Jeff Toister, The Service Culture Guide, Toister Performance Solutions
Remote agents present a unique challenge for contact centers. A different approach is required for training, team-building, and management when your agents don't work in the same physical location. Keeping your remote team engaged is a real worry.
I joined GoTo for a live question and answer session on keeping remote agents engaged. Participants were invited to submit questions for me to answer during the event. There were so many great questions that we didn't have time to address them all!
Here are my responses to some of the additional questions we received.
Q: How do you invest in and maintain company and team culture?
Culture is how people collectively behave. Building and sustaining culture with remote agents requires intention. Make culture specific by creating a clear customer experience vision that helps everyone understand the team's purpose. Make sure your agents know the behaviors, norms, and standards that fit the culture. Be a culture champion who models the culture and encourages others to do the same.
Q: What criteria should be used to determine who works remotely?
The answer depends your physical space, talent pool, and organizational culture. You'll need agents to work remotely if you don't have the physical space for them to work onsite. Talent is another consideration—working remotely allows you to recruit agents from a wider geographical area. Organizational culture also determines whether there is widespread support for remote work, remote work is discouraged, or somewhere in the middle. There's no one best approach—pick what works best for your business and your agents.
Q: As a manager, how best do you introduce yourself to new teammates in a remote setting?
Think about what works well in person, and adapt those best practices to working with a new remote team. For example, you might message the team to introduce yourself and invite the team to an introductory meeting. The introductory meeting could be via video conference so everyone can participate in the conversation. Following the meeting, meet with each person individually via video conference to start building relationships.
Q: How can I help engage remote workers with office/hybrid employees so they all feel like a team even though they have not ever met?
In my experience, people build relationships faster when they spend time in the same place. Bring new team members onsite to meet the team if you can. If that's not possible, be very intentional about including them with the rest of the team. Give them important roles on projects. Make sure their voice is heard during team meetings. Involve them in the fun stuff, too, such as having food delivered to your remote agents if you're hosting a recognition lunch.
Q: How can you help a remote team member bounce back after an upsetting call?
Tough calls are an unfortunate fact of life in customer service. One technique you can share with your agents is the quick reset. Here's how it works: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and smile. Clear your mind and focus on your breathing. It takes just two seconds, but you'll instantly feel better.
Q: How to overcome they vs. we when we don't agree with the policy?
Try to make it easier for agents to do the right thing.
For example, I once worked for a contact center where agents were required to upsell the company credit card on certain calls. It was hugely unpopular with agents, and our success rate was only five percent.
We increased the acceptance rate to 20 percent by doing three things. First, we shared the "why" behind the credit card—so agents understood why it was important. Next, we trained agents on effective upselling techniques that we learned from our most successful agents. Finally, making the credit card offer became a requirement on the quality assurance form.
Q: How do you handle quiet quitting of remote employees?
Quiet quitting is a sign of burnout.
I did a study on what makes contact center agents more resilient to burnout. Having a customer-focused culture was most important. Agents want to work for a company they feel proud about.
My research discovered three specific things contact center leaders can do:
- Empower agents. Give agents more control over the outcome of customer interactions.
- Pay fairly. Ensure agents are paid fairly for their work.
- Be supportive. Help agents reach their full potential and do great work.
Q: How can we maintain high morale among remote agents?
Agents tend to feel great when they can consistently help their customers have a better experience. Your role as a leader is to make that as easy as possible.
Train your agents well so they can confidently do great work. Empower them with the authority, resources, and best practices needed to help customers. Recognize your agents by saying "Thank you" on a regular basis.
Q: What metrics should we track to measure engagement and satisfaction among remote employees?
Engagement really means an agent is committed to organizational success. You can see evidence of that commitment in several places.
Performance is a good indicator. Is the agent robotically serving customers, or are they actively trying to help customers have a better experience.
One-on-ones can provide additional insights. Have regular conversations with your agents and listen carefully to their needs.
I'm generally not a fan of surveys unless you have a large team. You can learn just as much by creating a culture of trust where you have honest conversations with each member of your team.
Conclusion
Don't overcomplicate it! Good contact center management practices work whether your agents are remote, onsite, or both.
Be intentional about keeping your agents engaged and you'll be more likely to have a motivated, committed, high-performing team.
