Hi All,

I have been roped in to do some workshops for a number of CSR's who seem to be struggling with both assetiveness on the phone and their motivation. Perhaps the two are symbiotic at the moment, as lack of motivation will normally cause a lack of interest in the work you are doing and no desire to 'push' the call.

I'm on a shoestring budget and no time left, the project dropped into my lap an hour ago and I'm to start the workshops on Wednesday (aaah the joy of training in a call centre).

If anyone has any ideas or activities I can include - I would be most grateful! Thanks in advance.

Hi Shellie,

We've had a few topics on motivation in the past. Try the following links as a start:

Motivation Resource
More on motivation
Even more on motivation

Hope this helps.

John

If it takes assertiveness to be successful,and these CSR's are not assertive, then we should not be surprised that they are not motivated. Why are these people CSRs if they are not assertive?

My experience has been that competition within the center (usually through small teams to create a unified team spirit) along with a measurable incentive program can yield quite a bit.

Your training workshop should offer a slight lift, but don't be shocked when it is short-lived, and you will need to create a follow up strategy to overlay.

I have found more recently that investing in some self-paced computer based training, games and activities on the agents desktop for downtime can add to the quality, increase the effectiveness of coaching, and can really work with certain agents (I usually like to profile the staff to determine who seems to respond well to classroom, versus one - to - one, versus self-paced independent coaching. All agents are unique and by looking at the individual or small group needs you can usually develop a more targeted and effective strategy. I would also ask the agents themselves which they find most helpful, most are very forthcoming.)

Thanks for the advice everyone, I really do appreciate it. And Bob, how or why did they become CSR's? I guess that is something to do with recruitment techniques and or lack of coaching when the CSR's are released from training.