“More than 65% of contact centers keep Quality Management as part of their top 3 KPIs” -8x8
Quality assurance has become a key part of operating a call center. Implementing a framework that monitors customer interactions is critical to increase customer satisfaction.
The rise of automated quality management software has created multiple questions on how to create a quality framework for your call center. In today's blog, let's learn how to create a robust quality assurance (QA) framework.
Before we look at the work involved in creating a QA process, let's understand the role of quality assurance in a call center.
What is Quality Assurance in a Call Center?
Quality assurance (QA) refers to the processes involved in analyzing agent performance on the basis of their interactions with customers.
There are many ways to evaluate agent performance. Some call centers use a manual quality management process while others implement an automatic QA framework.
While there are a lot of differences between manual and automatic QA processes, it is a conversation for another day.
Now that we've seen the role of quality assurance, let's look at its importance in a call center.
Why are Quality Assurance Frameworks Important?
While some of the ways that quality assurance can benefit call centers are important, there are some hidden benefits as well. Let's look at each of these benefits one after the other.
1. Evaluate agent performance
Quality assurance is the best way to measure agent performance. Since the aim is to evaluate every customer-agent interaction, it is easy to understand how well each agent is performing.
Apart from agent performance, if every agent is found not to meet quality standards, it can also be understood that there's a problem in experience delivery.
2. Identify agent training opportunities
When an agent's interactions are put to review, it can be easy to understand what are the different areas that they need to be trained in. When quality management is combined with an effective agent training solution, it boosts overall call center operations.
3. Improve the customer experience
Quality assurance is one of the best ways to understand what is missing to provide an excellent customer experience. If there are any common elements that are found missing across interactions of different agents, it shows an underlying problem.
If your organization wants to keep customers satisfied, the current operational methodologies should change. Only then can agents keep all customers satisfied.
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Now that we've seen the importance of QA, let's look at creating the best quality assurance framework for your call center.
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How to Create a Relevant Quality Assurance Framework in Your Call Center?
These are the different elements that are part of creating a quality assurance framework. Let's go over them one after the other.
1. Define your expected outcomes from your QA framework
Every organization has a different outcome they're expecting from their QA process. It's essential to define the different customer satisfaction metrics your organization wants to track and improve.
For the QA framework to move forward, all these objectives need to be defined and set in stone. An arrow needs to have a target before it can be fired.
2. Create a plan of action
Once the various metrics and objectives have been determined, the next step is to develop a plan of action. These strategies are used to reach the objectives decided on earlier.
A completed QA plan covers how to measure agent efficiency, how they'll be trained, and what goals they should focus on.
3. Implement the QA strategy
Once the strategy development is over, it's now time to implement it.
Implementation requires agents to be trained and informed of the new quality standards. Agents will need time to follow the new structure. Since agents are the only people involved in implementation, quality specialists need to be informed of the new workflow.
4. Re-evaluate your framework
A few months after the new plan has been put in place, it needs to be measured for success.
The company should analyze whether the required objectives have been met. Agent feedback should be taken into consideration.
Keeping all this in mind, it's time to modify it to become more efficient or change it completely if there are new goals.
These modifications are then followed for a certain amount of time. After that, it is to be repeated again based on the final analysis.
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Now you've learned how to develop a robust quality assurance framework.
Ensuring Your Quality Assurance Framework is Updated
The best way to keep your call center's quality management relevant in these changing times is by constant re-evaluation and updating. Apart from merely revising QA frameworks, it's also essential to use the best software to help your agents reach their potential.
If your call center is finding it a struggle to manage the huge influx of customer conversations with a manual team, it's better to invest in relevant software. Today's automated quality assurance software helps implement your framework in the best way possible.
If you're interested to know more, it's best to see it in action.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the major 4 steps in every quality assurance framework?
The major steps in a quality assurance framework are plan, do, check, and act. It translates as creating a plan, following it, analyzing its impact, and then changing it accordingly.
2. What is a quality assurance framework in customer service?
A QA framework refers to how a business implements the quality assurance process in its call center.
3. How is quality assurance measured in a call center?
Quality assurance is measured by various customer satisfaction metrics such as average handle time, first call resolution, and customer satisfaction scores.
