Independently if you have an in-house call centre or you are outsourcing your customer service functions, quality is a key factor to consider. There are different ways to ensure quality. Solutions range from training to monitoring KPIs and relevant metrics. Applying all of them will improve the quality of the service and overall customer satisfaction.
At Arema Connect, we believe that to ensure quality, a buy-in through the organization is required. In this blog we describe how quality can be delivered at all levels of the call centre. We list here the responsibilities of each department in relation to quality.
Customer Support Agents: They have a direct impact on the quality of the interaction (calls, e-mails, live chat, and social media contacts). Their responsibility lies in ensuring that they apply the training received in conjunction with excellent soft skills. Their quality is evaluated through call monitoring, first-call resolution, and a low rate of errors and rework.
Key Account Managers (KAMS’s): They are the link between our team and clients. They contribute to the quality objectives by ensuring that individuals in their teams have the resources, coaching and feedback they need to handle each contact in the required manner. KAMs have experience in handling frontline work. They have been previously Customer Support Agents, so they can preview potential training issues and request additional information from clients as preventive actions. They are invaluable in quality improvement initiatives. They also serve to review the corrective and preventative actions taken, to determine that the most effective solution has been found.
Contact Centre Quality Manager: Their role is to look at the bigger picture. They manage a centralized repository of data, captured and recorded contact by contact on a live basis. While KAM focuses on their dedicated team, the quality managers analyse agents’ performance in relation to all contracts. Analysis of this information leads to process, system, training and coaching improvements.
Human Resources and Operations Managers: Their job can impact quality by forecasting the call center’s workload accurately and ensuring that staffing schedules match requirements. Quality is also improved by recruiting the best person for the task. Finding the right candidates and acquiring talent impacts positively in the quality of the team. Operations Managers also are responsible for identifying the most suitable times for people to work on quality initiatives and training.
Technical Support (IT): Enable quality by equipping the call centre with appropriate tools and technologies. Their input impacts on timely decision-making while forecasting call volumes and replacing obsolete systems. Their key job is to identify capable systems that are thoughtfully programmed to ensure that the right contacts are routed to the right places at the right times.
Managers/Director: They provide the direction of the company and are responsible for cultivating an environment that values quality from top to bottom. They guarantee that resources are made available to agents, supervisors, planners, HR and others have the training, skills, tools and processes that enable them to be successful in their positions.
Quality accreditations: External recognition of quality can be obtained through accreditations. It ensures that all of the organization is working in the same direction and the processes and procedures are tested and adhered to rigorously. Key accreditations relate to data protection, ISO quality management systems, and GDPR.
