Overflow Employees won't stay logged on

[Jruggs]

I manage a call center with three employees on the main line and 9 Account Managers on overflow. The Account Manager each take four hour shifts, morning or afternoon. The issue I am having is keeping the Overflow employees logged on when it is their shift. They are allowed to go to the print room to fax or pick up work or use the restroom. The problem is that they make too many trips to avoid taking calls. What happens is that I have certian employees who are always on and are starting to get resentful.

The overflow was created to avoid bad service levels (30%). If I can not make the overflow work, our Ops Manager will put everyone on main lines. I don't think this is a good idea as the Account Managers have non customer service work that must be completed. Being on the main line would create a decrease in productivity. They know this, yet still I have issues everyday.

What can I do to make these employees understand the importiance of taking customer calls and stay logged in? Incentives? Write-ups? Any help would e appreciated.

[sheldonoverton]

How was this part of their job explained to your Account Managers? Were they told they were going to assist or was it explained that this was an expectation of their job function? It sounds like the Account Managers’ expectation of the job differs from yours.

I recommend meeting with the Account Managers and letting them know that when they are scheduled to take calls, it is just as much a part of their job as account management. Review the goals that your main line agents have and let your Account Managers know they have to meet the same standards any time they are scheduled on the phone.

I would also hold weekly coaching sessions with Account Managers to review phone performance. This will not only help them improve, but it will also let them know how seriously they should take their scheduled phone time.

I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you would care to discuss.

Sheldon Overton
sheldonoverton@aol.com