality of The Conversation and how Contact Centre teams actually ENGAGE with their customers over the phone However when a Contact Centre doesn’t achieve KPIs or performs poorly, the company can suffer a major setback. Not only can customer satisfaction be damaged, sales and profits can drop and internal relationships can be undermined. It is therefore critical to address poor performance in Contact Centres right away. And the best Performance Development/Sales Training solution to such dilemma is the ACTC Process. ACTC is KONA’s proven solution for Performance Development and stands for Assessment, Consulting, Training and Coaching. Repeatedly, clients who have implemented this 4-phase solution have found a huge boost in the performance and results of Contact Centre/Customer Service Consultant (CSCs) and Team Leaders which has led to:
  • Greater client and staff Retention
  • Improved CSat (Customer Satisfaction)
  • Reduced escalation
  • Increased first call resolution
  • Achievement of KPIs
ACTC Process solves Contact Centre performance problems in 4 stages: Phase 1: Assessment. When all the systems and processes are in place, the recognized problems will usually involve the lack of conversational skills of the CSCs with the customers. Many Contact Centre staff do not build immediate rapport with the customer, and many don’t handle conflict well. Culturally, some do not even comprehend the customers they are talking to because their probing and questioning skills are poor. When it comes to sales, many CSCs lack ownership of the call so that the customers aren’t convinced to commit into buying the product. Team leaders can also be lacking in their abilities. Many have been promoted from within and don’t know how to Coach their team. Assessing and identifying the specific capabilities and skill sets required to overcome these challenges is critical so that effective current and future strategies and Performance Development that will to address the problems. Phase 2: Consultation and Customisation. Your business is different to most others so your management team must identify the specific skill set which will help the CSCs as to how they can effectively engage with their customers going forward. With a well-planned Skills Matrix, the CSCs will now be able to fully grasp the true essence of their role and the different skills they will need, depending on if their role is inbound or outbound; sales-oriented or marketing focussed; retention or customer service Phase 3: Training Contact Customer Service and Sales Training Modules must be a) time bound so to not take your people away from the day to day business for too long, b) Customised specifically to their role and language (not some generic, off the shelf, by the manual, course) and c) delivered in a practical and experiential method, rather than a presentation, so that the CSCs and Team Leaders actually have to demonstrate the conversational skills they are required to use with customers They must be trained how to build rapport and find common ground; how to gather information by asking probing questions, to listen carefully, all before they match their services or offer to the customers need or close. They must learn the skills to convert sales by negotiating with the customer and by deftly handling any objections and to manage the call. When it comes to the Team Leaders, they must be trained to become coaches rather than superstar CSCs Phase 4: Coaching The last part of the ACTC methodology is crucial as Coaching ensures that everything learnt during training is demonstrated on the phone. Practical application of the knowledge is what makes a difference so regular coaching for individuals and small groups must be conducted. In the most effective Contact Centres the team leaders carry this out by listening to the calls, calibrating their quality and Coaching individual development plans for their CSCs.