It is often said that if something cannot be measured it cannot be managed or improved. Some aspects of a business are easy to put into measurements – sales or revenue per hour, conversion rate, contact rate, etc. These key indicators are critical to determine sales success. Inbound channels have additional standards to ascertain the level of service being provided the caller – Service Level, Average Speed to Answer, First Contact Resolution to name a few. However, other areas of a business are more difficult to measure. Do you have a way to measure the impact of leadership development classes? Can you track emerging leaders who’ve participated in development courses to see if this investment made an impact on their team’s sales performance or attrition? What about Quality Assurance? Most track agents’ QA scores over time to observe changes but what other metrics can be used to track the customer impact of your interactions and more importantly, how does this effect your business? A metric is a verifiable measure stated in either quantitative or qualitative terms – ie; 95% quality monitoring score or as evaluated by our customers, we are providing above average service. A verifiable measure, metrics capture performance in terms of how something is being done relative to a standard. It allows and, actually, encourages comparison. In quality assurance we use metrics to translate customer needs and satisfaction levels into company performance measures. These metrics can be used to:
- spot trends both positive and negative
- identify necessary changes and then track performance of those changes
- predict future performance based on past results and outcomes
The wealth of data that is contained in customer interactions can provide critical vision into the future strategies of the business. However, this data has to be transformed into measurable metrics in order to analyze the results. Once metrics are derived, the analysis must include actionable insights that can be communicated and turned into process improvement plans to drive any needed change. Quality metrics can also help you determine the break points in your service. Break points are used to determine the levels where improved performance will likely change customer behavior. For example: Waiting on hold for a customer service agent – How long will the average customer wait on hold before becoming dissatisfied? 2 minutes?
- Wait longer than 2 minutes — customer is dissatisfied
- 1-2 minutes — customer is satisfied
- less than 1 minute — customer is extremely satisfied
Based on these findings, what steps should the company put in place to meet this expectation? How much is the company willing to spend (add more customer service agents, etc.) to meet this expectation? Will the higher customer satisfaction result in more revenue and offset the additional cost? In this example, understanding the break point will come in three steps:
- A trained analyst listens to calls and captures the customer feedback
- Sample data is transformed into measurable insight (metrics)
- Measurable insights are turned into actions
For the most meaningful metrics, the sample size should represent a decent percentage of the interactions. As with survey and poll results, too small a sample may skew the findings. By transforming data into metrics, analysis will provide strategic information for the direction of a business. “We best manage what we can measure”. Click here or send us an Email to set up a meeting with the Etech team at Call Center Week 2016, June 27 – July1.
