All of you working in a call center know what it feels like to be told 'no' throughout the entire day. In all honesty, it sucks..
Quality assurance can be an unmanageable time-consuming task if you don't know where to begin or end. But by choosing the right approach, you can turn it into a vital asset. We give you some tips and tools on how to improve your QA processes.
Quality assurance in call centers has come a long way. With new tools, methods, and ever-changing requirements, it's no surprise that it plays a crucial role in workflows and processes.
Today, the need for top-notch quality assurance is driven by various factors like evolving legislation, fierce competition, and innovative marketing strategies. It's the key to staying compliant, meeting high standards, and providing exceptional customer service.
Never underestimate the power of a well-crafted quality assurance setup – it can boost your sales and enhance customer experiences.
Good news is that tools and methods for quality assurance are constantly evolving to meet the demands of this dynamic landscape.
In this blog post, we'll take a holistic approach to quality assurance. Drawing from our experiences working with customers and our own internal processes, we'll share insights on maintaining high standards in customer support and aligning expectations with potential customers.
Let's dive in and discover how quality assurance can elevate your call center game!
We get it – every organization is unique, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution, especially when it comes to maintaining top-notch quality.
At Adversus, we're all about constant improvement. What works today might need a tweak tomorrow. We're not saying we change things daily, but we're all about adapting our internal quality assurance to fit our systems, data, and the amazing people working with us.
Quality assurance is like a snowflake – no two contact centers are alike. It all depends on factors like the number of agents, organization structure, revenue, resources, and much more. A big contact center with over 100 agents will naturally have different QA priorities compared to a small agency with just a few rockstar employees.
Speaking of our customers, we've seen it all. From well-structured and semi-automated QA procedures to others who dive into random conversations without a clear setup or strategy.
But let's get real – QA isn't just about tapping into conversations and giving feedback when needed. It's so much more!
Sustainable QA involves looking at the entire sales process, digging into all that juicy data, and finding ways to boost performance. Think of it like an ongoing journey, always improving and tweaking as needed. The more you standardize this process, the smoother the ride.
A cool trick is to automate or semi-automate your quality assurance using nifty tools like speech recognition. These tools can help you pinpoint which calls need closer attention, saving you time and effort.
Keeping an eye on outliers – both high and low performers - can optimize your quality in calling.
Predominantly there are two approaches to quality assurance.
The ongoing and more or less randomized quality checks you do whenever you need to give instant feedback or a quick follow-up on a specific problem.
And then, there is the structured approach, where you design a holistic flow containing all aspects of the sales process. This approach includes the whole process from collecting and processing your data, to analyzing it, adjust and evaluate.
This ongoing process requires you to start all over when you are finished. It also requires a steady cadence, a standardized approach to benchmark your efforts, and the tools to ensure consistency.
There are many advantages to having clear standards and processes for your quality assurance. It makes it easier to measure your effort, benchmark, follow up, and adjust.
For example, you can make an "at the end of the day check" every day to systematically check all your successes.
Also, make sure the standards for your evaluation forms match up with the manuscripts so it's possible to identify issues and ensure they are compliant, updated, and phrased correctly.
Read more about how to create good call center scripts
The legislation keeps changing to meet needs for customer protection, privacy protection, and so forth. Make sure you know the rules – and play by them.
But let's face it; rules can be quite complex. That's why it's essential not only to play by the rules as a business but also to educate your agents on compliance. Teach them the ropes, like obtaining consent from prospects and handling personal information, so they're well-prepared to navigate the regulatory landscape.
Compliance is key to building trust and ensuring a smooth customer experience.
When establishing your quality assurance process, make sure to leverage both quantifiable and qualifiable data - and find the best way to combine them effectively.
Quantifiable data includes measurable metrics like average handling time, waiting time, hit rate, success rate, NPS score, and other numerical figures.
Qualifiable data includes a human factor and can be more challenging to measure. It encompasses e.g., call recordings and written feedback from customers. AI technology can be partially helpful in analyzing qualifiable data by identifying patterns, such as speech patterns, which can be used to adjust manuscripts and sales techniques.
By collecting and analyzing both types of data in a structured manner, you can identify areas for improvement and establish best practices for your organization. However, it's essential to determine which data is most relevant and limit the amount of data you need to audit. This will help you streamline your quality assurance process and make it more effective.
Data collection depend on many factors
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Wondering how many calls you need to check before you can tell how well your contact center is doing? It's a common question we get!
There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this because it depends on various factors. But in general, the more calls you listen to, the better idea you'll get. Still, going through too many conversations can be time-consuming. You need to find the right balance.
As you get to know your agents better, setting up quality parameters and streamlining procedures becomes much easier, so don't underestimate the value of spending time analyzing calls.
Get higher quality
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Using randomized sampling, such as listening in on conversations, can give you a realistic view of your agents' methods and standards. However, taking a more systematic approach and focusing on your outliers by analyzing conversations in depth, can be a real time-saver.
Keep a close watch on your worst performers, as they may need extra training and coaching. At the same time, don't forget to acknowledge your high-yield performers! They are the ones that are paving the way for good results – and good behavior must always drive the results!
To pick your outliers, you can set up quantifiable agent-specific KPIs and follow them closely. Handling time, the number of successes, and NPS are just some examples of things to measure.
A net promoter score (NPS) can also be instrumental when you want to identify your outliers.
NPS is an effective way to measure, understand, and act on your customers' experiences. Therefore, NPS has become a method used by many organizations to create better customer experience, more loyal customers, and thereby increased sales.
Using NPS is a great way to gauge overall customer satisfaction. But keep in mind that it can be biased. Typically, only the extremely satisfied or dissatisfied customers take the time to respond, while those in the middle might not reply as often. Still, NPS can provide valuable quantitative data. Just remember, it won't give you the full picture of your customers' true satisfaction levels.
Having a tight grip on your customer journey and ensuring your leads are top-notch before reaching out is just as vital as keeping an eye on your agents' performance.
The first step? Run a duplicate check and cross-reference your leads against blacklists. This way, you'll steer clear of calling the wrong people and maintain the quality of your efforts.
But that's not all. Getting automatic lead data updates right in your dialer is a game-changer, especially for B2B calls. Having up-to-date information on your customers or potential clients can skyrocket the quality of your interactions.
Having accurate data makes a world of difference. It boosts your hit rate and minimizes mistakes your agents might make. Plus, it's a surefire way to provide a top-notch customer experience.
Having a high number of successes doesn't always guarantee high-quality conversations. While there is often a correlation between high performance and good quality, some agents might compromise on providing accurate information or maintaining compliance standards to boost their success rate.
Identifying and addressing such cases is crucial because poor-quality calls can lead to increased customer churn, lower satisfaction, negative reviews, and compliance problems.
To tackle this, it's important to listen to conversations and pay attention to your agents' behavior. Here are some key factors to consider:
Are your agents asking the right questions? Do they provide the prospect with all necessary information? Are they compliant? Do they oversell? Are they creating value for the customers?
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Never use a "one size fits all" tool solely!
Adjust your quality assurance process to the specific kinds of calling – outbound, inbound, etc. This is vital if you want a precise measure. Also, adapt your methods to the particular scenario. There's a difference between calling B2B, B2C, predictive, progressive, manual etc.
Consider if you can reuse procedures across campaigns and customers, but remember to adjust.
Instead of digging through every conversation, focus your efforts on high-yield and worst behavior to make the most of your time.
Tools for QA:
The primary purpose of the evaluation process is to identify lacks and fill in the gaps. By gathering knowledge and implementing it into workflows and training, it can make a big difference in the quality of work.
There are many ways of approaching this part of the process - but ALWAYS include your agents!
Involving your agents in identifying your contact center pains, you'll know where to focus. Remember, they have the experience and understand the issues first hand.
Set up a forum where agents can freely share feedback, tutorials, and best practices. This creates a foundation for building a consensus and a culture centered around best practices. Involve your agents in shaping the forum to make it more engaging and relevant.
To enhance your agents' skills effectively, focus on one aspect at a time. Pick a specific topic like intonation, handling objections, or closing deals, and work intensively with the agents to improve their performance in that area.
By taking things step by step, you can ensure a more targeted and impactful approach to skill development.
Feedback can be given in various ways, such as one-to-one sessions, remote interactions, or group discussions. The key is to strike a balance between quality assurance, coaching, and feedback. While there's always room for improvement, it's crucial to provide coaching and feedback in a manner that allows agents to adapt to the required standards.
Encourage self-reflection among agents. Instead of telling them what went wrong, let them analyze their performance. More often than not, they'll figure out the answers themselves, fostering a sense of ownership.
Monitoring should not be perceived as intimidating or controlling. It should be ingrained as a natural part of the work process, a helpful tool. Make monitoring visible and communicate openly about the procedures to create a culture where agents feel comfortable with the process. This way, they won't mind someone tapping into their conversations.
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