Nothing will bring a business to its knees faster than bad customer service when it comes to customer service. A startling 71% of consumers will end a business relationship due to a poor customer service experience.
Staying on top of call quality and always looking at ways to improve it is at the top of every call center manager’s “to do” list. And call centers that focus on measuring and improving their call quality parameters will find it easier to satisfy clients, stand out from their competition, and even find new customers when call quality is vital.
Many factors contribute to an overall productive score regarding calling quality, and some businesses might measure different KPIs depending on their industry or agent expectations.
However, the following KPIs are most used when it comes to measuring call quality:
We’ll take a closer look at these call center QA metrics and explain why proper attention to each will help you improve call quality.
Perhaps nothing is more important than knowing how your customers feel about their experience with your company. This metric puts the finger on the pulse about whether or not your customer service agents are effective and what areas need improvement.
First-call resolution (FCR) refers to the percentage of calls resolved during the first call between the customer and the call center. This QA metric is vital because it plays a significant role in helping reduce customer churn rates.
According to SQM Group, 38% of customers will churn if their issue isn't resolved after the first call. Compare that to only 3% of customers who wind up likely to churn when their problem is solved during the first service interaction. The most effective means of customer service is solving a problem quickly, and your FCR rate can tell you exactly how well you are doing this.
This call center QA metric measures agent productivity based on the percentage of calls answered within a specific number of seconds. The most common measuring stick is the 80/20 rule, as customer service managers typically aim to have 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds. This would be their service level goal for the call center.
To increase your service level, you could consider reducing the duration of answering calls. However, it is also essential to observe what happens when your agents connect with customers.
Are they prepped for the call? Do they have an idea of what the customer wants? Agents need to be adequately equipped with the correct information about a caller for tailored conversations.
These metric analyzes call recordings to evaluate agents on courtesy and professionalism, how accurate their information is, and how effective they capture customer data. This qualitative review helps call centers develop a consistent tone and message that agents are instructed to use on every phone call.
To effectively track this, you need to pay attention to details like appropriate call scripts or language and valuable customer data capturing — providing customers with relevant, accurate information. You need to keep an eye on contact quality to identify potential leaks in the overall delivery of quality customer service.
Also referred to as Average Handling Rate (AHR), this call center QA metric tracks the number of time customers spends on each call with your team, from when an agent picks up the phone until the call is completed. While the standard for this metric often varies by industry, most call centers aim to reduce average handling rates as much as possible. Low AHR means that reps are more efficient and that you need fewer employees to staff your phones.
Net promoter scores (NPS) gauge loyalty and customer experience. Often, NPS is based on customer response to a single question: "How likely are you to recommend this agent or company?”
Scoring is based on a sliding scale, with 9 and 10 being promoters, 7 to 8 being passive, and 0 to 6 as detractors. You get the NPS by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters. A score of over 50 is considered acceptable.
You can get valuable feedback from NPS scores, and strong NPS scores go hand-in-hand with positive revenue and business growth.
Scorebuddy’s call center quality management and agent engagement software can help improve call quality and transform day-to-day operations for your call center by dramatically reducing review times, increasing agent engagement and revealing ways to improve quality and customer satisfaction.
Understanding what is happening during the interaction between agent and customer is vital. Scorebuddy was designed to shine a light on the quality of that interaction and make it easier (for both you and the agent) to assess the agent’s performance and work on any areas that need attention.
Among the benefits of Scorebuddy’s call center quality management and agent engagement software:
With Scorebuddy, you have everything you need and available at the click of a mouse – one version of the truth, all in one spot! Request a free 14-day trial now to find out more.
