As with any company in any industry, call center quality assurance (QA) is essential to ensuring customer satisfaction and retention. Unlike other industries, however, call centers have a responsibility not only to customers, but also to the brand partners they represent. As such, it is essential that call centers establish a comprehensive QA program, as it can make or break a campaign.
Why is Call Center Quality Assurance So Important?
An effective QA program is the cornerstone of every quality management system. Without one, a company’s reputation can quickly fall apart. The call center industry, due to the fluid nature of the business, requires ongoing QA efforts to maximize the quality and output of their staff.
Call centers understand that even the most senior agents can make mistakes and they have plans in place to consistently monitor agent-client interactions. Doing so provides peace of mind, plus the opportunity to acknowledge the successful efforts of staff in the best case, and the opportunity to mitigate damage, in the worst case. QA is designed to cover nearly all the processes and responsibilities of a company’s quality system, providing confidence that quality management requirements are being fulfilled.
Call Center Quality Assurance: What to Expect
Quality assurance for a call center campaign entails several processes. When implementing a QA program in a call center, the first step is to clarify the goals and objectives with your call center team. Customer experience should be consistent no matter which team member receives the call. All team members should be fully immersed in the brand and the processes and protocols on the program, and everyone should share the same objectives to achieve beneficial campaign results.
Team leaders may observe an agent’s live interaction with a customer and offer positive reinforcement when merited or indicate weak points that need to be addressed. One characteristic of a quality management system subsumed within QA is quality control. You often hear the phrase, “for quality control purposes, this conversation may be recorded,” when you place a call to a company partnered with a call center. Such recordings are part of that company’s QA program, used for analyzing the quality of the call to ensure their program expectations and needs are met.
Recordings also allow for ongoing input from brand partners. Calibration sessions provide the opportunity for call center staff and executives of the partner brand to review call recordings, grade them, compare notes and look for opportunities to further elevate the service experience for customers. By proactively monitoring calls between a team member and a customer, team leaders can discover and address any issues timely and effectively. Call center quality monitoring is an important component of an established QA call center program.
Another important aspect of developing a solid and effective QA program is creating a culture of quality in the call center work environment. Telecom, Inc. has established an advanced call center training approach that prepares our team for success on your program. We offer layered agent development training that focuses on customer care skills, sales techniques and more project-specific training, helping to ensure quality control throughout your campaign.
Quality assurance efforts can identify flaws in a customer service program and allow trainers and account managers to determine root cause issues and resolve them through training sessions. Gaining feedback from customers is another way to monitor the development and progress of your call center team. Measuring agent performance is essential not only for enhancing customer retention but also for building a stronger workforce. Finally, soliciting feedback from customers, post-service can also contribute to quality efforts, allowing customers to grade their service experiences.
QA Initiatives at Telecom, Inc.
At Telecom, our quality assurance initiatives focused on accuracy and efficiency, are key in managing the interactions with customers. Our agents represent partner brands with professionalism, maintain brand messaging, demonstrate a command of the English language, adhere to the service protocol/dialogue plan and effectively process orders or provide post-sale support. All channels of communication are measured, including phone, social media, chat, and email.
Telecom’s quality assurance process is ever-evolving, combining real-time observations and recorded reviews as part of the strategy. Chats, calls, and email interactions with customers are observed in real-time by team leaders. Later, QA analysts review digital interactions and review audio content. Our sample size of interactions audited begins at five percent (unless a partner requests a different percentage) and if opportunities for improvement are uncovered, the audit sample is expanded.
Having an effective contact center quality assurance process in place is essential for success in any program. Custom-designed to meet your program needs, our QA efforts ensure that your company is properly and professionally represented and that high-quality results are delivered. To learn more about our call center services, please contact us today!