Using temporary and casual workers is a good way to contain costs and manage fluctuating activity levels in your contact centre. But if those agents are not well managed and supported, they can weaken your team and compromise the quality of the service it delivers – unwelcome outcomes that can outweigh the benefit of any savings you might make.
Here are five strategies to help you get the most out of a flexible workforce.
Adopting a technology platform that’s easy to use
Casual and temporary agents will take longer to get to grips with your contact centre technology than those who are on the tools full time. An intuitive, user friendly system will help them get up to speed – and providing better service to your customers – faster. That’s why it pays to invest in a modern, best of breed cloud platform.
Taking the time to train
Training costs money but it’s money well spent, regardless of whether your workers are full-time, casual or temporary. The contact centre is your primary interface with the world and agents who are not familiar with your company, products and services can easily damage your brand, by giving customers the wrong information, or keeping them hanging while they scratch for answers.
Building a knowledge management system
Even the most experienced agent is unlikely to know the answer to every enquiry that comes their way – and their occasional colleagues almost certainly won’t. That’s why it’s vital to have a comprehensive knowledge management solution that your team can refer to when a customer asks them a curly one.
Teaming temps up with a senior agent
Comprehensive training and a knowledge management solution will see part-timers and temps better placed to cope but there will still be some enquiries they’ll need a hand to sort. Having an experienced agent or team leader alongside them on shift, someone who can resolve complex issues and make decisions, will help the team keep on truckin’ together.
Making flexible workers feel part of the business
People generally work harder when they feel acknowledged and included. Copying temporary and casual agents in on company communications, giving them the opportunity to come to team meetings and inviting them to the Christmas party and other social events tells them you value the contribution they make to the business.
Burst licenses, where the license is only activated if and when it is needed, whisper coaching through headsets and real-time Wallboards and Dashboards are just some of the functionality MaxContact includes in supporting their clients in managing fluctuating, uncertain times.
See what customers are saying about MaxContact's pivotal software in their contact centre.
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