Managing a team of customer service representatives is a pretty serious responsibility. You have to make sure they do their job well, otherwise your company will end up getting some very unhappy customers.
As team leader, it is your job to bring the best out of your team members. There are many ways in which you can do this, all you have to remember is that it is important to be proactive while managing your team. Listed below are a variety of ways in which CSRs can be inspired to do the best job possible.
Here’s How You Can Boost CSR Productivity
#1. Communicate
Your team members need to know how they are doing. Communication is the first step towards creating excellent synergy among your team members. If they are doing anything wrong, you can just tell them.
However, it is not just the things you say that matter. How you say them matters too. Customer service requires your CSRs to be at the top of their game. They need to be comfortable so that they can talk to customers with ease.
Try to stay calm and rational while discussing mistakes that they are making so that they don’t feel rattled while talking to customers.
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#2. Understand Their Flaws and Strong Points
Each individual member of your team will have certain weaknesses and certain flaws. Some of them will be good at organizing, some will be good at dealing with angry customers, some may know certain languages that might make them useful in a lot of contexts, and some might just have a pleasant demeanor that would make them perfect for the right kind of customer.
You need to take note of the various strengths and weaknesses that each team member possesses so that you can give them tasks and responsibilities accordingly.
#3. Prefer the Carrot Over the Stick
If you are good at your job, your team members will start to excel and work in the best way possible. If they are doing their job well enough you should try and reward them as much as possible. Try not to be too stuck up about rewarding them either.
Reward small successes such as dealing with an angry customer well. Think of creative and exciting rewards. Take your well performing team members out to lunch, buy them a small gift. These things will help them feel appreciated and will motivate them to do the best job possible.
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#4. Use a Customer Service Software
The customer inflow of a large company will be far too high for only human CSRs to handle. You need to supplement their performance by using a customer service desk software. This can help them handle the clients that don’t need human support, and can also improve the organization of the complaints they are already handling.
A software like this is no longer a luxury for customer service based companies. It is a necessity that can help your team do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
#5. Lead by Example
If you want a team of high performing, knowledgeable CSRs you need to learn how to do that job yourself. Your CSRs won’t respect you very much if you don’t show them the ropes yourself. Besides, the best way for anyone to learn anything is to be shown how it is done.
You can’t expect to teach people how to excel at customer service if you don’t know how to do it yourself. Also, if your CSRs make a mistake, you will have to know how to rectify it yourself. This can give you some level of control over things that go wrong.
#6. Be Open to Criticism
No matter how hard you try, there will be moments where you end up being a bad team leader. The point is not to be perfect, it is to be open to criticism.
If your team has a problem with you, they should be able to come up to you and tell you directly. It is important to remember that this is not disrespect. In fact, it shows that your team members want to work for you and want the environment to be as comfortable as possible.
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#7. Keep Meetings Short
Bosses often hold too many meetings and drag them on for too long. This can sap CSR energy. A lot of the things you say in meetings can be delivered to your team through memos or on chat groups. There is no need to force your CSRs to take time away from their actual jobs to listen what you have to say.
Meetings are important of course, but try not to overdo them. This can lower your team’s opinion of you as well because they might just think that you are wasting their time.
