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Tips to reduce average handle time: III

1. Encourage agents to provide top- notch service:

Average handle time boosts up in cases where many customers are waiting on hold. Reasons responsible may be that agents get exhausted handling call after call and hence, slow down. This leads to customers’ dissatisfaction and hence frustration. Therefore, it needs to be dealt appropriately. One of the most efficacious method of doing so is to encourage agents to take breaks between calls and get refreshed from time to time.

Exhausted call center agents
Exhausted call center agents

2. Leverage call control:

Call control is a skill and can be taught to the customer support agents through specialized training. The nature of calls being received at a call center is heterogeneous. In other words, the content of a call may vary from customer to customer such that, while  some might come straight to the point, others might go into irrelevant details before they come to the reason for their call. Therefore, it is extremely important for agents to remain focused and encourage customers to get back to the real point. Call control is a skill and can be taught and trained.

Call control
Call control

3. Make the most out of experienced customer reps:

As a matter of fact, nothing can beat the real, on-ground experience. Therefore, processes should be established leveraging the inputs of the most experienced customer service agents. Valuable experience can actually let the newbies know about the popular shortcuts and workarounds to achieve a target. On the other hand, managers should identify those agents who have a low AHT and discover what tactics they employ. Thereafter, these agents should be held as role models and be encouraged to share practical tips with others so as to improve their efficacy as well.

Nothing beats experience
Nothing beats experience

4. Access AHT data carefully:

As mentioned earlier, the nature of calls being received at a call center is heterogeneous. A variety of calls can be encountered there like some deal with billing while others may be related to accounts or general queries. As a matter of fact, AHT for all these are different, and thus an agent’s performance should take into consideration the nature of call handled by him or her. Therefore, the result for AHT should be analyzed accordingly. Similarly, if the marketing strategies or management decisions change, the impact should be calculated accordingly.

Assessing average handle time
Assessing average handle time

 

 

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Tips to reduce average handle time: I

Average Handle Time (AHT) refers to a call center metric that calculates the average duration of contact between a customer and an agent. This includes both hold time and talk time.

The formula for calculating AHT is:

Average Handling Time = (Total talk time + Total hold time + Total wrap-up time) /Number of calls handled

A low AHT indicates a good performance, while a high AHT signifies that the call handling technique needs improvement. Here are some effective tips that help reduce the average handle time to a large extent:

Average handle time
Average handle time

1. Set up regular training sessions for customer support agents:

Customer support agents should have a thorough understanding of the company’s products and services so that they are able to contribute towards conversions and also resolve queries instantly. Agents should be trained at frequent intervals in order to help them reduce AHT. This training should include educating them about the usage of the contact center software and tools such as CRM and chat to ensure that the call is answered in the lowest time possible leaving the customer satisfied. Moreover the agents should also know whom to contact in case of any doubt and from where to extract any relevant information.

Training call center agents
Training call center agents

2. Record all inbound and outbound calls:

Recording every inbound and outbound call makes it easier to assess the productivity of an agent and other issues that might affect his or her output. This can also be helpful in case managers are not able to review calls in real time such that they can always refer to the recorded version and get the desired insights. Moreover these calls can be leveraged to train the customer support agents and improve their performance. Making them listen to some of the good examples of calls wherein the customer’s problem was resolved and the handling time was less can help them learn valuable tactics for reducing AHT.

Call recording
Call recording

3. Tailor agents’ workflow and processes:

Tailoring agents’ workflow and productivity can help optimize their productivity. Managers should work hard to spot inefficiencies and work out strategies to eliminate them thereafter. One of the best method of doing this is automating all their manual tasks so as to minimize their busy time and hence reduce AHT.

Automating manual tasks
Automating manual tasks