Call Recording: Not Just for Call Centers
Often found within a hosted call center, one of the standard best practices for quality control and training purposes is call recording. You have likely heard a pre-recorded message to that effect when you’re on hold with the bank, for example. But call recording is not just for call centers. How can other businesses utilize this tool to improve performance for both employees and clientele? There are countless reasons for businesses of all sizes to use call recording. Perhaps the reason most frequently cited by industry professionals – and easily the most compelling one – is for employee assessment and training.
Facilitating Skills Improvement in and out of Call Centers
According to professionals interviewed by OrecX for research purposes, “Letting a customer service rep listen to themselves on the phone is the most effective method of coaching there is.”
In truth, there is no one solution for improving employee performance. Telling an employee to follow a script is hardly the most effective way to ensure quality customer service. It also doesn’t consider the complexities of customer needs or how to address them.
As call centers have demonstrated, recordings can be enormously helpful in this effort. They help identify common client inquiries and training needs within the company.
Call recordings can also help to assess voice, tone, and wording so the approach can be adjusted as needed. If you are like most people, what you say sounds one way in your head, but what comes out of your mouth is another story entirely. Call recordings can help eliminate false perceptions and help employees to recognize inappropriate speech patterns.
Assuring Accountability and Consistency
An employee, eager to please, might over-promise, offering wild or impractical solutions to solve a client’s issues. An unrealistic promise can leave customers feeling disappointed and lied to, potentially damaging the brand. In the effort to advocate for feasible service and reasonable solutions, call recordings can help identify which requests are fair and which are otherwise.
Rewarding Excellence in and out of Call Centers
Additionally, recordings can help the employer identify staff members that are exceeding expectations and reward them accordingly. These examples of exceptional work can also demonstrate the ideal phone protocol to other trainees. Studies show that employees who receive positive feedback are more likely to continue providing excellent service, and this, in turn, leads to outstanding results, benefiting all stakeholders.
Alignment With Company Policy
Another frequently cited reason for implementing call recording is to ensure alignment with company policy. Staff who know they are being monitored are more likely to comply with employer standards and those who do not are easy to identify. Whether this leads to further training or termination, it encourages quality outcomes.
The Business Side of Call Recording
As in any service-oriented undertaking, it’s essential to get things right the first time. Recorded calls are accurate and easier to maintain, and they allow employers to double-check an associate’s work to identify areas of improvement. The benefits reach beyond call centers. For any business, it means fewer unauthorized payments, greater accuracy, and it lays the groundwork for timely follow-up. When forwarding the client file to an account manager, a recording expedites the process. Rather than having to draft a lengthy, time-consuming explanation, transferring the record is as quick and straightforward as the click of a button.
Process Improvement
Call recording can also have a significant impact on business procedures, and can be leveraged in a multitude of ways:
- Verifying that processes and policies are optimized to achieve the desired business outcomes
- Recognizing trends in the ever-shifting world of client needs and expectations
- Anticipating trends for better forecasting of future impact
- Identifying when and where breakdowns in communication most frequently occur
Best Practices For Implementing Call Recording In Your Business
Finally, compliance with these measures facilitate transparency and boost credibility for businesses with and without call centers:
- Alert the customer that the call is being recorded. This helps to foster trust between the employee and the client.
- Inform the customer of the data access measures you have in place. Customers want to know that their data is well-protected.
- Implement and enforce strict archiving policies to remain compliant. A compliance officer must rigorously maintain such systems to ensure adherence to data privacy laws.
- Familiarize yourself with local, state, and federal laws regarding call recording. You want everything in your company to be legal, transparent, and above-board.