Agent compensation/benefits

Looking for a call center that is using activity-based compensation. Need to understand how that is applied and what rules are being used.

I'm looking for any reports/data on salaries for customer service reps nationwide, and incentive plans offered for customer service.

We're looking at making changes to our outbound compensation plan. The reps are currently paid based on percentage of net order goal achieved with tiers. Their comp is curretnly 70/30 (70 base and 30 "at risk"). There's additional $ payout each month for add-on sales as well as monthly and quarterly spiffs.

I am hiring an HR manager for a three call center operation. In what range should I expect to pay an HR manager with no direct reports in a call center environment of roughly 250 employees? -- Paul Turney, ROSS Marketing International

I am overseeing a small group of at-home reps for our call center. They are fully trained associates who have chosen to remove themselves from the office and work from home. They are required to come in for mandatory trainings or meetings (about 1-2 times a month) Other centers who have work-at-home associates who are occasionally required to come to the office, do you compensate them for their travel time to and from the office?

The CEO of my company is requiring us to begin paying all of our call center agents for available time only. We are still requiring them to be in the call center for a specific shift, but any time not in available (i.e., wrap up, bathroom, outbound calls, etc.) will not be paid. Is this a legal way of paying call center agents? -- Sandra Evans, Coremark Technologies

Our organization is reviewing "Shift Differential Pay" practices for our 24x7 operations. We are interested in learning how other organizations approach this philosophy, specifically... - What time frames do you consider eligible for shift differential? - What percentage adjustments to salary do you consider? - How have you integrated this within your payroll systems? - Do you pay differential when employees trade schedules? - Are you paying differential for extended shifts (overtime)? -- Scott VerBracken, AAA The Auto Club Group

Our call centre is a 24/7/365 inbound operation in a sales and service environment. Our CSRs get a very lucrative bonus every month based on productivity (calls answered, total staff time with a minimum base of 13 calls/hour answered -- anything over and above is calculated at 0.50 per call) Does anyone have an incentive in place for their Team Managers, who are the driving force of their CSR's success, that they are willing to share? -- Carlton

We want to introduce a skills-based pay initiative for our bilingual representatives, and are getting some push-back from our management staff. More specifically, they are asking questions such as "Is this reverse discrimination?" How do we address these questions with management, and then again when we roll out to the rest of the company? Should we also designate the specific number of reps that will be eligible for this incentive pay? Thanks -- Chris

I am looking for ideas on developing an incentive/bonus program for Team Managers (6) and Team Leaders (6) based on metrics or merit. We are an inbound call centre handling approximately 3000 calls daily. Currently, our CSR's earn a bonus at the end of each month based on a formula that calculates a minimum number of calls taken per per hour, hours worked, and actual calls taken. The calls that exceed the monthly minimum is paid out at 0.50 cents per call. Top agents agents stand to make an extra $400 - 500/month. Hence my reason for management incentive as they drive these numbers and agents' productivity. Your assistance/advice greatly appreciated -- Carlton