22 Ways to Improve Quality Monitoring in call center

Quality Management

February 12, 2021

22 Ways to Improve Quality Monitoring in a call center

Quality monitoring in call center- Call center quality monitoring in easy steps with callcriteria. quality monitoring in a call center-quality control.

Quality monitoring in a call center in easy ways.

Quality monitoring in call center is the main reason for the existence of our company, Call Criteria. We make your call center run smoother, with simple and easy-to-use processes that are proven to work. In this article, we are going to discuss what quality monitoring is and how it will help your company.
First things are first: If you are interested in improving your quality of service while lowering your costs, then quality monitoring in your call center is an absolute must-have.
Monitoring your calls for quality will allow your managers to identify any issues that you may have in your processes and staff training.

Quality Monitoring in a Call Center – How Do You Do It?

It is all well and good, saying that you are going to monitor your calls for quality. However, the practice of doing this is not usually enough. You have to know how to watch it and why. That is why we have made the following points to guide you through your monitoring process.

Software. – Having up-to-date software that is the most relevant for your company and needs is an absolute must. There are various levels of ability for coll monitoring software and having the wrong one can be as bad as having none at all. Therefore, you must speak to someone who knows these systems and builds them instead of a salesperson from a single company. Unbiased views will help recommend the right software for your company. Here are some of the things that you need to have included in your software:
- Monitoring
- Recording
- Barging
Scorecards. – Scorecards and their development and implementation are just as important as your software. So much so that we will go into this a little later in the article.
Training. – Training for your agents and managers is how they get the information on what you expect of them. Coaching is a large section alone. However, the development of that training should not change. Therefore, there are a few points that you need to consider when you are developing your training program:
- Ensure that your agents understand what your customers expect.
- Explain all of the points on the scorecard and how they are marked.
- Provide examples of excellent, average, and poor quality for reference points.
- Review and implement any changes in the training plan. Have refreshers to provide that information to all of the staff.
Feedback. – With the above training points in mind, ensure that you give immediate and constructive feedback to provide them with relatable information. That can not only be a factor for negative feedback, however. You must also acknowledge and reward positive interactions just as quickly.
Assistance. – Ensure that you have adequate and immediate ways for your agents to get support if they require it. However, do not punish them for requiring it unless it becomes excessive.

Using Scorecards In a Call Center

Scorecards are a considerable part of the success of any call center. Providing that they contain and ensure the correct information for your business. When you are designing scorecards, there are a few things that you should keep in mind.

Production. – Ensure that you involve the right people in the creation of your scorecards. That will ensure that you are getting the correct information for your company and their expectations. Here are a few suggestions of who you should involve.
- Agents. – Having an appointed agent to act on behalf of all agents. Therefore allowing them to give you their side of the story of what they think should and shouldn’t be involved.
- Managers. – Managers often see a larger picture of their agents and what they can and can’t do.
- Stakeholders. – Stakeholders will be able to provide valuable input into what they want and what they are willing to invest in to.
- Customers. – Possibly one of the hardest yet most valuable opinions to get is the customer. They can tell you what they expect and not. This information is often collected through after-call surveys, etc.

Company Policy. – Scorecards should conform to the company policy, and should be in line with the following:
- KPIs
- Customer Expectations
Known scoring factors. – Of course, all scorecards and their contents should be well briefed and should have various factors included within the live call monitoring. We will look at those factors next.

Scorecards For Live Call Monitoring

quality monitoring in call center-scorecards for your agents

Agent scorecards for quality monitoring

Live call monitoring is one great tool that enables you to analyze and check for different agent behaviors. Here is an alphabetical list of some of the things that you may want to include in your scorecards for live monitoring. (I have made a list alphabetically as all of the points are as important as each other.)

Attention. – Is the agent paying attention to the caller and their needs?
Compassion. – Is the agent showing compassion to the callers’ situation? They need to remember that it is only a small minority of people who will call with a problem that they are not bothered about resolving. That means that it must be critical to the caller. Therefore, the agent needs to show that they understand.
Effectiveness. – One of the most important words of any business is value. Is the agent providing value to the interaction in a practical way?
Flexibility. – Is the agent flexible to the callers’ needs and emotions? A caller may go through several emotions throughout a call, and the agent needs to be flexible in their responses.
Friendliness. – Friendliness and politeness are two of the biggest things that a caller will see and judge performance on. First impressions count here. If you start a call being unfriendly and then switch to being friendly, or vice-versa, the caller will always remember the bad parts.
Integrity. – Does your call center promote honesty with accurate, unbiased information? Are they admitting when an issue is beyond their capability and transferring to a more appropriate agent when necessary?
Passion. – Passion for doing the right thing for the caller by showing an unwavering interest to their issue will go a long way. However, if there is no interest in the call, it could be very damaging.
Personalization. – Personalization is a mixture of a couple of the other things in this list. However, forgetting some of those points will make it a less personal call.
Professionalism. – Are the agents conforming to company standards? Are they able to be understood? Do they have a confident manner?

As you can see from the list above, many factors must go into a scorecard. The more thought you put in, and the more training given to the agents, the better the result will be.

Quality Monitoring in Call Center – Extra Considerations

There are a few extra considerations that you need to think about in quality monitoring in your call center. In this section, we are going to take a look at what some of those things are.

Routine Communication. – It is all well and good for you to brief the above points to new starters. However, there is often miscommunication and misunderstanding in expectations. Therefore, it is a wise idea to have routine meetings with your staff to reiterate those points and tell individuals whether they are doing well or not.
Plans. – It is a wise idea to also have in place, an actionable plan for when departments or individuals are not meeting the expected standards. These plans may include extra training, etc.
Performance reviews. – Include quality monitoring performances in standard staff reviews.
Incentive. – Incentive and reward plans are always a great way to get better performance from your agents.
Acknowledgment. – Immediate recognition and reward for the highest standards of call interaction will provide extra incentive to do better work.

Quality Monitoring in Call Center – Conclusion

Quality monitoring is one of, if not the best ways to improve quality in a call center. Every call center has its performance requirements and expectations. Using the tips above, and the right software for your company will give you dramatic improvements in performance and ROI.
Contact us for more information about how we can help you.