How to Prepare Your Call Center for an Economic Downturn
All companies can face declining sales, reduced headcount, and budget insecurity when the economy hits uncertain times. But contact centers can feel the strains of a recession even more strongly than others.
Economic downturns are tough for contact center frontline agents and supervisors.
Call center employees often face the uncertainty of keeping their own job amidst widespread layoffs. Job insecurity can dramatically affect a person’s mental and emotional state – and a stressed employee is much more likely to burn out.
However, beyond the pressures of their job security, frontline agents communicate directly with customers. During a recession, customers can become frustrated and angry more quickly as they also deal with all this economic insecurity.
How can contact centers increase the productivity of their supervisors and support their frontline associates during an economic downturn?
1. Use Data to Find Opportunities to Increase Efficiencies
Your call center data and analytics can identify areas for improvement to increase efficiency during a recession. Here are a few specific ways that data and analytics can be used:
- Analyze call volume and average handle time (AHT): Analyze data on the volume of calls coming into the contact center as well as AHT – how long it takes frontline associates to complete each call. This data can enable contact centers to identify trends to anticipate demand and better allocate headcount and resources.
- Measure customer satisfaction (CSAT): Tracking customer satisfaction levels helps call centers identify areas where their frontline team members are excelling and areas where they need to improve. Call centers can use this to prioritize tasks and resources to focus on areas that will have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction (CSAT).
- Monitor employee performance: Tracking employee performance data identifies top performers and areas where employees need additional support or training. This also enables contact center teams to see the supervisors who excel at coaching versus the managers which may need training in how to be more efficient coaches.
Overall, using data and analytics can help companies make informed decisions about how to allocate resources, manage headcount, and improve efficiency in their contact center.
2. Optimize Your Customer Experience with CX Technology
It’s important to focus on strategies that provide the best customer experience (CX) when call center headcount shrinks and employee turnover is high. Technology such as call-routing software and customer relationship management (CRM) systems can help supervisors more efficiently prioritize calls, create action plans, and respond sooner to customers.
Along with a reduced headcount, frontline teams might also be coping with the challenge of a larger percentage of new hires. Utilizing software for better customer experiences can help fill the gaps caused by employee fluctuation and accelerate the contact center onboarding process and time-to-proficiency of new hires.
3. Identify Bottlenecks and Streamline Contact Center Processes
When budgets tighten, headcount is often the first area to be targeted. However, there may be other overlooked areas where an organization is overspending.
Contact center supervisors and directors should carefully review where their budget is spent. While there might be a few vendors to cut, for the vendors you need, consider negotiating better rates. Many companies will be more open to reducing your current rate if the alternative is losing your spend altogether.
Additionally, review your call center’s operational processes to identify bottlenecks, redundancies, or inefficiencies. Streamlining processes can help ease the strain of reduced headcount and wider supervisor-to-agent ratios.
4. Be Agile and Willing to Make Changes for Better CX
Many companies get stuck trying to figure out how to sustain their current organizational processes. But sometimes, changing the current organizational processes is the solution.
Changing processes might mean automating different types of calls. It could mean that you encourage more customers to use email and live chat. This could even mean looking at the frequently asked questions from customers and creating a more exhaustive FAQ page on your site.
As humans, we are creatures of habit. But when the economy is bracing for a recession and resources are stretched thin, this is the time to reevaluate how things have always been done. Sometimes you can discover a new way to do things that is not only more cost-efficient but also delivers a better experience for your customers.
5. Support Your Contact Center Frontline Supervisors & Associates
No matter what you do, remember that while economic uncertainty is hard on your business, it can be equally difficult – or even more difficult – on your call center employees. Companies need to remember to support their supervisors and associates during a recession.
Consider offering training and professional development opportunities to give your frontline employees the skills they need to be successful in their roles. Additionally, provide resources for employees to manage stress and burnout since the demands of a contact center can be high. This can include things like mental health support, time off, or flexible schedules.
Communication is also key. Companies should be open and honest with their employees about any challenges or changes they are facing due to the recession. Finally, it's important to show appreciation and recognition for employees' hard work and dedication. This helps maintain morale and motivation in your call center during difficult times.
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