Customer Experience News & Trends

Is the praise you give good or bad?

Beware contact center leaders: All praise is not necessarily good praise.

Praise agents the wrong way, and it can backfire — causing morale to drop instead of rise.

To give effective praise:

  • Be specific. If you say “Keep up the good work, Bill,” and he was slacking off all morning, he’ll think you approve of it. Instead, point out exactly what you like: “Bill, you did a great job pulling together the extended warranties.”
  • Make it last. Avoid a “hit and run.” Take some time to talk about the accomplishment. For instance, now that you praised Bill’s job, ask him  how he did it.
  • Praise extraordinary efforts. Avoid complimenting ordinary performance. Certain work is expected. If you praise that, the praise you give for excellent work won’t mean so much.
  • Go beyond praise. Praise will start to sound shallow if it’s the only thing your people get for doing an extraordinary job. Try to maintain a budget for small cash rewards or incentives reps want. You can ask them what kinds of rewards would motivate them to work even harder.

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