The Missed Opportunity of Not Coaching Your Agents

Cue the next song on your playlist: “Another one bites the dust.”

Okay, that’s a tad dramatic. But, the reality is, if you don’t coach and train your agents, they’ll leave. And before they make their exit, they’ll negatively impact other key metrics. They may stay just long enough to dump their all-consuming pessimism onto your other agents and spread the toxic morale around the office. Add in the chance that they’ll tap other agents and spur a domino effect of negativity and a mad dash for the exit on their way out, too.

Your customers’ satisfaction, your agents’ morale, and some serious company dollars are at stake when you don’t invest in your people. Your agents need your support and development to succeed and be happy at work.

There’s a glaring connection between engaged and empowered employees and a better experience for your customers. In fact, Temkin Group found that companies who excel in customer experience have 1.5 times as many engaged employees as those who fall behind on the CX front.

Need more proof? We’ve gathered dozens of stats and paired them with all the possible outfall that comes with not coaching your team. Here’s what we know.

Your agents’ work falls flat.

Coaching your agents regularly ties them to the larger purpose behind their jobs. Plus, it empowers them to find answers for your customers. When coaching and contact center training isn’t at the top of your weekly priority list, your agents’ work (and morale) suffers.

• Twenty-seven percent of workers say the feedback they receive helps them do better work.
• An entire 67 percent of contact center managers agree that agents need relevant and sufficient training to be satisfied in their jobs.
• Some 69 percent of employees say they would work harder if their manager better recognized their efforts.
• Employees are two times as likely to be actively disengaged if they’re ignored by their manager.

Then, your customer experience plummets. And customers leave.

Your customers feel the wins and the positivity of your agents. And they feel the pains that come with uncoached agents who disconnect from their work. Turns out, it only takes one painful experience to push a customer into your competitor’s arms.

• Businesses with highly-engaged workers see a 10 percent increase in customer ratings.
• According to American Express’s 2017 Customer Barometer survey, 68 percent of customers said that a pleasant representative was key to their recent positive service experiences.
• And, 62 percent said that an agent’s knowledge and/or resourcefulness was key to their positive service experience.
• Jarringly, 51 percent of customers will never do business with a company again after just one poor service experience.
• To rattle off a few more of the reasons customers switch to competitors: 37 percent of customers switch because of rude or unhelpful staff. Thirty percent opt out when multiple agents hand them off. Twenty-seven percent leave when they can’t get answers to their questions. And, another 27 percent make a run for it when they’re kept on hold too long.

You cost your company more money and miss out on key revenue.

We all know that turnover is expensive. But, disengaged employees actually cost your company additional dollars in lost productivity. Pair that with the negative impact your disengaged employees have on your customer relationships, and the ROI of your time spent coaching your employees to happiness skyrockets.

• Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report found that highly disengaged employees cost companies between $450-550 billion every year.
• Your least engaged workers can cost you twice as much as your most profitable employees.
• Companies that invest in employee training see 24 percent higher profits than those who don’t.
• Businesses with highly engaged employees see a 20 percent increase in sales.
• Providing better service that increases customer retention by only 5 percent can bring in 25 to 95 percent more profits.

Your revolving door of agents keeps spinning.

Disengagement ultimately leads to a group of unempowered agents ripe for burnout. When you don’t provide your agents with the resources and the contact center tools they need to do their jobs, they become the falling domino that sets off the rest. They finally get fed up with missing metrics and always relinquishing much-needed praise. And, they get tired of the constant earfuls from angry customers.

• In the contact center space, nearly 51 percent of agents leave because of poor training and a lack of advancement opportunities.
• Employees who are “engaged and thriving” are 59 percent less likely to look to search for a new job during the next year.
• Forty-six percent of HR leaders say burnout is responsible for up to 50 percent of annual turnover.
• Poor training is noted as the reason 40 percent of employees leave their jobs within the first year.
• There’s nearly a 15 percent lower turnover rate at companies who give employee feedback regularly.
• Gallup IDed the number one reason people leave their jobs as a lack of career advancement and promotional opportunities. (Note to the manager: Agents who aren’t hitting their basic KPIs won’t be considered for that promotion a few months down the road).

Give your agents what they crave.

Summed up, the business impact is too massive to forgo coaching and training your agents. Handing out a 90-page manual during onboarding doesn’t cut it. Your agents need actionable and relevant coaching, served on a platter, frequently. Nine out of 10 employees stress the importance of workplace training. Even with 90 percent of employees underscoring the importance of coaching and training, 74 percent of workers don’t feel like they are reaching their full potential. Grab a lasso, and rope in some in-line training, contextual lessons, and conversational coaching to harness your agents’ full potential. You’ll drive more company revenue and keep happy, productive agents in their seats.

Find actionable coaching methods and tips to become a phenomenal leader with a how-to guide for better call center coaching. Here’s your call center manager playbook!