In every call center, managers are usually very aware of what improvements need to be made if revenue is down. Along with this, managers can also determine what factors are contributing to high revenue stream. They are the best people for creating a call center incentive program. When it is set up the goals of the program will be designed to increase revenue or sustain revenue for the call center.

There are companies with several call center locations which are able to compare important metrics from which the call center incentive program goals are developed. It is often the case that the call center employee incentive programs begin at a test location. After this, the programs are tuned and implemented elsewhere. Goals of the incentive program are usually different for different locations.

Metrics That Should Be Taken Into Consideration

When developing a call center incentive program it is important to know which metrics to focus on and which need improvement. The indicator could be calculated by percent of calls taken tied to percent of the available shift time. However this might not be the best metric for every call center.

It is not standard and it measures the things that the employees cannot control. A call center s not always busy and appropriately staffed. Every shift is not equal. This could also trigger unintended behavior, like people trying to take the most calls, to the expense of quality.

There are better metrics to take into consideration. For example the service level for the team, and quality for individuals as well as the team. There are various things to look at, like handle time and wrap up time. There aren’t many metrics that should be in common for all shift. The only ones are those tied to the quality of contact handling. Your call center incentives could be tid to outcomes such as first call resolution and accuracy.

When you set up the first call center incentive program and your call center improves in certain areas, you will want to target other areas that need improvement. This is why it is important to have an incentive program that allows to change the goals and with enough communication. This is how you can get people to improve in these new areas of focus.

For example, one call center incentive idea is to introduce the program as a limited run, one year only deal or a 6-month deal. Then after this period ends, the company can determine the impact of the call center incentive program, without taking the cost in mind.

If the program was popular and helped the organization to meet its goals, management can take the time to find out what goals have been achieved and what other goals should be introduced. After the program has been tweaked, it can be promoted to employees as a new program back by popular demand.

Motivate Your Employees with Rewards They Care About

It does not matter what your call center is involved with, either customer service or sales, recognition from customers, managers and peers is an important aspect to employee motivation and retention. Recognition is the first step to good call center incentive programs.

Your incentive program plan could include online nomination forms so that anyone can nominate an employee for a reward. In a high paced working environment where stress is often and constant, recognition is something important. Receiving formal recognition from people is essential to making employees feel important and needed. This gives them a reason to keep coming back to the same job throughout the years. When you have a call center incentive program set up in your company, your employees can point your customers to rate them, or leave a feedback on their service, which is then taken into consideration for the incentive.

Working at a call center is not an easy job. This position often involves making customers feel satisfied no matter what the situation. However, it can put a lot of strain on people and throwing money at the problem does not fix the fact that workers are put into difficult situations throughout the day.

Sometimes, noncash items are more motivating than money to the individuals who work for your call center. The trick is bringing the prize, the circumstance, and the individual into alignment in order to fuel new levels of call center performance. This is why it is important to know you’re your employees like and what reward will they appreciate over the others.

Call center incentive programs are made to bring these three components into alignment and create employee motivation to work towards achieving company goals.

Provide a Range of Incentives

Different employees like different things. Don’t forget to create a range of incentives that will appeal to everyone.

For example, offer gift certificates, paid time off, early outs or even a day in a special private call cube with extra comfortable seating and amenities like snacks and beverages. If you don’t know what incentives might appeal to your particular team members, ask them.

Simple Rewards

There are incentives that take employees weeks or months to earn. There are some that pit employees against one another in heavy competition. These are not as effective as on-the-spot, regular incentives.

For the best outcome, try frequently giving small rewards to everyone who arrives to work on time or to employees who complete the day’s target number of calls. This can be especially useful on Mondays, Fridays and the days before and after holidays.

Target-Based Incentives

Because call centers often have a variety of different targets in place, you could provide incentives for employees who meet objectives in each category.

For example, you could give movie tickets to every employee who completes a specific number of calls during a shift. Another idea is to give a cash bonus to employees who generate at least a target dollar amount in sales during a day or host an end-of-shift buffet for employees who resolve a specific number of customer complaints in a limited period.

Tough Call Awards

Particularly difficult calls can be time consuming and stressful for employees. As a team leader you should regularly review call records or notes from managers who have to intervene. After this present a toughest call of the day/week award.

Give it to the individual who best handled a difficult situation and represented the company well. This can help make up for the stress of the situation while showing appreciation for a job well done.

Daily Perks

This is one of the simplest of all the customer support contest ideas. In order to set it up, choose one of the key performance indicators you want to improve in this contest. Then, at the end of the day, give a special prize for the person who performed best on that metric.

The KPI you choose needs to be one you can measure quickly in order for the winners to claim their reward at the end of their shift or as soon as they come in the next day. These are some ideas:

• The highest number of calls attended to that day;
• Quickest resolution time of the day;
• Most positive reviews for the day;

Your daily perks can include anything from a gourmet coffee drink, lottery tickets, a gift card, funny socks, or an extra break.

Mystery Prize

This is something that could help put a little intrigue into your workplace. Set up a mystery prize contest in your call center. For example, you can choose an unusual mystery prize that your team members won’t be able to guess easily. Hide this prize somewhere in your call center.

Each day, you can select a number of agents who perform best on the metric you specify and give them clues. These clues can be about what the mystery prize is or where it’s located. The more clues they get, the closer they get to finding the prize. The first person to identify it wins it!

This game will motivate your agents to strive to become the top performing agents each day. It also makes your employees come to work every day with an enthusiasm to take the prize at the end of the day.