It sounds like it’s something sinister, straight out of the Nixon White House or the NSA, but call recording is fast becoming one of the most effective performance management tools for business.
Why? Because it works. If ever you’ve been on a customer service call, most likely you’ve heard, “this call is recorded for quality assurance purposes.” That’s all call recording is. It allows for customer/agent interactions to be reviewed for training purposes, ensuring your customers are receiving the best service possible, and your staff has the training to provide it.
Co-founder of Intrigue Media, Rob Murray, who became a NEWT customer in 2012 said, “I can monitor and manage how our team is handling inquiries and customer outbound calls… the value to the organization to create consistency and best practices has been invaluable.”
Call Recording = Performance Management
For the uninitiated, the idea of call recording might seem a little Big Brotherish, however when it comes to customers service reps or sales agents, it’s not about keeping them under surveillance. Rather it’s all about helping your reps improve their skills, to get better at their jobs and to advance their careers.
A recent Gallup survey taken across numerous industries revealed that the most highly productive employees benefit from two shared characteristics:
1st – They know exactly what is expected of them every day
2nd – They are given the tools that they need to do their jobs well.
This is the key to performance management. Providing the proper combination of tools and training to allow them to thrive in their positions. The Office of Performance Management (it’s an American federal agency) defines the four stages of performance management this way:
Planning, monitoring, developing and rewarding
The planning phase is the initial training your people are provided. Define exactly what is expected, provide them with the tools and information that is required to fulfill their role, and then train them to handle a variety of situations and develop their problem solving skills.
Call recording covers the next two stages of performance management: Managers access agent calls and then, by playing back recordings and discussing them with agents, managers communicate both employees’ strengths and weaknesses.
Next comes their development. Utilizing these call recordings provides real-time training giving agents the opportunity to learn new skills. Finally, the rewards. Besides the satisfaction of a job well done, both your company and your employees will benefit from agents meeting their job expectations.
The most valuable time for your business is when you are in direct contact with your customers. This is your best opportunity to increase product awareness, introduce new products or features, or to up-sell, and call recording provides your business with a well-trained, motivated team on the end of the line.
For more information on call recording with the NEWT Business Phone System please call NEWT‘s business communication team at 1-888-996-6389 or email newtsales@fibernetics.ca.
