Customer Service Agent Levels

[slevy]

We have a department of 10 agents most full-time and we would like to set-up different levels. Level 1 being basic service Level 2 basic plus ..... does any one have any advice? the one problem that i have is the budget. i would need to do this without increasing the pay?

[smack]

I would suggest that you find a way to classify your calls as simple and complex. All calls go into the Level One agents. The agents then screen the calls, gather customer information, and make a determination on the level of involvement needed to resolve the call.

The simple calls go to your Level One agents, simple being calls that allow the agent to answer accurately and get off the phone in a short period of time. The complex calls get transferred to the Level Two agents who work them from where the Level One agent left off to finish. Complex calls would be the situations that require a little more in depth review and analysis in resolving the issue.

Periodically, rotate the groups. No pay increase needed until appraisal time.

[Cindy Szpanelewski]

I have done this many times and without giving additional compensation. People are very happy to be recognized. What I did was set up a career path with different job descriptions. This allowed people to know that they could progress their career and not have to leave the call center. It worked very well. I actually set up three levels. The first was a Customer Support Center Representative, then I put in place the Customer Support Center Certified Analyst Help Desk and then the Certified Customer Support Center Engineer. There was also a role for a Customer Support Center Team Leader. I used the training that the Help Desk Institute offers where you can sent people to training and then they actually sit for an exam to obtain their certification. I also set up subject matter experts and they were responsible for developing training in their area of expertise and then delivering it to the rest of the team. This help develp the agents as well as set up a system to train new team members. The result is turnover went down and people felt good about themselves.

[cookiedough]

Before deciding "how" you need to decide the "why" which you didn't mention. Are your agents bogged down with calls they can't answer and too many calls are escalated? What type of business are you in? What types of calls does your dept usually handle? Technical? Service? It would help immensely if you could describe the exact problem you are trying to solve, and then proceed to finding a solution.

[slevy]

We have 10 agents in our group, 3 are part time. We hae one group leader and the rest are all just CSR's. We are a customer service department for a distribution and service company. Are dept. receives calls from our service people, our drivers and the retailers that we service and deliver to. our thoughts on wanting levels for our agents was more for team building and modivation than a need to service our customers.

[cookiedough]

If team spirit is your motivation, there are many other successful and more focused methodologies to use. Using various levels of service is primarily for the customer. In a similar situation a few years back, I contacted a few companies who actually provide seminars, courses, and professional accreditation for customer service reps, help desk folks, call center --- all the way up to executive level management. Having your manager/company tell you they think so much of you, and want you to succeed with further education and credentials, is probabaly one of the best ways to build a good team. These courses even cover how to get along with the team members, in case there are few bad apples causing all the morale problems and tearing down the team. Check out STI Knowledge University on line. I went to their course to get certified as a call center manager - they do a tremendous job. They provide all sorts of training and certification, at your locale or at one of their frequent seminars across the US. It is worth the money, if you think your team is worth the effort. (By the way, I am NOT associated with STI in any way at all -- I just think they do a great job for this industry.)