If you go back a bit, you will find a bad impression in your mind about a company’s customer service, to the point that you can leave the product or service with its flaws and problems, to have mercy on yourself from communicating with customer service. This was the prevailing impression at the time because there was not enough awareness among company managers of the importance of having a professional customer service team, and there were no standards used in the call center as it is now.

 

Now, with the development in the field of customer service and the call center, the direction of competition has changed radically, after the interest was focused only in developing the product or service and prices, customer service has become a large part of this concern. To successfully perform this task, the call center uses a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (internal link) that measure different aspects of the call center.

 

Call centers have spread and become famous, and the rope has become mixed up, and everyone can no longer distinguish between centers that provide high quality, and achieve positive results in your business, and other centers that do not have the experience, knowledge, or skill to achieve these results; So, in this article, I have prepared for you the most important international standards used in the call center and customer service.

 

1- The Quality of the Communication

It is a common metric used in all professional call centers, and it measures the extent of the center representative’s success in dealing with customers. This measure comes from the call center’s quality control team, where they choose and analyze a random sample of call recordings, to evaluate the center’s representative in several matters, such as: his interaction with customers, professionalism, tact, accuracy of information, and other things.

 

The center adopts a list of criteria aimed at giving a high-quality customer experience (internal link). Calls from the center’s representatives are analyzed and points are scored based on the list of criteria set by the customer service center. This measurement helps develop and raise competencies within the call center.

 

 

2- Customers Satisfaction

This criterion focuses on measuring the extent of customers’ satisfaction with their experience with customer service or the company’s services in general. The goal is not only to measure customer satisfaction, but to know the improvements and developments involved in gaining customer loyalty. This metric provides a strong indicator for companies of how efficient their call center is.

 

Although there is no universal measurement method for measuring customer satisfaction, there are some common practices that allow call centers to perform this task successfully. These practices differ from one center to another according to the experiments they conducted and the accuracy of the results obtained from one experiment without another, but in the end, he is keen to give an accurate and clear result.

 

One of the most popular strategies used in this metric is the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) survey after the call. Also common practice is: Survey given by e-mail after the call, and customers are asked to answer questions with a numerical rating (1 to 5, or 1 to 10). There are call centers that use survey tools, such as: Net Promoter Score (NPS®).

 

 

3- First Call

It is the percentage of issues resolved during the first call, and it is one of the most important criteria used in a call center because it plays an important role in reducing customer bounce rate. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and imagine how you would feel about the company if the customer service representative solved your problem the first time, and how would you feel if the problem was not resolved after the first contact? It may not even be resolved after the second or third contact!

 

According to SQM Group statistics, 38% of clients whose problem is not resolved after the first call have terminated their dealings with the company, and this is a very large percentage of clients that the company loses if their problem is not resolved the first time. Undoubtedly, speed in solving problems is the most effective route to customer service, and relying on the first call criterion tells you exactly how well you are able to do so.

 

 

4- Availability of Calls

This criterion gives you an accurate breakdown of the time customers take to wait for a response from customer service reps, and gives you a report of the time used to resolve issues during a call, so you’ll know if your customer service reps are sticking to their schedule. In addition, you can specify peak hours in receiving calls, so that you can adjust the staff schedule to match the increasing demand from customers.

 

 

5- The Level of Service

Sometimes known as response time, it is the percentage of calls answered within a certain time period (this time period is calculated in seconds), and a call center manager has stated that he aims to answer 80% of calls within 20 seconds. That is, it strives to achieve this level of service.

 

Service Level aims to measure how easy it is for customers to access your customer service, so this criterion will show you if your team has sufficient resources and skills to meet customer needs in a timely manner, or needs additional resources or training to increase efficiency. Service level is a clear indicator of the customer experience as they try to reach your call center, the faster the response, the higher the service levels.

 

 

 

Finally.. the standards used in the call center are many and varied according to what suits each company and its activity, but I have mentioned to you the most important standards that you should not neglect while dealing with the customer service representatives team. Please share the article with your friends, and tell us your opinions and questions in the comments.

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