Centrebound's Seven C's of Contact Centre Quality Assurance
Quality Standards are very different from company to company and that often applies even when the companies are in the same industry. However, positive customer experience and an effective Quality Assurance function share the following best practice themes.
Customer Focussed
Ensure you have measurable data to define customer satisfaction (CSAT). By having specific areas that are best aligned to your aims/goals for the customer experience you can identify where and how to improve the performance of your teams handling the interaction within the contact centre.
Consistent
Carry out monitoring and feedback regularly and consistently. Call Advisors or Handlers who are aware that feedback on any call where they are interacting with a customer are more likely to provide a positive experience and focus on the level of service they are providing against the standards that have been communicated to them. Weekly or monthly targets for numbers of calls being monitored and feedback makes the contact centre a place where quality assurance and monitoring is the norm as opposed to the exception.
Calibrated
A consistency of approach is essential. The way information is captured, delivered and feedback to your teams will increase the reliability of the results and the ability to improve the level of service you are proving to your customers. By having a team that is calibrated and consistent with the feedback they provide alongside a standard feedback format it removes the potential for individuals to receive conflicting advice or information.
Competent
Have a specialist team that owns quality. A team that has a focus on your QA program and specialises in delivering the call monitoring means your managers and coaches can focus on the job of people development and support. This leads to a culture of support, development and focus on providing the best possible service to customers within your contact centre. Outsourcing quality assurance means you have an efficient, cost effective way of having that specialist team in place.
Clear
Have a clear overview of quality assurance, what that means to the business and how it is achieved. Ensure each member of your contact centre teams and management groups understand how this will be measured and feedback. Take the opportunity to look at areas of compliance and how you link this into the Quality Assurance process. There is often a real opportunity to gain a valuable insight into how you are handling your customer and their information.
Communicated
Feedback the information regularly and in a timely manner. The sooner an Advisor knows what they are doing well, or where they can improve things for CSAT in their interactions, the more likely they are to implement the desired changes or continue with the right behaviours.
Continuously Improved
Review and evolve your standards. As your aims develop and your expectations on service delivery grow so should your standards. By regularly reviewing and ensuring these are aligned and delivering the right information to your customer facing teams ensures the customers are receiving the level of service desired. This helps ensure the customer experience provided by your contact centre will continue to be in line with the company values.