“This call may be recorded or monitored for quality assurance and training purposes.”
This automated message has become so common that most people likely don’t even give it a second thought. However, businesses that depend on customer satisfaction and loyalty should view the insights gained from these recordings and monitoring as mission-critical.
Of course, Quality Assurance (QA) in a call center environment is not a new or groundbreaking topic, and I’d argue that virtually every consumer-facing business is doing it to some degree. However, the commitment made to QA and the business strategies behind it vary dramatically from company to company in my experience.
Servicing Solutions has made a significant commitment to QA. From 100% of customer calls being recorded and retained, robust compliance testing, and regular coaching sessions with agents, to agent scorecards and powerful post-call speech analytics software to identify red flags, QA works to ensure that we are providing the best and most secure experience for our client’s customers.
With that in mind, I’m introducing the following questions to consider when evaluating your contact center QA program.
How Frequently Are QA Reviews Performed?
Customer service and support is a data-driven function, typically judged based on several pre-defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Your QA program should follow a similar data-driven approach. If your team leaders only have a small sample of customer interactions to review, they’ll never get a complete picture of agent and team performance. More importantly, they won’t be able to identify the real issues that need attention.
It is imperative to make QA a regular process with the ability to be measured to support continuous improvement. For context, Servicing Solutions will monitor a minimum of ten monthly calls for each agent, which allows our team leaders to provide regular individual feedback and coaching to employees. Progress is tracked over time. In addition, our senior management team is directly involved in QA, reviewing performance indicators monthly and making adjustments as necessary.
How Constructive is the Feedback?
Many will instinctively assimilate QA with a “gotcha” approach that only seeks out the things that are being done wrong. However, an effective QA program should look just the opposite.
While correction and redirection should undoubtedly be part of the process, there is no shortage of research that reveals the value of positive reinforcement in a professional environment.
Adopt an approach of letting your employees know what they should do more of. Instead of bringing attention solely to the bad, highlight what you’d like to see more of to improve morale, reduce attrition, and increase performance.
Is it More Than a “Check The Box” Activity?
Is QA simply an effort to check a box that satisfies leadership and shareholders? Or, has your organization has fully invested in QA as a means to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty?
A robust and ongoing QA effort should be viewed as an extension of employee training and development, which is proven to make good business sense on a number of levels.
Consider that 68 percent of workers view training and development as the most important workplace priority. Furthermore, 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year. Lastly, research suggests that companies with robust training programs enjoy a 24 percent higher profit margin than those who spend less on training.
Smart companies who look at QA as more than just a box that needs checking will win in the end.
Does Your QA Program Align with KPIs?
Net Promoter Score. CSAT. First Call Resolution. Average Response Time. Today’s call center executives are charged with meeting and exceeding an ever-growing number of KPIs.
An effective QA program will be customed to align with the specific KPIs that you are judged on. QA’s effect on these metrics should be regularly tracked and analyzed, and significant input from leadership across the organization should be solicited.
If your QA program is not tied specifically to your most important KPIs, it’s unlikely that you’ll see the consistent improvement that moves the needle and drives customer satisfaction.
If you’re seeking to improve the customer experience through the use of productive call center quality analytics, we’d love to chat. Reach out to us at sales@servicingsolutions.com or 844.877.6583.