The shift from call centers being viewed as cost centers to value centers has been in full swing for several years, but new technologies and strategies continue to evolve, impacting how customers get the help they need and how agents interact with customers.  

In 2024, call center management strategies and best practices focus largely on implementing the right software, analyzing the right data, and ensuring that agents know how to use AI-driven tools to increase customer satisfaction. 

Whitepaper

The Ultimate Guide to Creating an AI-Ready Contact Center

Learn how to separate hype from reality when it comes to adopting AI-powered contact center solutions that drive business value and ROI

Here’s a preview of the top tips from this guide for managing a call center in 2024: 

• Technology is here to stay; welcome it into a contact center to improve training, agent monitoring, and customer experience 
• Update training manuals regularly to ensure compliance and adherence to call center procedures 
• Share knowledge and resources with different departments to expand the ways your call center can improve customer relationships 
• Conduct regular audits to reduce the risk of insider threats 

In this article, you’ll learn:  

• An overview of call center management: What it is and why it’s important 
• 25 call center management strategies & best practices for 2024 and beyond 
• Frequently asked questions 

An overview of call center management: What it is and why it’s important 

Call center management refers to the process of overseeing and optimizing a call center's operations to ensure efficient and effective customer service. Effective call center management is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction, increasing productivity, and ultimately driving business success. 

Call center management involves multiple processes that: 

• Improve customer experience 
• Empower agents to provide high-quality support 
• Increase revenue and reduce unnecessary costs 
• Boost productivity and efficiency 
• Analyze an array of data to learn more about customer behavior and call center performance 
• Audit agent quality 
• Hire, train, and retain agents 
• Secure data and customer privacy 

Call center managers are responsible for ensuring that call center agents are properly trained to handle customer inquiries, resolving issues in a timely manner, and meeting service level agreements. They also often oversee workforce management, scheduling, and forecasting to ensure appropriate staffing levels to meet customer demand. 

In addition, call center management involves utilizing technology to improve operations and customer service. This includes implementing call center software for managing calls, CRM systems for tracking customer interactions, predictive dialers for outbound calls, and more. Technology can help automate processes, improve efficiency, and provide valuable data for decision-making. 

Call center management also involves monitoring performance metrics such as call volume, average handling time, first call resolution rate, customer satisfaction, and more. Monitoring these metrics allows call center managers to identify areas for improvement, implement strategies to increase efficiency, and enhance the overall customer experience. 

With the right call center management strategies, a contact center can ensure that it meets customer needs while empowering agents through a healthy, productive, and supportive environment. 

25 call center management strategies & best practices for 2024 and beyond 

Below, we’ve curated a list of expert strategies and best practices you can implement to improve your call center management practices.   

1. Combine solicited and unsolicited feedback. “An over-reliance on solicited feedback, like surveys and customer reviews, neglects the gold mine of unsolicited feedback you don’t have to ask for. Unsolicited feedback – such as the conversations that happen in your contact center, social engagements, and more – often contains the most actionable insights. Channels like surveys, while valuable, typically focus on the highs and lows — leaving a whole middle ground of feedback undiscovered. 

“This unsolicited data can be applied to a wide variety of business outcomes, ranging from contact center agent coaching and performance improvements, to compliance adherence, to marketing and sales effectiveness, to product innovation.  

“Not to mention, unsolicited feedback can make your surveys better. For example, you could segment contact center data by customers who called about a specific product type, to survey them with more targeted questions. The two types of feedback can often work in tandem to provide a more holistic view of the customer.  

“Analyzing this feedback at scale is the critical part of extracting practical insights and unlocking value for your team.” 

- How to harness customer insights in the age of information overload, CallMiner; X/Twitter: @CallMiner 

 2. Keep training materials updated regularly. “Update call center training resources, guides, scripts, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to ensure call center staff are:  

• Knowledgeable about unwinding-related topics (e.g., any temporary flexibilities in place—such as allowing the designation of authorized representatives or waiving SNAP interview requirements, what to tell consumers who are asking about their renewal date or how to prepare for unwinding). 
• Appropriately routing callers (e.g., only routing individuals to eligibility specialists or other high-volume lines when necessary). 
• Directing callers to other sources of support (e.g., the portal, mobile app) as an alternative to calling back or waiting on hold.” 

- Call Center Strategies to Support Unwinding: State Toolkit, State Health and Value Strategies (Princeton University)  

3. Measure multiple metrics rather than overall call quality. “Using an overall score to measure quality often produces inflated results and doesn’t provide an accurate view of performance. Using a single score can also be deceptive to leaders who do not take action because the organization appears to be performing well.   “Measuring quality from the customer, compliance, and business perspectives gives you a more accurate view of performance. Combining attributes, such as resolving the customer’s issue with logging calls correctly or following privacy regulations, doesn’t make sense because it tempers the score.    “For precise performance insight, measure these three components of quality:    

• Customer Critical Accuracy measures quality from the customer’s perspective. 
• Issue resolution and clear communication are two examples of customer critical attributes that significantly impact customer experience.   
• Compliance Critical Accuracy measures how often compliance requirements are met in relation to regulatory and legal requirements. Errors in this area could cause company liability. 
• Disclosing sensitive information without the proper identification is an example of a compliance error.   
• Business Critical Accuracy measures how well the agent followed critical business processes. These could be attributes that customers don’t care about, but could result in unnecessary costs and possible revenue loss. 
• Accurately logging calls or attempting to close a sale are two examples.” 

- Quality Assurance and Customer Satisfaction: Three Ways to Ensure Alignment, COPC; X/Twitter: @COPC  

Analyzing the right call center metrics can have a big impact on contact center operations, performance and ROI.

Some of those KPIs include:
📵Call abandonment rate
⏩Average speed of answer
⏰Average talk time
🔄Transfer rate

Our new blog dives deeper. ⤵️

— CallMiner, Inc. (@CallMiner) December 6, 2022

4. Develop a customer service philosophy. “Careful contemplation is the first step. Ask yourself some key questions. What is the purpose of your company? What is the role of customer service within your company?  What experience should the customer have for your company to fulfill this role? What does this look like for your customer service representatives?  What are your company’s core values and how are they prioritized?  What are the principles that should guide your employees who interact with customers daily?  How will employees easily remember these principles? 

“There’s no fixed format to a customer service philosophy. But having it down on paper — preferably a digestible one-pager — will allow your service reps to reread and internalize it. Take your answers from above and integrate them into a coherent piece.[5] 

“Although good customer service philosophies have a few things in common, no two should be the same. For a philosophy to succeed, it needs to align with your team’s specific values, goals, and long-term vision for your relationship with customers.” 

- Kerri Shields, Customer Centric Strategy, 1st Edition 

5. Reduce customer wait times using technology and needs-based scheduling. “Being placed on hold for a long period causes customer dissatisfaction. Reduce hold times by providing a callback option, and consider adding more representatives during peak periods. If possible, introduce other customer service channels, like email, web chat, and social media. An omnichannel approach not only shortens hold times but also reduces the number of phone calls coming through the system.” 

- Sam Dadofalza, Top 17 Call Center Best Practices, Fit Small Business; Facebook: Fit Small Business; X/Twitter: @FitSmallBiz 

6. Promote specialized agent knowledge. “Too many call centers spread their agents too thin—especially when deep product knowledge can be the difference between satisfactory and exceptional customer service. 

“Instead of having a team where all of your agents know a little bit about a lot of things, create a team where all your agents possess in-depth product knowledge on a few specific products. The best way to do this is by assigning agents one product to learn each month and requiring them to become experts on it. 

“This comes with a ton of benefits; not only will they become experts on the product, but it keeps them from becoming bored. And they’ll also have enough deep expertise on any given product to take their customer service skills to the next level. Done right, the process can also foster a culture of continuous learning and teamwork. Here’s how to get started: 

“First, divide your agents into small teams and assign each team a product to learn thoroughly each month. At the month’s end, each team should present their assigned product to the rest of the call center. This presentation covers key features, common customer questions, and troubleshooting tips. This can be a super valuable way for the entire center to benefit from the deep dive each team has taken.” 

- Out Of All The Tips On Call Center Management, 5 Are Legit, Crazy Egg; X/Twitter: @CrazyEgg 

7. Always look for ways to improve. “Why not follow the engineer’s motto when it comes to serving customers?  If it isn’t broken, take it apart and fix it! If your contact center is working at peak efficiency, here’s your chance to take it to the next level.  I know it sounds strange, but are you sure you’re delivering the kind of experience your customers expect from your organization? Are you content with your existing CX approach, despite significant shifts in what customers expect from organizations today versus a year ago or even a month ago?   

“You may think your experience is keeping pace with the dynamic shift in how customers view your organization, but if you haven’t asked yourself these questions, perhaps your experience needs a refresh. The reality is your competitors are working twenty-four hours a day looking for a crack in your experience armor. Your customers are actively seeking lower prices, higher quality, new suppliers, faster shipping, better service, and quick responses to their inquiries. They aren’t sitting back, why are you? To be a customer experience leader and stay a customer experience leader, you have to be constantly assessing your market dynamics, your customer expectations, your competitors’ moves, and your employee engagement to avoid complacency and ultimately a loss of revenues and profit.” 

- Bob Azman, Even If Your Customer Experience Isn’t Broken, Fix It, ICMI; X/Twitter: @CallCenterICMI 

8. Give agents space to grow. “Transform the role into a profession to attract and retain call center staff. Efforts could include offering increased wages, changing the compensation structure from hourly wage to fixed salary, rebranding the job description, and providing advancement opportunities.” 

- Call Center Strategies to Support Unwinding: State Toolkit, State Health and Value Strategies (Princeton University) 

9. Encourage agent breaks. “Is your call center busy? Great! But one of the best call center management tips we can give you is to help your agents reduce stress. Remind agents to take breaks throughout their shift. Downtime calms, refreshes, and fortifies individuals for the next round of high-test customer interactions. That is a good thing because the last thing frazzled customers want is to encounter a frazzled agent.” 

- 7 Best Practices for Call Center Management, The Connection; X/Twitter: @TheConnectionCC 

10. Give bots a role in training. “Perhaps the most notable trend we’ve seen in our consulting work is the emergence of bot-based training systems. During training sessions, bots can instantly highlight mistakes and recommend ways to improve. What’s remarkable is the speed of adoption; just a few years ago, bot-based training was virtually non-existent.” 

- Seizing the Digital Future in Customer Experience Transformation, COPC; X/Twitter: @COPC 

11. Don’t underestimate the importance of soft skills training. “Soft skills training for contact center agents has a direct impact on interaction escalations. Customer escalations can be time-consuming and damaging to both customer satisfaction and agent morale. Call center soft skills training helps agents develop problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills, enabling them to de-escalate difficult situations and address customer concerns effectively. 

“Agents learn techniques to remain calm, empathize with frustrated customers, and find mutually beneficial solutions. By reducing customer escalations, soft skills training improves the customer experience and reduces agent stress, leading to higher job satisfaction and retention rates.” 

- 5 Impactful Benefits of Soft Skills Training for Contact Center Agents, Insite Managed Solutions 

12. Create an agent-focused call center environment. “Another call center best practice which more and more companies are focusing on is the creation of a physical workspace that is conducive to productivity. Boost productivity by introducing the most ergonomic furniture and desk options into your office. Some other tactics include standing desks, rest lounges, natural lighting, and warm colors. Inspiring artwork and posters will also help boost motivation and productivity. Collaborative workspaces are useful for team meetings and can help to create a bond among your agents.” 

- 12 call center best practices, CallMiner; X/Twitter: @CallMiner 

13. Consider updating your call center’s processes to increase efficiency. “Process changes can also help reduce costs in contact center operations. Streamlining processes and automating labor-intensive tasks such as data entry or report generation will lead to a more efficient contact center environment, which helps cut costs in the long run. Additionally, implementing self-service options that require little effort from the customer will reduce call handling times, resulting in cost savings and increased customer satisfaction. 

“Nothing can decrease customer satisfaction and increase the cost of a call more than when several agents handle the same call. Blind call assignments can lead to customers hopping among agents until they are lucky enough to find one with enough knowledge to solve their problems. 

“Similarly, real-time call monitoring can help capture where operations may be failing the customer. Additional training needs and time traps that slow down contact center operations while frustrating the customer can be highlighted and reviewed.” 

- How to Cut Costs In Contact Center Operations, Call Center Power 

14. Create consistency across the board with digital guides. “We live in the age of information, where the expectation is instantaneous responses. With 27% of customers citing ineffectiveness as their top frustration with customer service, it becomes evident that expecting agents to memorize everything is not only unrealistic, it's inefficient. Digital guides serve as the safety net, ensuring that every agent, whether a newbie or a veteran, has access to the same, consistent information, thereby addressing such customer frustrations head-on. 

• Call Scripts: Especially crucial for complex queries. A well-structured script can be the difference between a resolved issue and an escalated call. 
• Action Playbooks: Standardized responses ensure uniformity. But remember, it’s essential to train agents to use these as a guide, not a rigid rulebook. Personalized interactions, after all, are what 71% of consumers desire. 
• Safety Nets: Checklists are lifesavers, especially in high-pressure situations. They streamline processes and reduce the margin for error.” 

- Josh Brown, Knowledge Management: The Key to Call Center Excellence, Helpjuice; X/Twitter: @Helpjuice  

15. Embrace omnichannel conversation intelligence. “Conversation intelligence works by collecting and analyzing this omnichannel data at scale. These systems can unveil insights that reduce customer effort, optimize agent performance, and inform marketing or product development efforts. These platforms provide context into customer interactions, helping teams understand nuances like sentiment, emotions, and contact drivers. They can reveal important dynamics of customer interactions, like silence times and average handle times, offering critical information for training and improving agent performance.  “Here are just a few examples of how omnichannel listening can lead to significant improvements in both customer and employee experience:  

• Optimizing self-service: Refining FAQs and self-service options based on common customer queries 
• Improving agent satisfaction: Using feedback to boost agent confidence and job satisfaction 
• Staffing adjustments: Aligning staffing levels with interaction frequencies for better coverage 
• Cross-functional enhancements: Sharing insights across departments to improve sales, marketing and product development outcomes 
• Refining the customer journey: Making necessary changes to reduce friction points in the customer journey” 

- Maximizing customer experience in the omnichannel era, CallMiner; X/Twitter: @CallMiner  

Do you know how #AI fits into your organization’s everyday workflows?

Download our latest whitepaper to learn how AI-driven conversation intelligence workflows are used in contact center operations, and how they impact enterprise-wide efficiency and effectiveness. ⬇️

— CallMiner, Inc. (@CallMiner) May 16, 2024

16. Create bridges between departments. “Like any business, call centers require the support of multiple departments. When it comes to problems outside answering phones—like shopping issues or defective products—your employees can only do so much. In those situations, it helps to recognize your employees’ limits but to also look for opportunities to improve relationships between departments. One way to accomplish this is to integrate databases across departments so every employee has a comprehensive view of your call center’s interactions with a customer.” 

- Kerri Shields, Customer Centric Strategy, 1st Edition  

17. Cross-train representatives in omnichannel contact centers. “When your company creates cross-training opportunities for your employees your organization will reap the benefits. For employees who desire growth, cross-training offers them the ability to learn new skill sets they can apply with your company or in the future with another organization. 

“Businesses have discovered that when they offer cross-training the turnover of Generation Y employees decreased significantly. That rate dropped even further when they offered to help with education expenses in addition to the training. This is because as long as they feel they are able to grow; young employees are more inclined to stay with a company. 

“Cross-training also helps employees handle multiple duties. While not everyone is capable of multi-tasking, those who are will become invaluable to your organization. You may be able to decrease the number of staff you need for your call center or use flexible employees with advanced skills as floaters when positions need to be filled. This can help when your agents go on vacation or you experience a seasonal increase in call volume.” 

- Cross Training At Your Call Center Promotes Growth, 31West; X/Twitter: @31WestGlobal 

18. Audit your knowledge management system’s performance regularly. “Knowledge management assessments should be routinely scheduled to ensure your knowledge mgmt system effectively performs as a valuable resource to both employees and customers. Plan to assess your call center knowledge management every year at a minimum. Scheduling these evaluations ahead of time also gives your key stakeholders time to ensure they are available to participate where needed.” 

- Key Considerations for Conducting a Call Center Knowledge Management Assessment: What You Need to Know, Insite Managed Solutions 

19. Protect your system from insider threats. “Insider threats continue to be an issue. Disgruntled employees or those with malicious intent can misuse their access to sensitive information, leading to data breaches or sabotage. The complexity of these threats is heightened by the increasing trend of remote work, which often results in reduced control and visibility over employee activities. 

“Insider threats are a bit hard to tackle because you never know which of your employees may decide to go rogue. Technically, it’s crucial to implement robust access control systems and to practice the principle of least privilege, ensuring employees have access only to the information necessary for their roles.  

“Regular audits and monitoring of user activities can help detect unusual access patterns or data movements that might indicate malicious intent. Additionally, employing data loss prevention (DLP) tools can prevent sensitive information from being unauthorizedly transferred or shared. Furthermore, comprehensive background checks during hiring, alongside regular security training, can significantly reduce risks. This training should emphasize the importance of data security and the consequences of policy violations.” 

- Laura Fitzgerald, The Biggest Security Threats Facing Contact Centers in 2024 And How to Deal With Them, Pindrop; X/Twitter: @Pindrop 

20. Migrating to the cloud? Do it slowly. “The prevailing contact center migration path has been to pilot a new cloud platform with a subset of agents before flipping the entire center post-validation. 

“However, this doesn't work for larger operations. They need to consolidate centers using different systems into a unified cloud infrastructure, while possibly preserving some legacy apps. Also, their scale necessitates gradual legacy retirement and incremental transitions. 

“Thus, most enterprises devise phased migration strategies, hinging on decoupling the agent workspace from back-end systems. A solution that connects to legacy and future applications provides flexibility and insulates agents from underlying infrastructure shifts.” 

- Nicolas De Kouchkovsky, Don’t Overlook These Considerations When Evaluating Desktops for Your Contact Center, No Jitter; X/Twitter: @NoJitter 

21. Have a plan for data management compliance. “Companies will need to ensure they have the right strategy in place for collecting and managing data. The amount of data collected and created by the contact center has increased drastically in recent years, particularly as new communication channels emerge. 

“Business leaders must collect data from all the proper channels and store it in suitable locations to meet data sovereignty standards. Moreover, as companies continue to leverage data for decision-making strategies and chatbot creation, policies will need to be implemented for data usage. 

“Companies must ensure they’re not using sensitive or personal information to train generative AI bots or support employees in the contact center.” 

- Rebekah Carter, What is Call Center Compliance in 2023?, CX Today; X/Twitter: @cxtodaynews 

22. Don’t rush onboarding. “We have an awful habit of making new hires drink through the fire hose, yet we know getting people up to speed quicker does NOT mean giving them more information to consume in a shorter period of time. Don’t get sucked into rushing your new hires through heavy content in only a few days—onboarding is not a race. Also, if we know the first six months to one year are critical retention timelines, why on earth would we only focus on onboarding in the first 30-60 days?” 

- Chris Williams, Creating a World-Class Onboarding Program Aligned with Your Culture, Human Synergistics; X/Twitter: @HSInternational 

23. Ensure that CRM software is accessible to all. “As you offer agents information about products and services, make customer details available as well to speed up answering customer questions. Your chosen CRM system must be easy to navigate, even for new service representatives. 

“More importantly, keep all information in one platform so that agents won’t have to use multiple apps to get necessary product and customer information. Maximize your call center phone system’s integrations with third-party solutions to reduce app switching. Or, see if the software has a built-in CRM system. In this case, you simply have to import information.” 

- Sam Dadofalza, Top 17 Call Center Best Practices, Fit Small Business; Facebook: Fit Small Business 

24. Create an atmosphere where agents feel empowered to get the help they need from multiple resources, not just managers. “People managers have multiple responsibilities, and it may not be feasible for them to address every issue immediately. However, good managers create an environment where team members can seek support from their peers, utilize available resources, and encourage problem-solving skills within the team.” 

- Corbey McCoy, Busting the Top 10 Myths about Call Center People Managers: Insights for Recruiters and Hiring Managers via LinkedIn 

25. Balance AI tools with social and ethical responsibility. “The implementation of AI in call centers is more than just a technical challenge since all these changes, in one way or another, concern the human being, and their moral aspect. There are ethical considerations around job displacement and biases in AI algorithms. Moreover, public perception of AI can vary, with some customers feeling uneasy about talking to machines. Addressing these concerns requires transparency about AI's role and its limitations, ensuring it is used responsibly and ethically.” 

- Cassy Bayona, AI in the Call Center Industry: Benefits, Trends, and Solutions, Helpware; X/Twitter: @helpwarecom 

Implementing the right software is a must to streamline management in today’s call centers. The CallMiner platform is a robust conversation intelligence solution that analyzes 100% of customer interactions to provide valuable insights to improve agent performance, coaching and training, and enhance overall business performance. Request a demo today to discover how CallMiner can improve your call center operations.   

Frequently asked questions 

What is call center management? 

Call center management is the process of running a call center and implementing new tools and procedures to improve customer and agent experience. Call center managers oversee processes like scheduling, revenue, recruitment, onboarding and training, and agent performance.   

Is the call center industry growing in 2024? 

Yes—research shows that the call center industry has grown an average of 0.8% per year from 2018 to 2023, and the trend is likely to continue for the next several years. The Global Call Centres Market report predicts the industry will grow by over $18 billion by 2030.  

What are some call center trends in 2024? 

Generally, contact centers will likely implement more AI-driven tools and procedures in 2024, allowing them to collect more data, learn customer behaviors, coach agents, and improve procedures and customer service. Remote work, self-service tools, and policies focusing on agent well-being will likely become more commonplace in modern contact centers.