So, you’ve partnered with a BPO to help bolster your company’s growth, huh?
That’s great.
With the value that BPOs bring to the table, companies stand to gain from collaborating with one to help boost their productivity, generate sales, or reduce their costs, among other things.
Despite all the benefits that BPOs offer, however, it’s worth pointing out that getting the agents of BPOs to perform at an exemplary level doesn’t just happen overnight.
Proper nurturing and training plays a crucial for having a team of high-performing agents.
And so the question becomes, what kind of training would best serve call center agents?
In this guide, we’re going to cover five crucial aspects that you need to focus on when training the agents.
Whether your agents are in support, sales, or any other aspect, they must know your products and services inside and out.
They must be able to respond correctly to any commonly asked questions without the need to review your product manuals.
That is why, being consistent with your training on product knowledge is non-negotiable. The more you train your agents, the better grasp they’ll have on the basics and the advanced features of your products.
To help your partner call center sharpen your agents, you can send them as many product information (or updates) that you have in your possession.
That way, as the BPO continues to adhere to strict training schedules, the agents will have a deeper understanding of your products work — allowing them to answer their callers with a high level of accuracy.
One of the core responsibilities of your agents is to solve the problems of your customers — on the spot, in most cases.
That is why, if they are to become great at what they do, they need to be able to come up with solutions to the callers’ problems, all while advocating your business goals.
There are several training programs that your partner BPO can do to improve your agent’s problem-solving skills. For example, educating your agent’s about how they shouldn’t take the calls personally can be of great help.
Some agents fail to solve their callers’ problems because they get hurt and emotional about what the callers say.
To get better at problem-solving, your agents need to learn how to control their emotions.
Your agents’ work can often entail keeping up with heaps of tasks and demands at a time.
He will likely handle countless customer support cases, where one user may even have several follow-ups needed and more than one complaint requiring immediate resolution.
It’s because of this why your agents need to learn to monitor customer support issues, requests, and complaints, and organize their tasks efficiently.
They need to be able to juggle demands that vary in levels of difficulty or possible duration for the problems to be resolved, and ensure that they can meet the targets on time.
Interpersonal communication is a vital skill your BPO trainers should impart to your agents.
Part of these interpersonal communication skills includes the ability to listen well and pick out relevant details from your agents’ conversations with your customers.
They also have to be able to relay answers eloquently and persuasively.
When your customers find it hard to explain the issue (especially if it’s a technical one), your agents must help articulate it for them pleasantly.
They should also ask questions if some parts of the inquiry are unclear and avoid interrupting when the customer is speaking, among others.
Your agents need to be quick when accomplishing their callers’ issues.
After all, each call’s length affects not only your costs and resources, but also your performance metrics, customer satisfaction, and retention, business and sales growth, and others.
The quicker your agents handle each complaint, the sooner they can proceed to the next issues, the more they can finish, and the better your efficiency and company image can be.
If you want your agents to produce exemplary results, you need to invest in training them.
When choosing a BPO to partner with, uncover whether the company values training and if they are genuinely interested in seeing their agents grow.