Customer service agents deserve every benefit and advantage they can get, and we’re discovering that this includes the ability to work remote. When they’ve got the right training and habits, your agents might love the option and reward you and your customers with a higher quality service.
Alleviate the pressures of modern customer service with the right mix of benefits, company culture, and cloud systems that support your team no matter where they are. And, you might save a good bit, too.
So, let’s look at the benefits your business can expect when you open up the option for remote teams.
1. Get the Best People for Your Team and Customers
Every hiring decision is tough. You need someone who can do the work while also keeping customers happy and be a team player. They’ll also need to understand your industry and be able to catch up on your products and services quickly.
That’s a lot of requirements and can be challenging to find, especially if your call center is in a smaller metro.
Give yourself the best pool of applicants and find talent that fits your company culture and client needs by expanding to remote options. With this perspective, you can prioritize skills over location, and you might be able to keep top talent who would typically churn due to outside circumstances. When someone has to move for the kids, to take care of parents, or when a spouse gets a new job, you no longer need to experience a disruption to their life or your operations.
At the same time, you can also hire specifically for experience with different requirements. Get who you need, whether that’s someone who can handle high-volume peaks or teams on both coasts to provide greater live support coverage while not asking employees to work outside of regular business hours.
In some cases, businesses also try their hand at mixing in outsourcing and finding labor in other countries to make overall service more cost-effective. The cloud solutions that enable remote work also make it easier for you to incorporate a variety of flexible labor practices.
2. Agents Are Often Happier With More Options and No Commute
According to research from Ctrip, call center agents and remote employees “worked more, quit less, and were happier with their jobs. Meanwhile the company saved more than $1,000 per employee on reduced office space.”
Providing staff with more autonomy and freedom around how they work tends to increase job satisfaction. They’re also empowered to take care of the things going on in their life, which can make them appreciate employment with your company more. Treating people like adults makes them want to be a part of your team.
Additionally, at-home agents are more satisfied with their work in general and enjoy the flexibility you can offer due to the remote nature. This change improves how much people like their jobs and makes them more likely to stay at a job longer. You get a quality team that lasts longer and has reduced costs around attrition.
Plus, you remove the commute!
This drive is statistically one of the most hated aspects of work, and roughly 25% of workers have quit a job in the past because of their commute. Remote work gets rid of it completely, giving your team a significant boost of happiness.
3. Your Team Is More Productive
Remote teams in general work more and work harder for their employers. Not only do they take better breaks, but they’re more productive and effective at their work, according to the latest research.
Some gains are minimal, while others can be significant. For instance, that data shows your average office worker is idle 37 minutes of the day, but this drops down to 27 minutes for remote workers. Looking a little deeper, we see that the disparity could be much more significant because more than twice as many office workers say they struggle with completing tasks such as tracking activities and effectiveness.
Overall, remote teams will work an average of 16.8 more days per year than those in an office. So, not only are they more productive but they’re also often working for you more. That means compounding gains from a single change.
An interesting side note for remote work is that your employees may become fitter, too. Remote workers exercise about 30 minutes more per week, creating a healthier workforce. This can ultimately drive down some medical and sick day usage — and data seems to suggest this increases as companies encourage this through benefits.
4. Everyone Saves Money (Which Helps People Be Happier)
Workers save an average of $4,500 on fuel each year when they work remotely. That leaves them a lot more money to spend on what they enjoy, and it turns out that remote work gives them hundreds of additional hours of free time too!
So, when your team avoids the commute and many other facets of going to an office and working there — including being limited to food options for what’s nearby or easy to prep — they’ll generally lead a healthier and more enjoyable life. Saving money reduces stress, and when you provide the reason for the savings, they’re more inclined to stay with your company.
In many cases, this is a nice cherry-on-top to help your team and improve the working relationship they have with each other.
5. Communications Technology Can Save Money Too
While your team is busy living it up and feeling better, your business gets a nice healthy boost, too. That’s because having your team go remote means you move to cloud technologies like RingCentral. These tools are designed specifically to help you expand operations, but they can also provide you significant savings.
RingCentral and other systems built with your remote team in mind deliver built-in security to keep voice and data private. At the same time, they include a variety of channels and support tools so that your customers get an omni-channel experience with minimal disruptions. By seamlessly integrating your other tools with your workflow, cloud platforms minimize what your agents have to learn and the steps they need to take to resolve customer issues.
Guaranteed quality of service also makes it easier for your business to deliver consistent support for customers with minimal equipment to buy. You’re reducing infrastructure costs and even offloading some traditional expenses — like office space and utilities — to employees.
It’s a quick win-win for employees and leadership.
Help Yourself by Helping People
While you’re getting the best agents, who are more productive and happier. A move to remote work and cloud systems enables your company to grow more affordably. The technologies and practices that give agents the autonomy they desire also make it easier to communicate with customers and teammates, improving the service they can provide.
For businesses like yours, it’s time to start looking at the workforce benefits and cost savings achievable by going for a leading cloud phone provider. Migration isn’t hard when you’ve got the right partner, and there are plenty of new opportunities for you to expand service offerings at the same time.
Keep reading our blog to learn more or contact us directly to get answers to questions specific to your business goals for moving to a cloud contact center.
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Suellen Meyers: December 21, 2023
