What have you done to reduce escalations?

Tips:
1. Make First Call Resolution the main driver for agent's bonuses instead of Average Handling Time. This will force them to work "harder and smarter" for the customer.

2. Empower Agents to make actual decisions without consulting their supervisor/team leader for every minor issue. It increases the agent's satisfaction with his role and decreases the SV/TL workload which allows for:

3. Invest more time and effort in quality monitoring in your contact center and also utilize outside experts to perform these checks on a regular basis.

Training:
1. Soft Skills Training
2. Product Training

The only way to reduce escalations is by assuring your agents can make it clear to your customers that they are the best person within the whole organization to handle the customer's query.

When reaching out to a Contact Center – customers want to speak with and have their questions/issues resolved by a Customer Service Representative (CSR) who acts professionally – is easily understood - who is not a ‘script reader’ - and who is empowered to make this a “one call & done” experience.

Your CSRs will orient their work behavior to whatever it is you incentivize them to do. If your primary focus is on Cost Containment – and if you operate your Call Center as a “Cost Center” - then Average Speed of Answer (ASA), Average Handle Time (AHT), After Call Work Time (ACW), and Maximizing Calls per Agent per Hour are typically emphasized as your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

When a Call Center is focused on Cost Containment and Maximizing Calls per Agent per Hour – where Average Speed of Answer (ASA), Average Handle Time (AHT), After Call Work Time (ACW) adherence are emphasized as components of a 'pay for performance' program for the CSRs – then the Levels of Customer Satisfaction and First Call Resolution (FCR) suffer. The quality of After Call Work (ACW) typically deteriorates and is manifested by sketchy/inaccurate notes – lack of follow up – and poorer quality eMails/letters.

A tightly-scripted Call Center environment is typically found where the primary focus is on Cost Containment. In order to maximize Average Speed of Answer (ASA) - and minimize Average Handle Time (AHT) - Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are usually required to rigorously follow a script. A tightly-scripted Call Center environment is also sometimes determined by an Industry Sector: such as Financial Services/Insurance/Healthcare - or by a Client’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) for an Outsourcer.

An unscripted Call Center environment is typically found (and should be encouraged) where the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are Customer Satisfaction and First Call Resolution (FCR). That’s not to say that an unscripted Call Center environment shouldn’t employ training aids/general ideas/key phrases. Ideally these should form a framework of points upon which your CSRs drape their own personality and phraseology.

Scripted and unscripted call handling are discrete and different pursuits - requiring separate Personality/Job-Fit/Temperament Factors. Someone with the Intellect, Problem-Solving Skills & ‘Verbal Artistry’ to serve a caller in an unscripted fashion is rarely a good fit for a tightly-scripted Call Center environment.

Equally – it is rare for someone who performs well in a tightly-scripted Call Center to successfully make the transition to unscripted caller interactions.

Few people possess the ability to work successfully long-term in both a scripted and unscripted Call Center – and hiring the wrong CSR to begin with leads to Performance Issues associated with a higher % of Call Escalations - Lower Levels of Employee Engagement – and Higher Levels of Turnover.

Top performing Contact Centers drive their Revenue & Performance through superior hiring tactics. We help employers gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of Candidates would perform up to, or beyond their established standards. You can find out about a Free Trial of SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software at http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html