You have spoken — top 3 performance metrics.
So simple, but not so easy.

It’s clear that relying on traditional quantitative metrics to measure CSR performance, such as average handle time (AHT), is falling out of favor. If so, what metrics should we use?

Last week’s on-line survey shed light on what readers are thinking. The survey asked: If you had a Magic Wand that allowed you to change the criteria for measuring customer service rep performance, which 3 metrics would you pick?

Survey Results: Top 3 CSR performance metrics
1. Call Quality. (78.9 %)
2. First Call Resolution (68.4%)
3. Customer satisfaction survey scores (60.5%)

Of course, change of this magnitude starts with upper management understanding that their call center’s ability to create superb customer experiences is the key to their company’s long-term success.

Assuming that shift at the top occurs, what changes should managers expect to implement as they transition from an emphasis on “the numbers” to a model that measures the ability of service reps to both solve the customers issue in a single contact and provide them with that “I feel valued” kind of feeling?

Call Center Changes in the Offing — a sample of what’s ahead.

• Customer sat surveys.
  Post-call surveys that provide real time, actionable information will replace surveys conducted many days, weeks or months after the customer’s contact.
• Call quality measurements.
  > Gone are the days when reps are required to adhere to absurd measurements such as exhibiting 28 specific behaviors within 386 seconds or say the name of the customer twice in a call.
  > Call quality measurements will be closely aligned with what customers want such as getting their issue resolved in the call.
• First call resolution measurements.
  > Call centers will need to come up with a reliable method to use to measure FCR.
  > Root causes of low FCR such as too many escalated calls and low employee engagement (they are related..) will need to be addressed.
• Re-aligning Supervisor scorecards.
  As the call center KPIs shift, supervisors’ performance will be based on the ability of their team to meet these new goals.
• Employee engagement gains in importance.
  As call centers realize the correlation between high customer satisfaction and high employee engagement, many are measuring engagement regularly and implementing improvement strategies. This trend will continue.
• Supervisors require a new skill set.
  Fact: supervisors drive employee engagement. It’s not realistic to expect supervisors accustomed to managing “by the numbers” to make the transition to agent-centered coaching without the proper training.

Over the next few Monday Aha!s I will offer strategies and best practices call center leaders can implement today to better prepare them for success in what I call “Call Center 2.0″ — requiring a paradigm shift for many.

Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Could it be true?
Will quality finally win out over quantity?

Last week I asked for readers’ opinions on the value of using AHT (average handle time) as a performance metric for customer service reps.

First, the bad news.
Emphasizing quantity over quality remains a popular metric. The survey revealed that next to call quality scores (92%) the second most common performance metric for reps was average handle time (83%).  When asked for their opinion about the value of AHT, respondents had nothing good to say. Comments like this were typical:
“Time constraints do have an impact on the reps ability to provide service. This in turn creates more complaints, reduces first call resolutions, and it is unfair to hold a rep to (AHT) because the nature of the calls vary.”
Now the good news.
Despite its current popularity, there appears to be a movement by call centers to nix AHT as an indicator of rep performance. The reasons sighted in the survey surprised me. Instead of basing that decision on hard data such as a decline in first call resolution or an increase in errors, respondents said their call center eliminated AHT because it was causing employees too much stress and was impacting overall morale.

This is encouraging! Perhaps call center execs are beginning to realize that squeezing handle time isn’t the answer. If AHT is going the way of the dinosaur, how should rep performance be evaluated? 

If you had a Magic Wand that allowed you to change the criteria for measuring customer service rep performance, which 3 metrics would you pick?

Weigh in with your opinion. Take the “Magic Wand” Quick Poll.
I will share the results in next week’s Monday Aha! (4/11/11)

Making a fundamental shift in how you measure service rep success requires a radical shift in how your supervisors manage call center productivity.  Prepare your supervisors for long-term success.

Be happy.