102 Tips For Managing A Successful Contact Center

102 Tips
for Managing a Successful

Contact Center
Introduction
Have you ever wondered how other contact center
leaders approach challenges like flagging CSAT scores,
high turnover, or inefficient onboarding?
For more than 30 years, ICMI has helped contact center

professionals connect with their peers to address pain
points, navigate struggles, learn, and grow.
Over the years, through live Twitter chats, events, and

discussions, our community members have shared
thousands of tips. Several years ago, we compiled some
of the best advice and released “101 Tips for Managing a
Successful Contact Center.”
We’re back with part two, featuring new tips and inspiring
anecdotes. From employee engagement to metrics, find
advice to inspire you to be a better contact center leader.
Like what you see? Be sure to visit ICMI.com/Resources for
more tools you can use to grow as a contact center and
customer service professional.
Tip #1
The contact center industry
will be what you make of it.
Show up, contribute, help,
and connect. There’s no
limit to what you can do or
the impact you can have.
Josh Streets
102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Tip #2
Keep the focus on servant
leadership regardless of
the “role” you’re in.
Nate Brown | @cxaccelerator

Tip #3
Listen to the voice of your
employees! Focus on your people.
Ask your team questions about
what they need to provide great
customer service. Then follow
through on their ideas. Build
engagement and trust.
Mike Aoki | @mikeaoki

Tip #4
Retention of top talent is
highest when candidates have
a meaningful recruitment,
onboarding, and training
process. The first 90 days are
critical as they shape the lens
through which each agent
views the company.
Sangeeta Bhatnagar
Tip #5
Never assume you know
what your agents want.
If you’re unsure what they
need to help them help
customers, ask them!
Jenny Dempsey | @jennysuedempsey

Tip #6
Regularly get feedback
from the frontline. They
deal with customers
daily – they’re a goldmine
of information.
Ben Motteram | @CXPert

Tip #7
Budget for a “splurge”
account. Give each agent
the authority to create
“wow” moments when
the time is right.
Al Hopper | @AlHopper_

Tip #8
When I help guide teams
leading the contact center,
I’ve noticed that those who
look to address the cause
versus the symptoms of their
issues have better outcomes.
Critical thinking is required.
Josh Streets
Tip #9
Serving your coworkers is
just as important as serving
the customer.

Tip #10
Help Gen Z agents learn to
handle angry clients over the
phone. Knowing they prefer
texting rather than phone calls in
their personal life, many struggle
when faced with an angry client
over the phone. That can lead
to dissatisfied clients but also
demoralized agents.

Tip #11
Engage with your team regularly
for feedback on what’s going well
and where there are areas for
improvement. Empower your team
to be part of the solution; after all,
they’re building relationships every
day with customers and will have
ideas on enhancing the overall
customer experience.
Jacob Shields | @jacobshields20

Tip #12
Start with a commitment to
building a great human experience
for every team member. This will
start right at the recruitment and
onboarding process. Treat your
CX ambassadors like they truly
matter, and they will, in turn, act
that way with your customers.
Sangeeta Bhatnagar
Tip #13
Remember that forms
and checkboxes alone
don’t ensure effectiveness.
Make quality monitoring
conversational and focus
on behaviors.
Matt Beckwith | @mattbikewith

Tip #14
My dad told me that being 50%
sure about something (a goal,
a strategy) is often enough.
You don’t need to be 100% sure
before you do something. If you
think about it, 50% is actually a
whole lotta sure.
Leslie O’Flahavan | @LeslieO

Tip #15
Asking reps, “What makes
a quality interaction?” to
redesign an existing form
can be transformational. The
answers are illuminating, and
it creates ownership that you
can’t replicate.
Rebecca Gibson | @gibsonlearning

Tip #16
Seek out the intrinsically
motivating things and people
that give life to the work. This
will keep you energized and
doing the work for the right
reasons. Keep this in mind, and
the CX sky will be your limit!

Tip #17
Listen to your team about
concerns and implement
their ideas to enhance
operations. This helps the
team feel they are being
heard and that they matter!
Jacob Shields | @jacobshields20

Tip #18
Ensure that your team
leaders and managers
are all aligned with
you in creating a warm,
employee-centric, and
purpose-driven culture.
Sangeeta Bhatnagar
Tip #19
I learned from a wise man
early in my career: people
must come first. He told
me to strive to be the kind
of leader people want to
follow vs. one they follow
because of title or position.
Bob Furniss | @bobfurniss

Tip #20
Offer messaging templates
as part of an emergency
management toolkit.
Most people find it more
challenging to articulate
their thoughts during
stressful situations.
RinkuTalks | @rinkutalks
Tip #21
Ensure agents know how
to get help when they
need help. Stop playing
whack-an-agent by
bothering them during calls!
Dr. Debra Bentson | @theccdoctor

Tip #22
More than just writing it,
we must define actions that
reinforce the company’s
cultural values. People can
be told “we care,” but if they
don’t know how to “care,”
they won’t foster the values.
Zachary Jellson | @zjellson

Tip #23
Continually evaluate a list of the
top contact reasons and find a
way to prevent those contacts
from happening. It could
be case deflection, product
enhancements, training, or
something else, but find a way!
Erica Mancuso | @esmancuso

Tip #24
Expanding digital
experiences based on
empathy helps develop
a humanized relationship
with customers,
heightening brand
perception and loyalty.
AMC Technology | @AMCTechnology

Tip #25
Promote what is good
and create solutions for
what needs to be fixed.
Steven Diaz | @mrstevendiaz

Tip #26
Sharing your culture starts
with knowing your culture.
Has your team written it
down? While remote and work
from home, we must be more
deliberate than ever before.
Lead your team in discussing
what’s important.
Andrew Gilliam | @ndytg

Tip #27
Assume positive intent.
Seek to understand.
Lead with compassion.
Sheri Kendall | @sherikendall

Tip #28
One thing agents need more of
is space. Not the physical kind.
The space to be empathetic.
To stray from the script. To
research and follow up. To
respond to the unusual.
Because nothing is normal.
Jeff Toister | @toister

Tip #29
Recognize that your quality
form is a tool, not your
quality program. The form
should be concise, easy to
understand, and usable!
Justin Robbins | @justinmrobbins

Tip #30
Be adaptable in leading,
communicating, and
inspiring your team.
Everyone is unique, but we
all have a common desire:
“Make me feel that I matter.”
Sangeeta Bhatnagar
Tip #31
To be a leader worth following,
I must acknowledge that I
don’t know everything, but
as long as I’m willing to learn
from my mistakes and help my
teammates do the same, I’m on
the right path.
Holly Terrill

Tip #32
Contact center leaders must
reject any idea that their team
and employees are lesser because
they’re hourly or their tenure is
shorter. They need to insist on their
equivalent status by showing the
entire organization what they do
and know.

Tip #33
Want better customer conversations?
It all starts with having better
conversations with your frontline
team members. Lead by example and
coach them on how to have better
interactions with their customers. The
best way to accomplish that is to talk
less and listen more. Be attentive. Be
curious. Ask!
Danny Rehbein | @RehbeinDanny

Tip #34
Good quality forms make
great teaching forms. They
have to make sense to
both the manager giving
the review and the agent
receiving the feedback.
Tip #35
Start with the customer
experience in mind to
identify desired behaviors.
Identify what you would
expect to see or hear
that demonstrates those
behaviors in action.
Melissa Pollock | @AIAugments

Tip #36
To make contact center
jobs appealing, empower
agents to serve, embrace
the career ladder, and
target the right people.

Tip #37
What gets recognized gets
repeated! So, avoid recognizing
the wrong thing (i.e., “I never want
to see an award for the shortest
handle time because that will
encourage other agents to rush
customers off the line).

Tip #38
Agents aren’t numbers or a
butt in the seat; they’re human
beings and, like all of us, need
to feel connected to a greater
purpose. Create a purpose-
driven culture where you serve
as the biggest, most adaptable
servant leader!
Sangeeta Bhatnagar
Tip #39
Diversify your marketing
demographic. Does your website,
newsletter, promotional video,
etc., represent all of your staff?
If a minority individual looks at
your website, would they envision
themselves in your business and
want to work for you? Something
to think about!
Corey (Klein) Goldbaum

Tip #40
Don’t just play up the benefits
of an unpopular decision;
acknowledge the downsides,
realistically lay out the
alternatives, including upsides
and downsides, and explain why
you chose the direction you did.
Dave Dyson | @dave_dyson

Tip #41
Organize emergency
drills to prepare for future
scenarios. Have the QA
team grade effectiveness.
Sean Hawkins | @SeanBHawkins

Tip #42
Provide prompts, not
scripts. Give agents
the freedom to have
conversations.
Jace Hill | @ITSMjace

Tip #43
Abandonment may mean that
the customer just abandoned
your company forever. Do a CSI
(Customer Service Investigation)
review with each incident to
see if there is a common cause
of dissatisfaction that can be
eliminated.
Bill Quiseng | @billquiseng

Tip #44
I used to work for a VP that
would send email messages
at 10 pm at night and then tell
us not to worry about replying.
Right! The message has to come
from the top. Great teams agree
to rest, play, and recharge.

Tip #45
Sometimes, it just makes sense to
focus on your core competencies
of building your product and let
an experienced team run your
customer service operation.
Especially when you’re a young
company with limited budgets
or headcount.

Tip #46
Word choice plays a role in steering
coaching conversations in a positive,
productive direction. A great place to
start is to convert every “what not to
do” on your monitoring form into a
description of “what to do.” This gives
coaches ready-made terminology
to keep the focus on the desired
behavior rather than what the agent
did “wrong.”

Tip #47
The number-one skill or
attribute to look for in a
candidate right now is
the willingness to learn as
expressed in stamina and
hopefulness during times
of change.

Tip #48
Make sure the questions on your
quality form are meaningful
evaluations of quality
performance. Communicate
definitions for each benchmark.
Check to see if quality and CSAT
scores align.
Melissa Polock | @amplifAI

Tip #49
Steer clear of fancy
language in job listings
that disguise the job’s
core functions.
Evan Watson | @evenwatson

Tip #50
Mail new remote employees
a welcome kit (with balloons
and a card, if possible).
Ensure they have multiple
communication paths and
know who to contact for any
issues they may have.
Patrick Russell | @Patrick_SaaS

Tip #51
Host a “Best #CX Story”
competition. Have
employees submit stories
and let the CEO judge and
select a winner.
Kevin Hegebarth | @kghegebarth

Tip #52
People stay where they are
celebrated and respected,
not where they are just
tolerated. Everyone is
searching for community,
connectedness, and to find
purpose in the workplace.
Sangeeta Bhatnagar
Tip #53
Customers lack an accurate
perception of time, especially when
they’re in their feelings or crisis.
However, in the role of the customer,
no one (including all of us) measures
a customer service interaction solely
by minutes or seconds. Helpfulness
and rapport can “bend” time.

Tip #54
Training does not have to
mean sitting at a table! Stand.
Walk. Take a field trip. Use
small props, puzzles, toys,
and games to elaborate points.
Use comparisons from outside
of your work.
Matt Beckwith | @mattbikewith

Tip #55
Bad news requires great integrity,
clarity, and humility. People can
take bad news if they understand
the background, the “why,” and
the path forward. People can rise
and succeed with tough truth that
preserves trust much better than
with bovine fecal matter.

Tip #56
Let your quality forms
guide you. They should
flow like a conversation
and act as a cheat sheet for
sales and service metrics.
Lauren Lombard | @LaurenE_Lombard

Tip #57
Abandonment is a big problem – big
– huge! Two prime sources: staffing
and process. Not enough staff is a
workforce management and budget
issue. Poor processes create cracks
for customers to fall in. Sales bring
customers in the front door, but the
CX needs to close the back door.

Tip #58
Have a tiered interview process;
pass this move to the next, and so
on. Also, integrate simulations of
real/sample calls/emails/chats that
candidates have to listen to and
respond to verbally and read and
type back physically.

Tip #59
Leverage relationships with
folks at local universities.
You can find great
candidates through the
biz/entrepreneurship and
athletics departments.

Tip #60
Study the job descriptions
you’ve used in the past.
Don’t reuse ones that
brought in a lot of less-
than-qualified candidates.

Tip #61
Social media should be
your microphone during
emergencies. Use it to
update your customers
as events transpire. Share
ETAs/timelines/and other
quick tips.

Tip #62
Coordinate handwritten
thank you notes from the
leadership team during
Customer Service Week.
Focus on the specific
talents of each team
member.

Tip #63
Schedule onsite recruiting
days and create Facebook
events to promote them.
Neal Topf | @NealTopf

Tip #64
During emergencies, offer a
suggested acknowledgment
that agents can proactively
give after their greeting. For
example, “I’m sure you’re
concerned about XYZ, and we
completely understand that
and are here to help.”

Tip #65
Include job shadowing
time in your interview
process. Make sure
candidates can experience
the role firsthand before
they accept the position.

Tip #66
Aside from offering things
like counseling, relaxing
policies like dress codes
and giving more breaks can
go a long way for agents
during stressful times.
Mike Bush | @mikebush

Tip #67
Customer service teams
can help validate marketing
messages (on accuracy and
need). Marketing can help
support and craft their brand
voice so it’s consistent with
the overall brand voice.

Tip #68
Launch new-hire training
that enables meaningful
contributions to team efforts
on Day 1. The contact they
handle might be offline or very
basic, but it allows agents to
contribute immediately. We
found people like that!
Beth Gauthier-Jenkin | @bethgauthier

Tip #69
When hiring, be specific!
Give an example for
every general trait or
responsibility mentioned
in your job description.

Tip #70
To promote more diversity on
your management team, you
can start a scholarship fund
for your minority employees.
Invest in your employees who
may not have the means to do
this for themselves.

Tip #71
Keep your values handy and
ask agents to consider how
those values relate to the
interactions you’re discussing
and how the QM program
supports the company’s
vision and values.

Tip #72
Routinely ask your team
members about their mental
health. This can be done in your
one-on-one sessions or in team
meetings. Some people feel
more comfortable speaking on
behalf of the group on larger
team issues.
Sayo Afolayan
Tip #73
All CX organizations focus
on metrics. You are what
you measure. Does how you
measure success align with
your organizational values
and mission?
Alan Berkson | @berkson0

Tip #74
On their own, gizmos and gadgets
don’t improve organizational
performance. Improved performance
comes from capabilities, speed, or
reliability enabled by technology. By
starting with the idea of what you
want to achieve and later determining
how to get there, you’ll open the floor
to many more diverse ideas.

Tip #75
Involve agents in program
design and in shaping
coaching content. How
would you design the QM
program if it were yours?
What’s the best way to
provide useful feedback?

Tip #76
Learn, teach, learn.
When employees learn
something new, managers
should have them share
some of what they learned
and how it applies to their
situation.

Tip #77
Take a step back and look at
the productivity metrics you
track and decide whether
or not managing to those is
actually helping you achieve
your goals. If not, find new
metrics.
Jeremy Watkin | @jtwatkin

Tip #78
Defining expectations
is not a “Day One and
Done” kind of thing. It is
the leader’s obligation to
continually remind the
team of what is important
and why.
Bill Quiseng | @billquiseng

Tip #79
Happier employees
are more likely to be
intrinsically motivated,
which means they don’t
mind going the extra mile.
They believe in the cause!

Tip #80
Remember, adapting
your values is okay. Our
culture is ever-changing,
and something that was
considered the norm 10
years ago may not be
acceptable today.

Tip #81
Don’t wait for someone to knock
it out of the park. Acknowledge
agents who demonstrate
consistent performance, patience,
and empathy with difficult
customers and other sometimes
unnoticed but important
behaviors.

Tip #82
There are no simple ways
to bolster culture. It’s a
walk you walk and a talk
you talk every day.
Stephanie Thum | @stephaniethum

Tip #83
Take the time to understand
the unique strengths of
each team member and put
them in positions to do their
very best work.

Tip #84
Tie customer service and sales skills
to lifelong professional growth. Help
employees see how the skills they
are mastering – emotional regulation,
positive positioning, empathy,
managing difficult people – will help
them wherever they are going in their
careers and how contact center work
is central to so many critical business
applications.

Tip #85
Employees need appreciation –
meaningful recognition of their
efforts. And the frame around
it all needs to be empathy.
Empathy can bridge the
chasms of a divided world even
when we don’t agree.
Kate Brouse | @NTIatHome

Tip #86
Employees need vulnerability,
grace, and mission focus from
their leaders. Vulnerability
shows they feel too, and grace
shows the employees that the
leaders know they are human.

Tip #87
Have a learning strategy for
the team, not just “classroom
training.” Only a small percentage
of learning happens in the
classroom...are you influencing
and developing a strategy for
the rest (self-directed, social,
informal, etc.)?
Jeremy Hyde | @jeremyhyde_

Tip #88
One logical way contact
centers can deliver value is to
lead the charge in building
the knowledge base and self-
service content based on top
call drivers. This paves the way
for AI and chatbots.

Tip #89
From experience, if you let it,
overcommitment will rob you of
the mental capacity to make good
choices with diet and fitness.
Let’s just say if I could go back and
change some things, I would have
closed the laptop for an hour and
just danced.

Tip #90
Leaders should regularly ask about
a direct report’s workload so the
employee will be accustomed
to discussing the topic when
concerns arise. Like asking your
kids if anyone was drinking at the
party. You gotta keep asking, so the
question becomes commonplace.

Tip #91
Customers get angry when we don’t
hold up our end of the bargain, miss
expectations, or disrespect their
time. To restore the relationship
and confidence, we must take
ownership of the situation,
investigate and explain, make it
right, and compensate as necessary.
Danny Rehbein | @RehbeinDanny

Tip #92
Authenticity is free. A heartfelt
shoutout from an appreciative
superior or colleague in a
public forum like a team call
or town hall meeting can go
a long way toward making
someone feel seen!
Candace Sheitelman | @EdifyCMO

Tip #93
Change fatigue is real.
Keep a pulse on employee
sentiment during
transformation (which is
almost always nowadays).
A once-per-year survey
won’t do it.

Tip #94
Every morning, I dive into a
project that’s on my mind
before I get sidetracked
by email, chat, etc. It also
feels really good going
to lunch with a sense of
accomplishment.

Tip #95
I ask reps to estimate the time
in each shrinkage category I
give them. When I ask them to
estimate the adherence bucket,
we talk about what goes into
that adherence buffer, and
how others outside the contact
center might interpret it.

Tip #96
Employee “empowerment”
occurs when employers
trust employees to make
good decisions and exempt
them from blame when a
well-intentioned decision
has an undesired outcome.

Tip #97
Managers leery of empowering
employees can begin by
introducing a pilot program.
Carefully training and
empowering a small number
of trusted employees and
monitoring results is a lot
less scary!
Kate Brouse | @NTIatHome

Tip #98
The term “empowerment” can be a
little mushy. Identify opportunities
for empowered employees to
apply decision-making skills
to customer-facing processes
and consciously coach/develop/
share decision-making skills and
guideline interpretation.

Tip #99
You can still “score” for
trending and tracking
but not use scores as a
component of the feedback
process (e.g., not share with
reps, not include in ranking
or remuneration).

Tip #100
It’s said that the higher up in an
organization you advance, the
harder it is to get frank feedback,
so it’s important to demonstrate
that dissenting opinions won’t
be punished. Ask, “What am I
missing? What am I wrong about
on this? What’s the potential
downside?”

Tip #101
If leaders only listen to those
who parrot their beliefs, one of
them is unnecessary. Creativity
and perspective are born from
different, diverse, and dissenting
opinions. They must be sought out,
encouraged, and celebrated. They
will often drive a better solution.

Tip #102
Exploit your strengths. You
can’t be Amazon. Be great
at something that’s unique
to your company.

About ICMI
We are all striving to be better. Whether it’s being better people, better
leaders, or better organizations, improvement and advancement is at the
heart of our daily intentions.
For the contact center, this mission of constant improvement is

fundamental to every interaction. We need to meet the expectations of
our customers in ways that improve their satisfaction and brand loyalty.
We need to improve employee engagement as we build their skills,
knowledge, and experience in ways that grow their own loyalty and
improve retention. We need to improve our organization’s operational
efficiencies in ways that drive revenue and improve the bottom line. No
one understands the contact center’s focus on improvement like
ICMI does. We champion contact centers and their people,
and our mission is to make both better every day.
Through training, consulting, content, and events, we unite the community

and empower contact centers to serve their customers better, engage
their employees more, and improve the customer experience.
ICMI is part of Informa PLC, a leading B2B services group and the largest
B2B events organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news
and information, visit ICMI.com and tech.informa.com.

Let’s Keep in Touch!
Visit our website to keep up with the latest contact
center trends and resources: icmi.com
And follow us on social media!
@CallCenterICMI
facebook.com/CallCenterICMI/
@CallCenterICMI
linkedin.com/company/icmi/

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102 Tips

for Managing a Successful

For more than 30 years, ICMI has helped contact center

Over the years, through live Twitter chats, events, and

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Nate Brown | @cxaccelerator

Mike Aoki | @mikeaoki

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Jenny Dempsey | @jennysuedempsey

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Ben Motteram | @CXPert

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Nate Brown | @cxaccelerator

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Mike Aoki | @mikeaoki

Jacob Shields | @jacobshields20

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Matt Beckwith | @mattbikewith

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Leslie O’Flahavan | @LeslieO

Rebecca Gibson | @gibsonlearning

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Nate Brown | @cxaccelerator

Jacob Shields | @jacobshields20

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Bob Furniss | @bobfurniss

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Dr. Debra Bentson | @theccdoctor

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Zachary Jellson | @zjellson

Erica Mancuso | @esmancuso

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

AMC Technology | @AMCTechnology

Steven Diaz | @mrstevendiaz

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Andrew Gilliam | @ndytg

Sheri Kendall | @sherikendall

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Jeff Toister | @toister

Justin Robbins | @justinmrobbins

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Leslie O’Flahavan | @LeslieO

Danny Rehbein | @RehbeinDanny

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Melissa Pollock | @AIAugments

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Jeff Toister | @toister

Mike Aoki | @mikeaoki

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Corey (Klein) Goldbaum

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Dave Dyson | @dave_dyson

Sean Hawkins | @SeanBHawkins

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Jace Hill | @ITSMjace

Bill Quiseng | @billquiseng

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Sheri Kendall | @sherikendall

102 Tips for Managing a Successful Contact Center | ICMI

Rebecca Gibson | @gibsonlearning

Leslie O’Flahavan | @LeslieO