Quality vs. Quantity

There is a battle in Call Centers. The teams are Quality vs. Quantity; two performance factors that don't seem to get along.

Representative Super Speedy says, "I've taken more calls than anyone on the team today. My average handle time is the lowest on the floor."

Coach Level Head breaks it down for him, "But your quality scores are below everyone else on your team."

Representative Detailed Dan says, "My quality scores are top notch. I give every one of my customers the detailed attention they deserve."

Coach Level Head breaks it down again, "Your Average Handle time is through the roof, and there are customers waiting in queue for attention to their needs.

Where is the happy medium? True quality means being effective and efficient; meeting the customer's needs fully in a reasonable amount of time.

As a call center supervisor in a Customer Service department I managed a team of 20 representatives. Like many teams there were "top performers" or super stars, "middle of the road performers" or most of the team and "low performers" or the folks that needed help to the middle of the road. My goal was to work with everyone to bring them up to the next level and ensure quality and efficiency as a group.

I remember one team member who fell into the low performer category. She was very detailed, very good with customers and her quality scores were outstanding. So, what put her in the low performer category? The amount of time she spent on each call. In one work day she would complete only half the number of calls completed by her team members. Her average handle time was off the charts. We had to work on this as soon as possible.

I coached her on several occasions and we found ways for her to cut time off of her calls. She did more typing while she talked to the customer; she learned the system more thoroughly so she could offer the answers to the customer's billing questions. Still her efficiency was not there. So, we continued the coaching.

Her argument was that her quality scores were so high that the quantity should not matter. She would receive 95% to 100% on each monitoring score. She was providing the customer with a quality interaction. They would go away feeling good about the company and the services they purchased. So, why did it matter if she took a long time talking with each customer? This discussion changed my explanation of quality and quantity forever. I explained to her (and everyone else, on every team I ever coached going forward) that Quantity is not a separate goal from Quality.

Quantity is actually efficiency, and efficiency is part of Quality. Instead of focusing on the number of calls we took in a day, we must talk about this performance goal in terms of how efficiently we took those calls. Did we use the time we had with them appropriately? We can not say that we offered the customer a Quality Interaction if we kept them on the phone for 25 minutes trying to solve their issue. On each call we owe the customer courtesy, information, honesty, answers and EFFICIENCY. A customer who received the answer they called looking for in 3 to 4 minutes will be happier than one who reaches their answer after 10 minutes.

In addition to the individual call, the time one representative spends on a call with one customer can also affect the perspective of the customer who is waiting in queue. I'm not suggesting that team members rush through calls to answer the next, but it is important to be aware of the impact of the time you spend on each call. The more efficient you are on each call, the more effective the department will be as a whole.

We ensure the efficiency part of Quality by being prepared for each call. Preparation includes knowing the tools and systems we use to answer the customer's needs, being up to date on new products, services or issues the customers may be calling about, and having our best Customer Service attitude ready to talk to each customer.

All this has become my Quality message. I have been known to pull up a soap box in the break room and spread this good word. Quality is built on quantity or efficiency. Offer clear, helpful, efficient customer interactions. My team learned it and improved in each one of their performance goals.

Let the Quality vs. Quantity battle end. Your customers will thank you.

About the Author

Jenny Kerwin is a writer and member of http://www.CallCenterCafe.com

Members of http://www.CallCenterCafe.com have access to articles like Partnering for Performance and materials related to Call Center Management, Training, Human Resources and Quality. The Café is full of resources for Call Center Professionals including a staff waiting to answer your questions. Take a 1 day test drive starting today.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Customer Service Information:

Related Articles

Have You Hugged a Customer Today?
It all started a couple of weeks ago when a friend asked me if I could scan and print some of her slides. No problem, I said.
8 Critical Steps to Establish a Customer Service Culture
"Every company's greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company,"--Erwin FrandDuring our recent weakened economy, many businesses have seen declining revenues and declining budgets. Declining budgets often lead to reduced staff levels and diminished services.
What Every Manager Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers
Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win Customers and Keep Them for Life presents twelve principles that will transform the workplace into a customer-driven, highly motivational team.
Making the Connection: Customer Relationships That Build Your Business
Have you ever wondered why you often find a coupon tucked inside your cereal box, or get invited to a customer preview sale at your favorite department store? Those companies know that their existing customers are the best - and most profitable - customers they'll ever have. So it's not surprising that they'll do whatever they can to keep these customers happy and coming back again and again.
Wholesale Buyers Versus Retail Customers
Are wholesale buyers and retail customers really different? Frankly, there are two answers to this question: yes and no. Yes, because they are different from the buyers and those selling to buyers' point of view and no, because the principles that apply are the same for both types of buying.
4 Customer Service Mistakes Companies Should Avoid Making
1) Being placed on hold endlessly. Don't you just love it when you call a company and they place you on hold, leaving you to listen to their latest on-hold, recorded sales pitch, over and over again.
How To Boost Your Bottom Line With Two Little Words
I hate to sound like one of those cheesy get-rich-quick commercials, but this week I am going to let you in on a little secret that is so powerful that it will immediately change the way you do business.In fact, this little secret is so powerful that you will be amazed at its immediate effect on you, your employees, and your bottom line.
Customer Satisfaction Is Your Business
Regardless of what business you are in - you are really in the business of satisfying customers. The degree of customer satisfaction you deliver determines the level of long-term success you will achieve in business.
Establishing Yourself as an Expert in the Eyes of Your Customers
The most important aspect of a successful business is developing the correct mindset toward your customers. And this is not the over used phrase The customer is always right.
Proofs of Delivery and Logistics: Speeding Throughput and Avoiding Pitfalls
It should be a straightforward business scenario: making sure that the delivery documentation from the supplier or haulier matches up with the documentation at the target destination.However life is rarely straightforward, and if problems do arise, order completion times and cash flow will inevitably suffer as a result.
Saying Thank You to Your Clients
"Thanking your customers" - Why you should do it and how..
Automating Your Help Desk Workflow
Do you know you can open, answer, close and report help desk information without human intervention?Automation is a powerful feature provided by most enterprise level help desk products; however, most organizations rarely take advantage of these features. Based on a survey conducted by RightStar Systems, only 5% of the help desk managers interviewed were using automation to its fullest capacity.
Customer Neglect
What have you done for your existing customers lately? Probably not much, if you are like most businesses.I know that hunting new business is more of an adrenaline rush than working the business you already have, but it is not as crucial to your long-term success.
RETAIL GREETERS: Sales Builders or Customer Turnoff?
Do you need greeters or should you avoid them? That is the perplexing question many retail organizations are struggling with today. Often touted in the press as the perennial example of the benefits to employing greeters,Walmart has hung on to its practice faithfully.
We Sell For Less and Our Stores Are a Mess!
What kind of image do you present when marketing your products? Are you professional and well organized or does your store/site/whatever scream, "sloppy!," to those who matter the most: your customers? Let's see how one leading retailer is winning the sales war, but losing an important battle: store organization.WalMart is dominant in so many categories with the various products that they sell.
Writing The Book On Great Customer Service
Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up near my small book store. Already I can see my business starting to decline.
Treating the Customer Dissatisfaction Epidemic: How to Go Beyond Simply Masking the Symptoms
Corporations in every sector are spending more than ever before in an attempt to improve their customer service levels. Every year they pour hundreds of millions of dollars into new systems and training programs that promise them the ability to win customer loyalty.
Making Customer Satisfaction Surveys Work
Why bother? Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although new customers are important good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business.
Aint We Wonderful!
It may come as a surprise to you to discover that customers don't buy your products or services because they feel that you have a right to make a profit. In other words, their motive for doing business with you is not to help you buy the latest Jaguar or put your children through college.
Customer Service, the Internets Primary Neglected Business Concern
Customer service is everything to a business. Just look at big, successful retail chains: They let you return perfectly good merchandise just because you changed your mind.