AHT Spikes

[makhna]

Hello,

Any insight regarding this topic will be helpful. Thank you in advance.

Our call center is seeing spikes in AHT between 4:00pm and 8:00pm. We have several thoughts regarding this and were hoping to get some feedback from others who may be seeing the same pattern and have found ways to manage the spike down.

There are several thoughts as to why the spike may be happening. One is that our customers are calling during their drive home. They have the extra time and want to discuss more complex problems regarding their bill or service.

The other thought is that our reps may not be as focused during the later part of the day. They may have built behaviors and are not working with a sense of urgency.

Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated on how to manage these spikes effectively.

Thanks

[Tiffany]

Have you been able to identify whether the increase in AHT is as a result of longer call times or longer wrap up time or both?

Do you have different staff working between 4pm - 8pm?

Do you have a lower call volume between 4pm - 8pm?

Have you noticed a significant difference in service levels around these times?

It can be common that AHT increases during periods when the call volume is lower - if there are no calls in queue or the call centre is overstaffed then agents will have more time to spend with each customer and will take more time over after call activites.

[jp2time]

Also consider the management team during those hours in question? Who is watching it real time to try and keep the agents focused?

Is there a group of Part Time agents working during that time? Do they or Did they participate in the same training as the Full Time agents did such as customer service training?

Also what measurements do you have in place to drive the correct behaviors?

J.P.

[makhna]

Thank you for your responses. The AHT is a result of longer talk and wrap up time.

The staff that works during that time start their shift at approximately 14:00 and end at about 23:00

We actually see a larger call volume during 4 and 8.

Service level does decrease because of the higher occupancy.

[makhna]

Hi JP

We do have our supervisors managing our reps during those times. It is the same level of focus we have throughout the day. Recently there is a heightened awareness and our supervisors are responding to the spikes with a higher sense of urgency.

The employees taking calls during these times have had the same training as others.

J.P. Wrote:

Also what measurements do you have in place to drive the correct behaviors?

We are managing our AHT and service level by the half hour. During this time we are seeing several half hours where AHT has climbed. We have defined AHT as Call Work (Wrap up TIme) + Hod TIme + Talk time. Our leaders are walking the floors, sending messages to employees via windows messenger wehn we see an opportunity to increase efficiency, tap in to the call when there is excessive hold and wrap up.

[ctaylor]

While it is dangerous to offer solutions without all of the information...let me try anyway.

If your service level is declining during this period, your customers are not receiving the standard of service they have come to expect. As a result it is possible, even likely, that your agents are spending some additional time dealing with this issue...dissatisfied customers like to share their dissatisfaction. The net result is longer talk and wrap time. Your monitoring group should be able to verify this. Schedule additional monitoring of calls handled in this period and compare the call elements to that of your baseline ( outside of the period in question).

I suspect you will see an increase in the opening and call reason definition ( due to caller expressing dissatisfaction with the wait time and/or service level).

I hope that this helps and I would be interested to know the results of this exercise is you elect to put it into practise. Please feel free to contact me at ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com .

Colin

[Gloria E]

I am interested in the type of business you are in. Specifically, what type of call center? Revenue generating, order taking, billing questions or software support?

The reason for my question is that we are a software support center and we are struggling with call metrics. Specifically, what is the right service level metric and AHT goal for a call center like ours.

Currently we have a goal of 85/40. Our call length will vary from 5 minutes to 90 minutes and up.

Just curious. Thanks.

[ctaylor]

Gloria, I'm not sure who your question was addressed to...so I will wade in first.

The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. is a Strategic Contact Center consulting company. We assist our clients ( mostly, but not exclusively contact centers) deal with strategic issues and Operational Innovation. Common issues deal with Aligning the contact center to corporate goals, Operational methodologies, process improvements, leveraging technology etc.

We have a fairly robust website and offer a free monthly newsletter. I don't wish this to be a 'sales' message and I believe my posts to date reflect the value I place in sharing my knowledge and experiences.

I would be happy to (continue) to provide free advice to any member of CallCenterOps. Either post on-line or email me directly at ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com . Just remember free advice is worth what you pay for it .

Hope I haven't violated the code of conduct for the forum in responding to this post.

Colin