By Gina Cocking
Call center work is hard – employees face a stream of rejection. The simplest, and one of the most effective methods I have seen, to make call center employees more productive is by telling the story of the product beneficiary.
Professor Adam Grant, currently of Wharton Business School, conducted a study in a University fundraising call center. A group of employees were given five minutes to interact with a scholarship beneficiary. One month later that group raised 171% more money and spent 142% more time on the phone.
What happened? Purpose is a performance enhancer. The call center employees interacted with the product beneficiary and they became motivated to work harder/better by hearing about the positive results for the customer.
This strategy is easy to test and implement. Set up a short Skype meeting for a group of employees with a happy customer who used your product. The employees should ask how the product benefited the customer. I am interested in hearing your results.
For more detailed information see Impact and the Art of Motivation Maintenance: The Effects of Contact With Beneficiaries on Persistence Behavior