Being a contact center team leader involves overseeing and managing agents, which is no easy task given the challenges in the customer service industry. High turnover rates and a lack of excitement from agents towards their roles often hinder accountability.  

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Utilizing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that matter most to your teams and organization offer a solution by enhancing accountability in day-to-day operations. This article delves into how monitoring and measuring these KPIs can bolster accountability.

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Importance of Accountability in Your Contact Center

Accountability encompasses various aspects such as adhering to policies, delivering exceptional customer service, meeting performance goals, and enhancing overall customer experience. However, many call center and contact center agents struggle to take ownership of their actions, leading to issues in service quality and compliance. Inspiring and motivating your team is crucial, but understanding the root cause of accountability issues is equally vital.

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Without accountability, agents may neglect tasks like adhering to call scripts and data regulations like GDPR, impacting customer interactions negatively. Yet, fostering accountability within your team presents its own set of challenges.

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Enhance Accountability with Personalized Performance Metrics

Performance metrics are essential for evaluating agents' effectiveness in the customer service environment. Here are some popular Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that provide valuable insights into performance:

• Average Handle Time (AHT): Measures the average duration of customer interactions, including talk time, hold time, and after-call work.
• Service Level: Indicates the percentage of calls answered within a specific timeframe, reflecting the efficiency of your team in addressing customer needs promptly.
• Transfer Rate: Tracks the frequency at which calls are transferred to other departments or agents, highlighting potential communication or training gaps.
• Average Speed to Answer (ASA): Represents the average time it takes for calls to be answered by an agent, reflecting responsiveness and efficiency in managing incoming calls.
• Abandoned Rate: Reflects the percentage of callers who hang up before reaching an agent, as well as calls that are missed due to high call volume. Agents benefit from seeing this metric to understand the impact of missed calls on overall customer experience and workload distribution.  
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Surveys customers to assess their satisfaction with the service received, providing direct feedback on agent performance and customer experience.

Tracking these metrics offers visibility into your team's accountability, ensuring that they align with customer satisfaction goals. In fact, two-thirds of companies surveyed by Genesys in the “State of customer experience” report list customer satisfaction as the most important CX metric, emphasizing the crucial role of agent performance in delivering exceptional customer experiences.

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Utilize KPI Insights for Training and Coaching

KPI productivity metrics not only highlight accountability issues but also guide training initiatives. Identify agents who require additional support and tailor coaching programs accordingly. These metrics serve as benchmarks, facilitating targeted improvements in agent performance.

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Utilizing KPI productivity metrics transcends mere accountability; it illuminates the path for tailored training initiatives. By identifying agents in need of extra support, we can customize coaching programs to elevate their performance, using these metrics as benchmarks for targeted improvement. - Michele Cuchra, Director of Customer Success, Brightmetrics

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Communicate KPIs to Your Team

Before implementing accountability measures, it's essential to communicate the chosen KPIs to your team. This ensures everyone understands expectations and the significance of productivity tracking.  

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While regular meetings with team leaders to discuss goals and KPIs are important for clarity, agents shouldn't solely rely on these interactions to gauge their performance. Providing agents with the right tools facilitates self-management, empowering them to track their progress independently and take ownership of their performance.

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Track and Visualize Agent Performance

Invest in robust analytic and reporting solutions, like Brightmetrics, for comprehensive performance tracking. Real-time analytics and intuitive visualizations pinpoint areas of concern, allowing prompt intervention.  

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Additional features such as Agent Balanced Scorecards easily visualize performance progress and identify coaching needs. These scorecards can be scheduled to go directly to the agent, or agents can have access to a real-time dashboard. This empowers agents to monitor their performance live and make necessary adjustments, ensuring proactive management rather than reactive responses.  

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Encourage Accountability Through Goal Setting

Set individual goals based on insights from productivity metrics. For instance, if AHT reveals prolonged call handling, delve deeper to understand the underlying reasons. Is it a training issue or a lack of accountability? By addressing root causes, you can steer agents toward greater accountability and performance improvement.

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Continuous Monitoring is Key

Enhancing accountability is an ongoing process that demands consistent monitoring. Even top-performing agents may falter without oversight. Regularly review KPI metrics to identify trends and address emerging issues promptly. Use tools like scheduled reporting to maintain communication channels open and encourage self-management within your team.  

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Changing Your Agents’ Perspective On Accountability

Accountability is key to fostering a high-performing contact center team. Productivity metrics not only highlight accountability gaps but also drive long-term performance improvements. By leveraging insights from KPIs, you can nurture a culture of responsibility and excellence within your team.  

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Personalizing KPIs to individual agents and continuously monitoring their progress promotes a sense of ownership and commitment to improvement. This proactive approach reinforces the importance of accountability and empowers agents to strive for excellence consistently.

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Learn more about improving your team’s accountability with Brightmetrics.

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