CMO at Sharpen. Helping companies see obvious ROI with our agent-first contact center platform.

When the vaccines rolled out, my wife and I decided to plan a visit to her parents' house once it was safe. We hadn't seen them in a long time, so we wanted to extend our stay by a few weeks. With work being what it is, I couldn't necessarily take that much time "off" gracefully.

So we struck a balance. I'm currently working from my in-laws' house — several states away from home, my team and my office (which I wasn't using anyway).

And now I see the real benefit of remote work. It's not a binary choice between "office" or "home." Rather, it's about working wherever my brain and laptop happen to be.

What made remote work in 2020 so difficult was that it was suddenly thrust upon us. In 2020, many companies had their contact center agents work from home out of necessity. But now companies seem to have realized the benefits of remote work. With a return to normalcy on the horizon (fingers crossed), July 2020 Gartner research found that about 82% of company leaders plan to let employees work remotely some of the time as employees return to the workplace.

When the pandemic fades, companies will have to adapt again. Let's think about ways your business can make the next change work in your favor, especially for your customer service team.

Set Your Company Up For Flexible Work

I've learned that with the right support and resources from leadership, knowledge workers (like call center managers, supervisors and agents) can serve customers from anywhere with an internet connection and a laptop. Creating an agile and flexible workplace plan could become one of your greatest differentiators. Don't stay tied to ideals of "what work should look like."

Flexible work means you get to make the decision that's best for your employees and customers. Whether your employees have a sick kid, need to make a doctor's appointment or they're more productive at home, flexible work can accommodate them. It's about blending work and life into a happier, more balanced environment. Then, your customer service team can pass that happiness off to customers. 

Create A Consistent Work Experience For Your Team, Regardless Of Location

In my experience, many leaders don't know how to keep remote teams engaged and give employees the resources they need.

Here are a few things you can do to make work easier for your remote (or hybrid) teams. 

• Unify your inbound, outbound and internal channels so teams can communicate in the way that works best for them.

• Update resources like interaction scripts, SOPs and technology guides to train customer service employees consistently, no matter where they work.

• Automate pieces of your customer journey and create self-service channels to help your team keep up with rising customer demand.

• Hold virtual meetings and one-to-ones regularly to stay connected with your teams.

• Share team goals and key metrics and keep everyone updated on how their daily performance impacts each one.

Use Data As Your 'Celestial Navigation System'

According to the January 2021 State of Contact Center Technology report from Customer Contact Week, more than one-quarter of respondents said they made the mistake of not prioritizing call center technology data and reporting capabilities when sourcing contact center technologies.

Data is your lifeline in a remote work setting. Managers can't see direct reports raise their hands or send a smoke signal when they need help. Instead, your customer service teams likely rely on performance data to get a clear view of what's happening. If your data isn't helping you, it's hurting you. Make sure your reports give leaders a complete view of agent performance and customer behavior.

Sync Your Data Across Platforms

Work with your customer service and IT teams to understand your current systems. Which ones talk to each other, and which ones are siloed off from the rest? Do your agents have access to the information they need? Do they feel empowered to navigate their current technology? Learn what's working and what's not before you task your team with changes. 

Then, give customer service leaders the green light to consolidate customer information into a single database if needed. In my experience, employee frustrations often overlap with customer frustrations. Data obstacles only slow agents down, which delays resolutions for customers, too.

Connect Your Team Members To Each Other, Not To An Office

Use performance management to connect your team members to their goals, their progress and each other — regardless of location. Improving customer service starts with giving employees the flexibility they need to do good work. And along with that flexibility comes the need for greater connection and alignment. 

Work with your managers to give employees the reins to make decisions for customers. And along the way, align agents to the customer outcomes you want to achieve. Pull key insights from your data to inform quarterly business goals, choose the metrics that matter most to each of your teams and provide coaching to keep metrics and customer outcomes trending up. 

Use Data To Understand And Improve Team Performance

• Set quarterly business goals with your customer service leaders. 

• Choose the top three metrics that support your quarterly business goals, and surface those metrics (and individual progress) to agents daily.

• Invest in and prioritize better training. According to Gallup, "Organizations that have made a strategic investment in employee development ... report 11% greater profitability and are twice as likely to retain their employees."

• Have managers (and supervisors) dedicate at least one day a week to coaching agents based on the data they surface. 

• Encourage leaders to use data and leave specific feedback on customer interactions so agents can learn fast and make adjustments during their downtime.

If you're using it correctly, the data doesn't care where you're sitting. Stay focused on results to improve employee investment and customer satisfaction.

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