Measuring Quality Across Multiple Call Centers

Larger corporations often face a dilemma of having multiple contact centers representing multiple divisions. The problem is that each contact center may have their own quality scale, quality metrics and quality teams. When senior management wants to know how their contact centers are doing, there is no comparable data. In addition, there is little meaning in the numbers provided ("Great. So, what does 94.6 mean?") or confidence that the methodology by which the data has been gathered is reliable ("Okay, I know this contact center has some major issues, but according to the quality scores they're better than Disney!")

This is a situation where a well-focused, third party quality assessment can provide maximum benefit. Our group has approached this dilemma with our clients by:

• Measuring all contact centers on the same criteria
• Utilizing a sound sampling, measurement and reporting methodology
• Analyzing calls with an objective, customer's point-of-view approach
• Providing actionable data that outlines key improvement opportunities for each contact center and the company as a whole.

This type of assessment not only provides an "apples-to-apples" comparison of service across multiple contact centers, but also unearths policy and procedural issues impeding service and diminishing the customer experience. Internal QA functions are often so focused on individual CSR behavior that they fail to identify these process improvement opportunities.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Brandon King.