Here’s How To Measure Quality Assurance In Customer Service – Playvox

How do you measure the quality of the service you offer across channels?

Being present on different channels is just the first step. Delivering a seamless 5-star service across channels is the true art of customer service. Consumers have a wider variety of ways to reach businesses and seek support than ever today, and omnichannel service is increasingly important.

How important? Well, 67 percent of buyers have used different platforms before choosing whether to commit to a purchase, and 64 percent expect to receive real-time help no matter what channel they use.

Quality service is critical across all channels, no matter how many your call center actually handles. A smart QA process will help you to evaluate agents’ performance and deliver the best service possible, but how do you actually measure quality assurance across channels?

1. Make sure your QA team is prepared

If you expect your QA team to measure quality assurance across channels to the best of their abilities, make sure they’re well-equipped to do so.

Your quality assurance team may be two, three, four or more people, depending on the size of your call center. The smaller your team, the more challenging this task may seem.

However, using a savvy QA software would allow managers to perform a thorough quality check across channels to ensure your team is going above and beyond thanks to standardized scorecard metrics.

Related: 8 Steps To Creating An Effective Call Center Scorecard

Managers and team leaders must be well-prepared and given the tools to easily monitor interactions across phone, email, live chat. etc.

2. Define your KPIs early

KPIs are integral to a successful QA process and should be defined from the very beginning.

Different KPIs will apply when you measure quality assurance across channels. Depending on the main goal of your customer service, here are some factors to consider measuring:

• the length of time the caller was on hold

• if they were handed off to multiple agents

• if their problem was resolved during the first call average abandonment rate

• the greeting used

• cost per call

• customer satisfaction

It’s slightly different with live chat and email, though. KPIs here may be:

• how responsive they were

• the level of professionalism they displayed

• the average handle time

• invitation acceptance rate (if your site prompts customers to use live chat)

• if agents are wrapping conversations up effectively

Taking time to choose your metrics will help your QA team get the most out of their work and gain a comprehensive overview of your employees’ performance.

Related: Defining Call Center Metrics That Really Matter

3. Survey customers after interactions

Listening to your customers is a must. It allows you to readjust the focus where needed and retain their loyalty. Retaining customers should be a core mission as it costs 5 to 25 times as much to secure new buyers than to keep existing ones.

One effective way to gauge customer satisfaction and meet their goals is to ask for their feedback. Invite them to take part in a brief survey after each interaction, whether over the phone, by email, live chat or even on social media. Ask questions relevant to their experience, touching on:

• the agent’s attitude

• the response times

• their overall satisfaction rating (perhaps from 1 to 10)

• their willingness to use the service again

This will give your QA team actionable data for each respective channel and for the entire call center. You’ll be able to identify where support is falling short and the most common issues throughout the workplace.

Related: Hear The Voice Of The Customer An Increase Retention

4. Use QA software to unify data

QA software like Playvox is designed to streamline the entire process and give your analysts and managers all the tools they need to measure quality assurance across channels.

Rather than having to keep track of data on multiple platforms, Playvox enables you to access information from all your channels in one place. You’ll empower your QA team, team leaders, managers and the agents themselves with valuable data, covering all aspects of quality assurance. As a result, training, feedback, and improvement is faster, smoother and more practical.

5. Invite employee feedback and input

Your agents are on the front line every day. They’re the ones interacting with customers. They’re the ones hearing their complaints and their questions, their anger and their satisfaction. They’re also the ones using your tools and software.

Invite your team to offer their input when looking to improve customer service. They may be able to suggest ways to deliver a better experience and pinpoint functional issues in the processes: if these are affecting their work in any way, you might not realize until you ask.

6. Coaching should be relevant to each channel

In an omnichannel call center, coaching should not be vague or generic. Instead, it should be tailored to the specific channels each agent uses, helping them to make the most of the technology and the type of interaction it creates.

For instance, what can they do to make customers feel more at ease over the phone? What type of language should they use in live chat? Are they using the right terminology in emails and aligning with the company’s voice?

Coaching should be based on data gathered from the respective channels and aim to address flaws. Give agents goals to meet between sessions, to help make their development more manageable and straightforward.

Related: Call Center Coaching Tools To Get Call Center Agents In Shape

7. Don’t undervalue less-popular channels

It’s unlikely that all channels will be utilized for customer service equally, but they should still all be used to measure quality assurance across channels.

You can still use data from these to understand your customer base and refine your overall quality of service. If buyers are trying to reach your team on Twitter but are being ignored, there’s a real possibility they’ll draw others’ attention to your lack of response.

Unresponsive brands appear careless for the people who sustain them.

Any channel open to customers is important. Don’t think people using a more popular communication method are more worthy.

Related: Creating Consistency Across Channels

To measure quality assurance across channels, follow the above tips throughout your QA process. The quest to deliver unbeatable customer service is ongoing and can’t be completed within just a few days or weeks — your agents must be monitored, trained and encouraged to keep improving on all channels.

Focus on leaving customers so satisfied across each channel they have no reason to even consider your competitors in the future.

What channels do you use to communicate with customers, and which work best for you? How do you measure quality assurance across channels too?