All types of call centers, regardless of their size, depend on quality assurance (QA) specialists to deliver the best results for their clients, their clients’ customers, and also for their call center agents. The QA team listens to some or all of the calls made out of the call center each day, listening for best practices and correct customer service behavior. If necessary, they also take time explaining those practices to call center agents so future interactions are more pleasant and appropriate for everyone.
Inbound and outbound call centers may have different metrics for quality assurance (a more precise description of the value of QA can be found at QA call center), but both will rely heavily on the QA team to give direction and guidance on customer satisfaction and representative ability. Many times, the QA teams are made up of former and current call center employees, who are personally familiar with what each call requires.
Outbound call centers frequently use the quality team to determine individual representatives who have the best persuasive skills, and customize other approaches to highlight those skills. Likewise, in an inbound call center, issue resolution and customer satisfaction are key drivers showing a quality representative, whose practices may be emulated by others.
Call centers use a variety of tools to measure customer satisfaction. Customer response surveys are one of the most important tools. The quality assurance team pays close attention to the surveys and takes note of key patterns, both positive and negative. Activities and behaviors which lead to positive customer surveys are then used to craft best practices for the call center agents. At the same time, negative responses are also analyzed in the surveys and used to create the list of things the phone representatives should not do while on the phone with customers and clients.
Call monitoring is a critical daily task. QA analysts will listen in on randomly selected or multiple calls per day, listening to the customer-representative interaction. Each call center and client will have their own guidelines on how those interactions should play out, but compliance to those rules may vary depending on the representative on the phone. When representatives know that their calls may be heard at any time, they are more likely to respect and obey those guidelines, thus leading to better call quality for the customers.
After monitoring the call, quality assurance analysts can then hold calibration sessions with the agents. During these sessions, agents learn from each other and the quality assurance team. If new rules or guidelines have emerged, this is the perfect time to explain them and detail how they will better serve everyone on the phones. QA specialists can also explain to the call center agents where they did well, where they can improve, and then the agents can use that knowledge for future calls.
Without QA, call centers would have a much harder time serving their clients and their customers. Through QA monitoring and survey analysis, best practices can be gleaned out of hundreds of calls. Also, they give representatives the opportunity to learn how to become better agents, leading to improved results on the phone.