The document provides 15 tips to enhance the training of call center agents, emphasizing the importance of understanding the business, call handling best practices, and the impact of schedule adherence. It promotes hands-on training, continuous evaluation, and leveraging top-performing agents to motivate new hires. The ultimate goal is to prepare agents to meet rising customer service expectations through effective training strategies.

1. 15 Tips for Training
Call Center Agents
www.talkdesk.com

2. 01 Introduce the team
02 Educate your new agents about
your business
03 Explain the importance
of schedule adherence
04 Bring top-performing agents
to training
05 Explain their role in building
customer relationships
06 Teach agents call handling
best practices
07 Teach agents call center
etiquette
08 Educate them about their
desired outcome
Table of Contents
07 Teach agents call center
etiquette
08 Educate them about their
desired outcome
09 Show agents how to find answers
to their questions
10 Train your agents individually
11 Make sure your training
is hands-on and practical
12 Use videos in your curriculum
13 Provide call recordings that
demonstrate a specific point
14 Consistently evaluate their progress
15 Training never stops

3. Customer service expectations are rising. Today's customers
expect more than just an answer to their question. They want
real-time, personalized support delivered by a skilled agent.
As a result of this change, call centers are investing more time,
money and effort into developing agent training programs so
that their call center agents will be prepared to meet the
increasing expectations of their customers.
Use these 15 tips to enhance the training you provide to your
agents so they can better meet the needs of your customers.

4. 01
Introduce the team

5. Kick off training with an introduction (live or video) from the call center
managing director, department heads and agent supervisors. Encourage
them to introduce their role on the team as well as how the agents can
contact them. This will help agents put a face to a name and give them a
lifeline when needed.
01 Introduce the team

6. 02
Educate your new agents
about your business

7. Your new hires should have a comprehensive understanding of your
business, product and call center operations. They should also be
provided information about company culture, mission, core values and
vision and understand their role in achieving business goals. With this
understanding, your agents will be more prepared to interact with
customers in a manner that is consistent with your business values.
02 Educate your new agents about your business

8. 03
Explain the importance
of schedule adherence

9. Many new hires are unclear on how schedule adherence impacts the call
center. Make sure your agents are in the know by having someone from
Workforce Management explain the impact that schedule adherence has
on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as service level. It would also
be helpful to give new hires information on which KPIs managers will
assess, how these will be tied to performance evaluations and practical
tips on how to hit their KPI benchmarks. Doing so will prepare your new
hires to be mindful of these KPIs and adjust their approach to interacting
with customers accordingly.
03 Explain the importance of schedule adherence

10. 04
Bring top-performing
agents to training

11. Encourage your most successful agents to come to trainings and give
practical tips on how to be a top performer. This will set the bar high for
new hires and enhance their insight into how to be effective at their jobs.
04 Bring top-performing agents to training

12. 05
Explain their role in building
customer relationships

13. A great way to enhance agent motivation to provide outstanding service
is to help them understand the role they play in building customer
relationships. Educate them on customer lifetime value as well as the
cost of a bad interaction. Let them know how the quality of the service
they provide impacts customer conversion, retention and loyalty. Once
they have this understanding, they will be more motivated to provide
top-notch service.
05 Explain their role in building customer relationships

14. 06
Teach agents call handling
best practices

15. New agents should be provided examples of appropriate greetings,
transfer techniques and how to end a conversation. Allow them to listen
to recordings and also provide them with scripts. Encourage them to
practice with each other until these become natural.
06 Teach agents call handling best practices

16. 07
Teach agents call center
etiquette

17. When your agents have a concrete understanding of what to say and
what not to say, they will be more prepared to provide excellent service.
Accomplish this by teaching them about call center etiquette and
informing them of etiquette guidelines.
07 Teach agents call center etiquette excellence

18. 08
Educate them about their
desired outcome

19. Their overarching goal (apart from providing amazing service, of course)
might be to increase sales, resolve a customer’s issue on first contact or
resolve the customer’s issue as quickly as possible. Whatever the goal,
agents should know it and know how to achieve it.
08 Educate them about their desired outcome

20. 09
Show agents how to find
answers to their questions

21. Have a knowledge base? Teach new hires how to use it. Have a Technical
Support department? Teach agents how to conference them into a call.
Have managers that are available to jump into a live call? Tell agents who
to ask for help. Do they have a rock star agent in their department? Tell
them who that is and when it is OK to ask for their assistance. Trainees
will inevitably come across questions that they don’t know how to
answer. Show them where to look and who to ask to help them resolve
the issue.
09 Show agents how to find answers to their questions

22. 10
Train your agents individually

23. According to The Global Call Center Report, the time to proficiency can
vary depending on:
• The educational level of newly hired call center agents
• The complexity of the product or service
• Training protocols
• Management strategies
Keep this variation in mind when training agents. Keep your eye out for
learning or knowledge gaps and do your best to adjust your approach to
training in an effort to fill them.
10 Train your agents individually

24. 11
Make sure your training
is hands-on and practical

25. Agents often learn best by doing. Team up your agents and have them
role-play common call scenarios. Allow them to get their hands dirty
playing with your product. Give them sufficient hands-on time to learn
your call center software. These hands-on training experiences are
essential to cultivating a capable workforce.
11 Make sure your training is hands-on and practical

26. 12
Use videos in your curriculum

27. Videos are a great way to engage your agent trainees. Don’t have the
budget to produce your own training curriculum? Don’t worry. There are
great how-to videos you can use for icebreakers on YouTube.
12 Use videos in your curriculum

28. 13
Provide call recordings that
demonstrate a specific point

29. One of the best ways for call center agents to learn how to interact with
customers is to hear recordings from previous calls. Choose recordings
that will help you demonstrate a specific point (e.g. how to handle an
angry customer, what to say if you don’t know the answer to their
question, how to give a customer refund, etc.) Letting your new hires
hear for themselves how more seasoned agents interact with callers will
give them a better understanding of how they should too.
13 Provide call recordings that demonstrate a specific point

30. 14
Consistently evaluate their
progress

31. Throughout the training program, consistently monitor agent
performance and provide them with timely feedback. New hires should
know exactly what is and what is not working so they can adjust their
approach accordingly.
14 Constantly evaluate their progress

32. 15
Training never stops

33. According to The Global Call Center Report, experienced call center
agents receive an average of six training days per year. Make sure your
agents keep their performance high by continually providing refresher
courses, training on new products or software and training to enhance
their professional development.
15 Training never stops

34. GET DEMO
Make training easier for your agents by equipping them with an intuitive
business tool.
Request a demo to find out why Talkdesk is the most loved call center
solution by agents and managers alike.
www.talkdesk.com/request-demo