Castel Blog

Most call centers that record or LIVE listen to agent calls do not have the resources to evaluate 100% of those calls. The QA analysis is labor intensive, time consuming and typically results in only an extremely small percentage of calls being reviewed/scored.   For example, the goal for many call centers may be to evaluate 3 to 5 calls per agent per month. Not only is this a small sampling, but makes providing timely feedback to agents very challenging.

As more companies are embracing customer-focused quality (customer delight), a company’s scorecard should focus on key metrics and improving value from customers’ perspective.  The ability to analyze 100% of contact center calls is possible, as well as systematically scoring calls for emotions, words and phrases. The need for a human to score in post-call is no longer necessary. Companies may create a ‘call profile’ to which each call will be measured against and scored. As the scorecard or histogram is available immediately following the call, agents may receive nearly instantaneous feedback from a supervisor. Keep in mind, LIVE analysis may have already been provided to that agent during the call as well!
 

Barbara Burke (customer care expert http://barbaraburke.com/its-really-pretty-simple/) shares that among other characteristics desirable in a supervisor, agents look for a supervisor who is fair and will not play the ‘favorites’ game. This often comes into play when being reviewed after a customer/agent call.

Complaints of favoritism rise as agents believe their reviews to be more subjective rather than based upon objective analytics, “She likes her better than me” or “They are friends out of work, so of course she scored her higher.” Take agents’ criticism of unfairness added with the need for those agents to change their behavior and now you’re looking at a real challenge!

Many of us personally, can attest to the difficulty in being successful ceasing our own ‘poor’ behaviors. So how are we to help our employees change their behavior while on the phone with customers? Implementing call center solutions such as voice and speech analysis can assist agents toward successful change. Using a solution that listens for specific words and phrases to be said during the course of a call, and having the ability to be notified when those words have been stated, increases the likelihood of successful change and encourages positive behavior!

Overall, solutions like these can reduce business risks and provide reporting to show increased performance due to behavior change. Remember, reviews can include constructive criticism, but don’t forget rewards and positive reinforcements, too.
 

From telemarketing to collections, providing customer satisfaction is at an all time high in the contact center industry. Check any top 10 list of call center complaints by customers and you’ll find rude or unprofessional agents somewhere on that list. Certainly there are opportunities to train agents, have them complete a diversity course, perhaps a class for proper phone etiquette and conflict management. However, without the right tools to monitor agents, natural behavior may slip agents back into the everyday grind, leaving freshly trained and practiced agents back to where they started. What’s next?

Since installation at Northstar Location Services Buffalo NY contact centers in October, the results were even better than expected. Aaron Castle, COO stated, “We were very aware of the application’s benefits prior to installation, however the immediate effects have transitioned into department-wide improvements, including increased employee morale and decreased customer complaints.” The call centers are now experiencing a 54% decrease in customer calls to their Quality Assurance Team (Resolve It! Professionals). Agents are managing escalated customers much more effectively through the use of the Castel Detect™, as its agent dashboard appears right on the agent’s screen. In addition, unresolved customer issues have decreased as well.  Castle adds, “This application has enabled our agents to better identify escalating issues which equates to more quickly resolving issues, collecting payments more efficiently, reduced call time and stronger agent/customer relationship.”