Representative development question.

[mnehr]

I am in charge of quality for a call center with about 150 reps and I have run into a conundrum of quality improvement. We have a very comprehensive quality standard form covering everything from business objectives to personal level objectives. What I am finding, however, is that while people may follow these guidelines ‘by the book’ they still are lacking something important that is hard to get through to them. Specifically, I want my reps to be more ‘passive’ or ‘submissive’ with our customers, but it is hard to find a way to sell it with out making the representatives feel individually ‘less’.

How do you explain to your reps to act more passive with your customers with out insulting the individual (rep)?

[mikael]

Matthew,

My first recommendation would be to drop the use of the terms "submissive" and "passive" from the discussion entirely, and instead to focus on the issue of keeping control over the conversation while satisfying the customer.

At certain points in the call-handling procedure that every rep should be following, control passes naturally between the rep and the caller -- of at least it appears so to the caller! Actually, by controlling the options presented and the pacing of the conversation, the rep should always be in control and moving steadily through the procedure.

I worked with SmartForce to develop an e-learning course for reps and supervisors on this issue (which I'd be glad to talk to you about if you're interested!), but the bottom line is that you begin with establishing the standard call handling procedure, and then work with the reps so that they understand how to keep control while letting the customer seem to be taking the lead.