In the fast-paced world of customer service and sales teams, every phone call is an opportunity to make an impression on customers and prospects.

One of the ways to improve these conversations is to take a look behind the scenes. AKA… what is happening with your call coaching sessions?

An even better question is, “What is missing when it comes to call coaching techniques?”

Let’s dive into ways you can enhance conversations and improve overall team performance with these minor things you may be missing.

The common pitfalls of call coaching

1. Not tailoring the coaching sessions to your agents

Strengths and weaknesses matter. If you’re approaching it as a one-size-fits-all call coaching technique, that’s not going to give you the best return. 

Invest in your agents, and give them the time and understanding it takes to help them improve. This includes group training as well as individual coaching sessions.

2. Not reviewing calls before your sessions

Better yet, not having your agents choose which calls they want to review. Empower your team, and let them show you which calls should be reviewed. 

You’ll be surprised how quickly this helps them improve. Plus it will elevate your call coaching techniques as you tailor them to each individual on your team.

3. Not focusing on soft skills per se

While every manager wants their team’s technical and product knowledge to be unparalleled, it’s just as important to nail the greeting and make your customer or prospect feel heard.

This includes empathy, listening skills, patience, and even more importantly – problem-solving.

Make sure to incorporate these into your sessions.

4. Not providing scenario-based training

Nobody likes role playing, it seems monotonous but it can be essential to help agents learn when it comes to scenario-based training. It’s actually one of the few call coaching techniques that is done correctly.

It’s not about singling out agents in front of a group, it’s about helping them understand difficult situations. 

Give agents the opportunity to give feedback and options when it comes to how they should respond instead of telling them the best way.

You might be surprised how much you can learn from your team. 

5. Not rewarding more than criticizing 

It’s easy to call out mistakes, but it takes true leadership to focus on the positives first. Acknowledge and reward the good things. It will empower your team. 

A little recognition can go a long way in motivating agents to consistently deliver their best. 

If you could take away just one of the call coaching techniques from this post, it should be this one.

6. Not setting clear goals and metrics

While this should be an easy one, it’s common to fall into the trap of coaching the same thing over and over again. 

But with a newfound focus on revamping your call coaching, your agents should have clear goals and metrics to guide their performance.

Transparency is key and tracking progress towards these goals is a must.

Calls that you should be coaching 

This is where missed opportunities happen consistently when it comes to call coaching. Most managers are focused on the “bad” calls. 

What went wrong, what could have been done differently, etc.

While it’s important to review and train based on those scenarios, it’s just as important to focus on what a GREAT call looks like.

You don’t want to beat a dead horse by focusing on the negatives.

Find calls that have good outcomes so that you can coach on the following elements:

• Patience level of agents
• Number of interruptions
• Script/playbook completion percentage
• Speed of conversation

With Abstrakt, you can easily find all of this information as we integrate at the call disposition level. If you’re using other software, it’s important to determine great calls by the call disposition/outcome. 

Otherwise, it’s easy for bias to occur on what you think SHOULD happen on call vs. what actually happens.

How call guidance software can help 

This is where call guidance software can help. With the time constraints managers are under, giving their team real-time feedback and objection handling techniques on calls can be a lifesaver for agents.

Plus this allows them to focus on their 1-on-1 sessions with agents and group training. Instead of worrying about how they are going to listen to every call recording by the end of the day to meet compliance standards.

As we mentioned above, Abstrakt provides not only reporting and insights but also real-time call guidance for agents.

In the end

In conclusion, effective call coaching techniques are a dynamic and evolving process.

Sure, the theme may stay consistent but the technique itself will change over time. 

By tailoring coaching to individual needs, leveraging call recordings, fostering a feedback culture, focusing on soft skills, and implementing the above strategies, leaders and managers can significantly improve their team’s phone calls in the contact center environment.