As a business owner, you strive to provide exceptional customer support service, and that’s where outsourcing call centers help you.
But how do you know that the team of virtual agents you have selected is performing as per your expectations? There has to be some mechanism to ensure quality assurance, right?
We understand that your investment in a call center matters, and this is exactly why this blog will:
- Define call center monitoring
- Explain best practices to monitor call center performance
- Provide real-life examples
- Highlight top monitoring tools for agent performance tracking
So, let’s get started!
What is Call Center Monitoring?
Your outsourcing partner seems great. They slowly take over your customer support needs, matching your brand’s voice and identity.
All seems good on paper. But how do you know it without analyzing the call center’s performance?
This is where performance monitoring and tracking comes in. Your job is to analyze the performance of call center agents to ensure quality assurance and enhance customer satisfaction.
Here are some questions you need to answer:
- Are my clients happy with the performance of agents?
- How effective is the communication between clients and agents?
- How can I use clients’ feedback to improve performance?
- How much scrutiny does the agents’ performance demand?
- What is the employee turnover rate?
Effective call center monitoring helps you get close to the ideal 80/20 benchmark, where approximately 80% of incoming calls are answered within 20 seconds. This is called the golden 80/20 rule.
Best Practices For Call Center Monitoring
Let’s be real: monitoring the call center and keeping track of the employees’ performance is more difficult than it sounds.
There is a fine line between micromanagement that impacts agent training and performance, and analyzing key performance indicators with practical approaches.
But hang on! We have identified the tips to help solve your problem.
Let’s have a look at the best call center monitoring practices.
1. Establish and Follow Well-Defined Guidelines
First and foremost, you need to finalize a certain set of rules and establish guidelines for the monitoring process.
Just like a well-planned roadmap ensures the success of your journey, a clear set of guidelines goes a long way in ensuring effective call center monitoring.
Here’s some of the questions you need to ask yourself:
- What are my expectations from virtual agents?
- How many times a month should I communicate with call center representatives?
- Which mode of communication will be used?
- Have I properly explained the KPIs to my agents?
- What should be the average handle time?
- Who is responsible for the call center assurance?
Are you unsure about the SOP format? Here’s a sample SOP template including instructions for the new joiners at a call center:
2. Conduct Surveys for Constructive Feedback
Have you asked yourself this question: how do I know whether the call center offers customer support as per client expectations?
This is where customer feedback comes in. You request feedback from those whose opinion matters the most: your customers.
And to achieve this goal, conducting a survey is the most popular choice.
Now let’s talk about the types of surveys conducted to gain feedback:
- Post Call Transaction Survey: You ask customers to provide feedback immediately after the end of their call with the agent.
- Relationship Survey: You send emails to clients at regular or pre-defined intervals requesting them to share feedback.
Survey is done, now what?
Analyze the data, pay attention to customers’ opinions, and make decisions accordingly to improve the customer service.
At HiredSupport, we ask for feedback from clients at the end of each call and introduce changes accordingly.
This is why our CSAT is remarkably high, just like this graph (based on hypothetical data) shows:
3. Use AI to Evaluate Agent-Client Interactions
On average, US companies lose more than a trillion dollars per year due to poor customer service. Surely you don’t want to be one of these business owners, right?
That is why analyzing communication between virtual agents and your clients is extremely important.
But what if the call center scales and keeping track of every call manually is no longer feasible?
Well, this is where you can take the help of AI-powered tools.
For example, Amazon Connect API helps you ensure quality assurance of a call center by calculating certain factors like agent availability status, average handle time, response time, etc.
To evaluate the agent-client communication and provide relevant feedback, here are some of the key features of AI-powered tools that can help you:
- Automated agents’ evaluation process based on set criteria
- Systematic review of the agent’s performance
4. Install Call Center Monitoring Tools For Better Tracking
When you hire an offshore team, it sometimes becomes very challenging to keep track of their performance. Different time zones can make matters even worse.
But we have a solution for you!
With the help of monitoring tools, you can stay updated with the interactions between virtual agents and clients, and make an assessment accordingly.
The result is increased productivity of employees, plus you can get insights into the outsourced team’s performance.
Here are some of the tools you can use:
- Calabrio ONE
- Scorebuddy
- Tethr
5. Hire Call Center Supervisors For Quality Assurance
Delegating your tasks to another individual, especially if the call center is scaling quickly, is a good choice.
The supervisor can help you evaluate the team of virtual agents and monitor the KPIs, while you can focus on the core business operations.
Take the example of HiredSupport. For such a large-scale call center handling queries of multiple clients, the CEO can’t keep track of every call, right?
To optimize efficiency, we’ve implemented role delegation in this manner:
- Project Manager: Responsible for overseeing ongoing projects
- Operations manager: Responsible for handling day-to-day office operations
You can also adopt a similar approach to make the monitoring process significantly easier for you.
6. Ensure Implementation of Security Measures
With the advancement of technology, cyber attacks have also increased significantly, and no industry is immune from this threat.
Just to underline the significance of cybersecurity measures, 130 high-profile Twitter accounts were hacked in 2020. Yes, even a giant like Twitter fell victim to a cyberattack not long ago.
That’s why you must ensure that the team of virtual agents is well-trained in terms of cybersecurity principles, and proper security measures (like antivirus tools) are in place at the call center office.
After all, you cannot afford losing your investments to a cybercriminal, right?
But how do you make sure that the right security measures are in place?
Here’s how you can monitor this process:
- Create SOPs: Clear procedures to ensure the implementation of measures, like installing antivirus software, and configuring firewalls, etc.
- Hire Security Analyst: Hire a dedicated security analyst to identify systems’ vulnerabilities and provide security solutions.
- Conduct Surveys: You can also conduct surveys to find out how the security of the call center can be improved.
By implementing the latest security measures, you can earn the trust of clients, and drive more customers to your business.
The result? Higher CSAT!
7. Take Feedback to Enhance Agents’ Performance
As a business owner, you need to make sure that your virtual agents stay in touch with the latest technological advancements.
But how can you find out whether the virtual agents are well-trained, familiar with the advanced technologies, and performing according to your expectations?
This is where customer feedback comes in.
Take this example:
A business owner wants to ensure that the virtual assistants are following the best practices.
So, to keep track of their performance, he conducts surveys and requests clients for post-call feedback.
Now, based on this feedback, he can suggest call centers introduce regular training programs or seminars, and implement relevant procedures to help improve their performance.
The result? Higher CSAT, lower response time, and more customers for your business.
8. Establish Open Communication Channels
If you want to ensure the outsourcing call center reaches new heights, it is paramount to establish two-way communication channels.
Keep in mind that only providing feedback to the call center and not understanding their point of view can prove detrimental in the long term.
This is why it is important to listen to complaints and suggestions for improvement from the perspective of call center owners.
Here’s how you can achieve this:
- Use the latest tools to stay in touch with call center owners.
- Encourage virtual agents to coordinate with you to resolve any issues.
- Follow the practices adopted by other top businesses that have outsourced their service.
Suppose a BPO is struggling to get new customers and the CSAT is decreasing.
Because the owner is constantly gathering information and is in touch with the supervisors, he accepts their recommendations to enhance the performance of agents.
Over the next 12 months, he introduces new principles like a special quality assurance program, a call routing system, post-call surveys, etc.
Thanks to the open communication channels, here’s how the CSAT improves:
9. Assure the Implementation of Compliance Protocols
Well, ensuring the security of customer data is extremely important, right?
Now the big question: How do you find out whether data protection protocols like GDPR are being implemented in the call center?
Here’s how you can achieve this goal:
1. Create Special SOPs: Establish strict guidelines regarding customer data protection for the guidance of your virtual agents
2. Modify KPIs: Make sure that the agent performance is judged not just based on client-agent communication, but also how much importance is given to data protection.
3. Request Feedback from Clients: Gather and pay attention to customers’ opinions, find out whether or not security protocols like GDPR are being followed in the call center.
At HiredSupport, protecting customers’ sensitive data is the priority of every agent. There’s a reason our clients trust us: we have earned their trust by implementing security compliance protocols.
10. There is Always Room For Improvement
Let’s make something clear: there are very few call centers that offer 100% error-free service.
It doesn’t matter how many monitoring and recording tools you use or supervisors you hire, there will be times when a frustrated client ends the call unsatisfied with the customer service.
Now, what’s important is that you learn from any mistakes and ensure there’s a proper monitoring mechanism in place to avoid such a situation in the future.
Here’s how you can ensure this:
- Find out whether the SOPs need to be improved
- Re-evaluate the set KPIs and analyze why a team failed to meet the performance indicator
- Check whether your call recording tools are outdated or not functioning properly.
- Keep a track of the latest tools introduced with advanced monitoring features.
- Gather feedback from other business owners regarding the monitoring process.
Remember you can only improve the performance monitoring process if you keep analyzing and improving the monitoring tools and mechanisms in place.
Also Read: Top 10 Call Center Outsourcing Companies
Why Call Center Performance Tracking is Important?
By now you know the steps to track call center metrics and ensure customer satisfaction.
But apart from quality assurance, what are the other key advantages of this performance tracking methodology?
1. Better CSAT
Customer satisfaction matters the most for your business, right? This is why CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) is the most important key performance indicator.
Great! So the next question is how tracking performance of the call center helps improve this score?
Here’s how:
- Analyze the performance of agents
- Conduct regular surveys to get feedback
- Conduct agent training programs based on the negative feedback
By regularly monitoring the call center performance, and ensuring the agent training is up to the mark, you can ensure the client is happy and content once the call ends.
As CSAT scores improve, positive word-of-mouth will drive more customers to trust your call center. More customers means more revenue for your business!
To give you heads up, HiredSupport increases the CSAT by 37%. Impressive, isn’t it?
2. Improves Agent Performance
With the help of call center monitoring tools and methodologies, you can analyze and improve the performance of your team of virtual agents.
If you know how the team of agents is performing, only then can you provide feedback to prevent any mistakes during client-agent communication.
This is why regular analysis of agents’ performance is vital.
3. Ensures Lower Average Handle Time
Average Handle Time (AHT) is a key metric to judge the performance of a call center. In simple words, it’s the amount of time taken to resolve a customer’s request.
Low AHT is what every call center wants to achieve.
Why? Because High AHT means that the agent took too long to resolve the client’s queries, and most likely, they will not call again.
Here’s how you ensure a low AHT with performance tracking:
- Install call recording tools to observe the client-agent communication.
- Identify any issues observed during the communication
- Make sure that the call is routed to the appropriate agent.
- Keep a record of time taken to resolve each query every day
- Make sure that the agents are well-versed with advanced software
Best Call Center Monitoring Tools
Based on our research, here are the top call center monitoring tools:
1. Calabrio ONE
It is a cloud-based platform that allows you to monitor, analyze, and keep track of the interactions between agents and clients.
Thanks to its user-friendly interface, Calabrio ONE allows you to easily monitor agents’ performance.
Pricing Plan
Depending on the call monitoring features you need, you can design a custom pricing plan by contacting their customer support team.
Free Trial
There is no free trial and you will have to pay upfront to access its features.
2. Playvox
If you are looking for a reliable call center quality management platform at an affordable price, Playvox is one of the best options out there.
With Playvox, you can easily monitor the call center’s operations and take customer service to the next level.
Moreover, its real-time AI-infused forecasting sets it apart in the domain of call center monitoring tools.
Pricing Plan
The exact price has not been mentioned on the website, but what you can do is engage with their customer support representatives to design a customized pricing plan.
Free Trial
While it doesn’t offer a trial version, you can log in and watch demo videos to get familiar with the key features.
3. Scorebuddy
Designed with the purpose of improving agent performance, Scorebuddy is a popular call center quality assurance software.
Along with advanced AI-based analytics, Scorebuddy also offers agent scorecard facilities to measure the impact and performance of each agent.
Pricing Plan
You can select a custom pricing plan by discussing your requirements with their customer support team.
Free Trial
Scorebuddy allows you to test the features with a free trial.
4. Tethr
When it comes to call recording and conversation analytics, Tethr is an excellent choice for you.
What makes this tool particularly useful is its ability to provide insights based on the recorded conversations, helping you with various decisions.
Pricing Plan
While the exact price has not been revealed on the website, you can contact their customer support team and finalize a plan per your needs.
Free Trial
Unlike some of the other call monitoring tools, it doesn’t offer a free trial. To get access to Tethr’s features, you need to pay upfront.
Conclusion
Outsourcing your services to a call center means you want to ensure exceptional customer service 24/7. But you also need to monitor that call center’s performance, right?
To help you make the most out of your money, we have explained the step-by-step guide to analyze the performance of a call center.
If you are looking for a call center that follows best monitoring practices, you will not find a more reliable call center than HiredSupport.
Fill this form today, and get in touch with our customer service team!
