12 Rewards and Recognition Ideas for Customer Service Teams

It pays to invest in employee engagement. After all, companies that take the time to create employee rewards and recognition programs are more likely to see improvements in productivity, profit margins, and employee and customer retention.

From work perks to contests, here are 11 rewards and recognition ideas successful businesses like ESPN and Lane Bryant use to keep front-line employees motivated.

Free Employee Rewards and Recognition Ideas for Customer Service Teams

#1-3: Share Positive Feedback on Slack, in Company Emails, and at All-Hands Meetings

As part of a broader rewards program, local listings platform Yext motivates employees by recognizing positive customer feedback team members receive in the company’s Slack on a daily basis and in round-up emails and at all-hands meetings on a weekly basis. Given the link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, it’s no surprise the company has seen its CSAT scores jump by 8 points, with averages well above 90%.

#4: Utilize Team Leaderboards to Showcase Ratings

Retailer Brooklinen, shaving company Harry’s, and retailer TechStyle all use team leaderboards to showcase and rank agent-level average customer ratings.

This gamified approach to performance management motivates team members to set goals to improve and advance their position in the leaderboard.

#5: Share Real-Time, Agent-Level Customer Feedback

Jet.com, part of the Walmart family, motivates its hundreds of service agents by sharing their agent-level customer ratings in real time. What’s not to be proud of, with a team that earns an average customer rating of 4.6 out of 5.0 stars?

Low-Cost Employee Rewards and Recognition Ideas for Customer Service Teams

#6: Offer Work Perks

Getting the best parking spot, a long lunch break, a bonus vacation day—none of these rewards program ideas cost much—if anything. Even better? These practically free ideas can help keep customer service agent attrition rates low and CSAT scores high.

#7: Encourage Team Building

Business catering marketplace ezCater rewards its CX staff by organizing team building  activities, such as movie nights and happy hours, for everyone to enjoy together.

#8: Give Company Freebies as Rewards

Customers love your brand, and if your employees do, too, giving away your company’s products and swag may be a cost-effective way to reward and recognize your customer service team members for a job well done. Brooklinen and Lane Bryant offer up freebies for their team members as a way to help strengthen agents’ product knowledge and their company pride.

#9: Promote a Work-Life Balance with Unlimited Vacation

Another creative way ezCater boosts morale is by offering customer service staff unlimited paid time off.

#10: Reward Employees with Bonuses, Cash, Gift Cards, and More

Every month, ESPN’s customer care team rewards the top performer with cash prizes, while FabFitFun recognizes agents based on their customer ratings and QA scores with bonuses and other awards.

#11: Let Customers Pick the Perk

At the end of every service interaction, customers of Yext and Earnin, the fintech startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz, have the chance to share real-time feedback about the agent they’ve engaged with and suggest the rewards they should receive for a job well done (or leave recommendations when there’s room for improvement).

At Earnin, reward votes from customers translate into weekly cash prizes while Yext’s customer service agents who successfully reach a threshold of customer votes become eligible to receive gift cards.

Both of these programs are a win for driving employee engagement among CX professionals, who get continuous updates about how they’re performing and what perks they’ve earned. And, these programs are a win for customer engagement as well, as timely, responsive companies with an effective customer service resolution process are more likely to see higher customer satisfaction scores.

Big-Ticket Employee Rewards and Recognition Ideas for Customer Service Teams

#12: A “Golden Ticket” Contest

In addition to the cash bonuses Earnin CX team members can earn on a weekly basis, the company also has a “Golden Ticket” contest, in which top-performing agents are eligible to take a paid weeklong visit to the company’s Palo Alto headquarters. This is a powerful motivator that also provides the opportunity for individuals to get up to date on the company’s latest best practices and share these learnings with their local contact center team.

Ready to ignite agent performance? Check out Medallia’s guide, 4 Steps to Supercharge Contact Center Agent Performance, to learn how leading contact centers are putting the right systems and processes in place to achieve success.