For a business and its contact center to be successful, its agents must have adequate training. Contact center agents field a high volume of calls regarding various subjects and departments. Each agent must have the training to handle these calls accurately and efficiently. If agent training is not prioritized, callers can become frustrated, causing a business to suffer.
To create a successful contact center, business owners must provide the proper tools and resources for the agents to operate productively, without needless struggle. This concept is why agent training is so important for a successful contact center.
Successful Contact Centers Start with Successful Agents
If contact center agents are not given the proper tools, they are unable to complete their duties successfully. These failures do not reflect on the agents themselves, since the business owner must provide the necessary training materials. Agent training is key to ensuring the agents are successful in their work.
At a contact center, there are several functions agents handle daily:
- Customer service calls
- Sales calls
- Product and tech support calls
Each of these different call types manifests differently and requires its own training. To provide excellent support, agents must be trained in etiquette, scripts, and call speed, while ensuring the caller is heard and provided with a suitable solution.
Successful Agent Training Is Diverse
A successful contact center relies on agents who are trained through diverse methods. Agents benefit from varied training because no contact center calls are ever truly identical. Training should reflect this potential for variation. The most successful businesses have agents who are skilled in handling all kinds of situations.
Contact center training methods can include:
- Hands-on live-call training: Agents who train through live calls gain invaluable experience due to its hands-on, high-pressure nature. One of the most effective ways to train is through this real-world practice.
- One-on-one training: Agents benefit from being coached and mentored in a one-on-one setting. This training is effective because every agent is unique and may require a different coaching pace.
- Role-playing training: Through role-playing, agents can gain experience with callers without the added pressure of actual callers. This method is helpful as it relieves some anxieties and fosters successful learning.
- E-learning training: E-learnings are popular training tools in many industries. They offer general knowledge and training to improve skills agents will all find useful in their daily work.
These methods combine for a well-rounded regimen that creates skilled agents who are prepared for many different scenarios that can occur when operating in a contact center environment. The more skilled and prepared your contact center agents are, the more successful your business will be.
Steady Training Ensures Stability
With the ever-evolving nature of contact center technology, agents will need to stay on top of the new programs and applications they are using within the contact center. Agents should train continuously to ensure they are grasping new skills and fully understanding all implements within the contact center.
- Agents should first be trained during their onboarding process when they are newly hired.
- Agents should also be trained when changes are made within the center, such as when new software, hardware, or success strategies are implemented.
- Agents should be refreshed through training in regular intervals to ensure they are up-to-date with knowledge and feel comfortable in their roles.
Agents feel more comfortable with continuous training, which creates a more successful environment for the contact center and company at large. This type of perpetual training allows agents to have the best tools for success in their arsenal at any given time. Agents are the most important asset of a contact center. When they are well trained and properly prepared, a business can succeed.
About Ansafone Contact Centers
Ansafone Contact Centers is an award-winning BPO provider with 50 years of world-class customer experience and brand care. We are a national call center with omnichannel services, fully equipped to help you with your business and with any special circumstances.
Please request a quote or call 800-510-0514 to learn more about our custom solutions for creating exceptional customer service experiences for your clients. We’re happy to offer insight into what your customers seek from your company’s language offerings and tailored customer solutions.
