THE CALL CENTER AGENT'S PERFORMANCE PARADOX: A MIXED-METHODS STUDY OF DISCOURSE STRATEGIES AND PARADOX RESOLUTION

Call center agents face the performance paradox of courtesy, efficiency, and effectiveness. To understand how agents resolve the performance paradox, we conducted a mixed-methods study with call center agents in a large financial services organization. In study 1, we examined agents' moves using a discourse analysis of calls. We discovered 10 discourse moves that reflect two novel strategies for call center customer service: solidarity building and conversation control. In study 2, we assessed the effects of the two discourse strategies on agents' paradox resolution. Configurational analyses show that agents who resolved the paradox synthesized solidarity-building and conversation-control strategies effectively. Conversely, agents who emphasized only on solidarity building or conversation control experienced performance trade-offs. Our findings suggest that to overcome the triple trade-offs between courtesy, efficiency, and effectiveness, call center agents must execute a complex dance of moves to build solidarity with callers while controlling the conversation. We discuss implications of our findings for research and practice on customer service and performance paradoxes.