Updated
August 16, 2021
Written by
Stephanie Walker
How does a company improve its services and customer experience?
The answer is quality assurance.
‘ Quality Experience Just for You.’
This is the motto of every service provider and manufacturer of household brands. The statement holds, especially in contact centers. Today, around 60,850 contact centers exist around the globe. Day in and day out, agents handle calls from various clients. They listen to a variety of complaints, sometimes new and sometimes repetitive, and in some instances, each of these queries is in a different language.
This begs the question, how does a company improve its services and customer experience?
The answer is quality assurance.
You need contact center quality assurance (QA) because it involves key processes that ensure the following:
As the core of Contact Centers (CC) the instrumental factors contributed by QA are what help centers become the best versions of themselves. Among the typical channels that enable you to access and assess your CC’s QA include:
Going beyond what defines contact center QA, here are four reasons why you need to shift your focus into devising more elaborate methods to boost and consistently exhibit exceptional performance in your customer contact points.
Knowing what QA does for your center is good, but understanding the benefits is even better.
When contact center agents hear similar complaints repeatedly, it potentially results in burnout and a lack of enthusiasm to show up for work. Imagine that every day, your agents get yelled at for something they have not done, yet they must brace for every irate customer knowing that they represent the company as a whole. In turn, they get tired and eventually leave the company.
QA makes sure that your agents are in their best shape by utilizing customer-generated information to enhance your services and make your company more competitive. The information may be collected through phone calls. Specifically, it begins when the voice prompt from the company’s line informs the caller that the call would be recorded as part of understanding what the business can do to augment its services.
Helping employees maintain their overall well-being is equal to higher productivity levels. Thus, you end up with an efficient team capable of handling a multitude of calls effortlessly and escalate concerns in an appropriate and timely manner.
In line with agent performance, compliance to the procedure is an excellent way to assess agents and see which of the multiple strategies works. It narrows down what you have to do as a center to improve client experience.
Quality assurance then becomes a tool for the standardization of call procedures. From the script used by your representatives to the escalation steps in catering to every customer’s concern, consistently maintaining efficient service allows an easy transition to the compliance of any contact center procedure.
In any form of business, the customer is mostly right. Your role is to supply their love for your product or service. Having an excellent Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) enables your brand to reach new heights. Generally, reaching 15% CSAT is determined to be the average for all industries. To scale, an average of 25% or 50% is considered by experts as a good CSAT. However, the numbers may vary across industries.
An effective QA strategy aids in confirming whether your strategy works or not. It offers measurable results based on CSAT score, agent productivity, as well as the operations' efficacy. The data it generates is a perfect mix of qualitative and quantitative results. If customers find your contact center services mediocre, then conducting a thorough assessment of their feedback means retracing your steps. Checking that your approach is suitable to your operations, manpower, and customer needs.
By ticking all of these four in this list, you are one step closer to improving your contact center’s quality assurance process. What you need to focus on next in developing a truly effective QA program is employ time-tested strategies like the ones enumerated in the list below:
Is your QA already good enough for you?
Yes? That is great, however, there is still more to learn.
No? That is alright, here is a contact center QA guide curated just for you.
What results do you want your business to have? Which aspect will you focus on? Answer these questions by setting your long-term and short-term goals.
Long-term goals are created for your future growth. It includes which steps to take so you can boost your CSAT score and call procedures. Short-term goals are more focused on the present. It answers the question, ‘How many cold calls are supposed to be made per week?’ It lets you set realistic daily targets for call quotas.
Discuss this with your team and plot it clearly.
Without proper management, some companies tend to lose themselves because they either tend to prioritize quota or worry too much about the other aspects of their back-office operations. In between misplaced priorities, they forget that they are serving customers who have become patrons and supporters of their specific products or services. Never veer away from exuding a customer-oriented attitude. Work on building and perfecting what you offer but avoid doing it too much that you lose track of who your brand is aimed to serve. Putting customers at the center of your QA tactics is a technique that grounds teams to think about their customers as people rather than numbers that help their tallies.
Behind every voice prompt that informs callers or customers that their calls will be recorded for quality assurance purposes, are the trainers and quality analysts listening carefully and transcribing every single discussion between their customers and agents.
Their job is to take note of any discrepancies while executing the implemented call handling procedures. They assess and determine whether the concern was resolved aptly, or if there are specific areas that need work. In some instances, quality analysts-in-training are made to listen to actual calls, so they get to have first-hand experience of their role’s significance.
The famous saying goes, ‘Practice makes perfect.’ This does not mean training them aimlessly, though. You must help them hone their skills CORRECTLY and take the time to explain the scope and limitations of contact center quality assurance responsibilities. A carefully drafted training program breeds efficient agents. Also, the more they are acclimated to handle calls, the higher the chances of your customers experiencing a high level of satisfaction. Contented customers are the secret ingredient to increasing your CSAT.
For your company to assess the performance of your agents, QA analysts complement the performance of your agents and see to it that they meet what is expected of them. They help assess the performance and responsibilities of an agent while handling calls. These analysts create training and coaching sessions for agents, research industry trends, monitor calls, and evaluate their work efficiency.
Different channels of communication have emerged since the telephone was invented. Thus, as a contact center, you have to adapt and immerse your operations in channels that your customers frequent. Whether they are more comfortable with email, voice call, live chat, or social media means, you must be at the top of your game and ensure they can reach you through their preferred channel.
Otherwise, how else can you measure whether you are delivering commendable assistance, if your customers cannot reach you in the first place?
Your quality assurance strategy must be solid enough to support your business goals for optimal results. Allot a time to check that you stick with practices that reflect your objectives and ease your transition between training, coaching, and work on a 24/7 basis. If you see that your quality control efforts for your contact center services are contradicting what you have set out your business to be, then it is time to work on a new strategy that honors your brand at its core.
Avoid adopting contact center trends or QA practices simply because you see competitors or industry giants doing so. Instead, fine-tune your communication channels based on the changing needs and expectations of your customers.
With all these strategies in mind, mix and match them to gain the best results for your center. By ensuring the best service to your clients, you are doing your business and customers a huge favor.
If you are a fellow contact center services provider, good luck with your strategy, and we hope that our blog has enriched you as a service provider.
Are you an entrepreneur who works tirelessly as part of a larger company? We highly suggest that you hire a contact center today if you are not collaborating with one yet. Their expertise in handling calls brings your customers the best experience they could possibly have with you, thereby strengthening your brand.
Collaborate with us today! At New Media Services, our contact center tailors our services to your unique business needs. With cost-effective rates, you are sure to make every penny count. Our agents are online 24/7 and speak the language you desire to accommodate your patrons around the world.
Inquire, Plan, Integrate, and Operate with your very own contact center today!
Help us devise custom-fit solutions specifically for your business needs and objectives! We help strengthen the grey areas on your customer support and content moderation practices.
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