A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by an MSNBC reporter covering consumer issues and was quoted on a few of the more dramatic points made about "incentives gone wrong," specifically relating to call centers.  So, I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the material that didn't make its way into the blog, with regard to effective incentive programs.

While it is rare, the fallout from some companies' incentive programs-gone-wrong have ended up as "customer nightmare" clips on YouTube.  So, if your company is attempting to improve call center agent behavior, and ultimately customer experience, here are a few tips to creating a successful incentive program:

1. Communicate the point of your incentive - Taking the time to introduce an incentive program with clear individual goals, standards for measurement, rules for payment or qualification, and purpose will lead to more impactful results, and will help connect company goals with the desired agent behavior. It's important for both the front line and business executives to be on the same page.
2. Pick the right metric calculation for positive customer and company impact - The call center industry is notorious for its compulsive focus on productivity, as particularly measured by Average Handle Time (AHT). Driving an incentive based solely on this metric can have the unintended and undesirable consequence of agents interrupting customers, excessively transferring calls, or worse-hanging up on customers. The key here is to balance AHT or other productivity metrics with Quality or Customer Satisfaction, so agents are motivated to perform well on both standards.
3. Design your incentive program for maximum individual impact - Posting numbers and performance metrics on the wall that no one on the team can understand, let alone calculate, can lead to more questions about numbers and less focus on improving behavior. The connection between an agent's behavior and the numbers tracked in the incentive program should be clear and delivered to every agent in a timely manner. For sales calls, particularly those that take time to fulfill, consider delivering the "sales activity" metric (i.e., offers, accepts) rather than revenue paid to the company, so that agents can track their daily progress towards driving sales and continue to improve.
4. Train your supervisors to praise and counsel on the incentives - If adequately prepared, your front line management can quickly reinforce, or correct agent behavior in response to new incentive programs. Give supervisors the tools they need to evaluate behavior and progress against the metrics used in the incentive program. Make sure they have clear standards for measurement, and take immediate action on any agent found ‘gaming' the incentive inappropriately. Public praise for agents achieving success, and swift corrective action for those breaking the rules will also drive the positive impact of the program.
5. "Test and learn" - With the introduction of any new incentive measurement program and supporting metrics, managers and executives will quickly uncover challenges in delivering results. Problems with desktop resources, IVR call routing, metrics calculation, and rules for payout will surface when employees are hoping to maximize their results, or take-home pay. So, plan for a ‘trial' period to measure the new program and evaluate the operating results to maximize the potential benefit of the program once fully implemented.

With so much riding on the behavior of front line employees, a successful incentive program requires examination of each of these principles so that customer, company, and employees prosper. Many of our customers use incentive programs to great, positive effect on their business, and I would love to hear more personal success stories from your company.