Lowering Average Handle Time

[kstrainer]

I'm looking for any idea's anyone has for lowering call center reps average handle time on inbound calls. Specifically, I have reps who are "trying to save the world" on every call. I want to encourage them to help every customer, but discourage them from giving them too much help. Am I asking the impossible?

Thanks,
kstrainer

[Frank A. Engle]

kstrainer-

Through numerous consulting projects I have discovered that there are three primary reasons for excessive handle time:

-Lack of call control by the agent (they may have never been taught call comtrol)

-Lack of a concise call guide outlining company expectations on handling each type of call.

-Lack of monitoring and supervisory reinforcement of the above two items.

Implementing these three items should significantly lower handle time as long as it is positioned in the appropriate way with the agent.

You have a "good" problem that each agent wants to help the customer as much as possible. What they don't realize perhaps is the repercussion of their actions. The point to emphasize to them is that although the customer on the phone with them is getting 120% of their customer care, the person waiting on hold or hanging up is getting 0%. The best customer care is when no ones' time is being wasted, the agents or the customers, with providing extra information that has not been requested and is not needed.

Hope this helps

[tomriver]

Before trying to solve the problem, I'd first quantify how big a problem this is. Are you preventing 'potential' back log, or are you experiencing 'actual' backlog and abandons.

I have seen too many Customer Service Agents and Call Centers altogether pass off any phone call they can to another department (Accounting, Technical Help, etc), or end a phone call as concisely as possible. This is 10 times worse than giving 'too much' help...especially in a world where many people are offended by having to deal with WebNets and VoiceMail. The Human touch can only build rapport...or perhaps destoy it if encouraged to.

If your agents are causing backlog and abandons they need to be set some 'standards'. In other words, you need to communicate that you are experiencing 'X' abandons a month and this is unacceptable...or current holding time is 'X' and it needs to be lowered to 'Y'. A concrete goal that staff can understand.

If you are simply forecasting and trying to prevent 'potential' backlog, my advice is - Dont Do It. That person on the other sise of the phone is a paying customer who is going to telll 10 more people how much they love or hate you. Trying to save their world...time permitting...is nothing short of great.

[Topper]

Other things to look for in Agents with high call times

1) note taking - are they able to do it while on the call?
if not they need strategies so they do not waste time after the call

2)Needless conversation - Do your agents solicit conversation that is either personal or unnecessary

3) Does the agent lack confidence? agents who lack confidence often "over-talk" to compensate for that lack of confidence

4) Do your agents know how to "Close the Call" in sales thay teach it all the time, but in other fields they do not. What is the difference between an "open-ended" and "close-ended" question. How to control the call at the end with close ended questions, and hoe to ask for the "sale" , or in otherwords say with finality we are all done you can go now.

If I had a dime for every agent who complained about demanding call times, and how impossible they were I would be rich. however, when you sit down and go over their call with them you can oftimes see how much "fluff" there really is in any given call.

[Rakesh Bhambani]

No call center manager likes to deploy or budget resources towards 'out of scope' activity but the bad news is that there is no clear demarcation in an unresolved service or support call where you can hear the kerching of the ‘sale’ having been made and you say “I have done enough” and/or “That’s not my problem”. Unless clear boundaries can be defined, I would not advocate telling the agents not to go the extra mile. It would breed an attitude which could be fatal if you wish to create a customer centric environment.

We serve a mobile phone company where we routinely assist customers with settings and issues relating to their cell phones. One of our clients is an ISP where we will roll up our sleeves and help customers with modem, browser, or OS related problems. In both cases we have problems that are clearly ‘not my problem’ but they impact the customers usage of our service and our subsequent revenue and quality of relationship with him. There IS an ROI on extra mile service. The sale is only made when the customers’ problems are resolved. Mind you, I am not saying that your agents should waste time in chattering, Frank’s guidelines are perfect and if implemented, should prevent your agents from going all over the place and not waste time in giving unasked or unneeded information.

The quality of your Knowledge Base is important, agents must have access to all relevant information and it must be in a form where it can be retrieved speedily. You must also map your processes and analyze cycle times of each activity. You can then look at each in isolation which would simplify an otherwise complex problem.

[jp2time]

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