Do your super high Quality scores really reflect stellar performance — or are they hiding deeper problems?
This article is part of our Contact Center Management Series — a collection of articles that bring together practical guidance and insights to help Contact Centers run better and deliver stronger results.
I Often Tell This Story in Quality Assurance Classes
A client flew me in to help them improve their service to their Customers. And they had an intriguing issue.
Their internal Quality scores were so high — 94.178 — that they had to calculate to three decimal places just to differentiate ‘top’ performers from the rest.
They laughed as they showed me the scores, realizing the absurdity of measuring Customer interactions to three decimal places just to differentiate their top performers.
We labeled the problem as grade inflation, similar to the ‘too generous’ scoring that can be seen in some academic institutions.
And grade inflation does no favors for your Team.
Because the moment someone hears they scored 95%+ that’s it. You can’t expect them to rethink their communication. Or work harder to ‘sound’ better.
They perceive (correctly I’d say) that they’re already good. Which blocks further development.
And consider Customers. Is a 95%+ call really that good from a Customer perspective?
Would you feel confident presenting one of your 95%+ calls to your CEO as an example of excellence?
If the answer is no — and most people tell me no at this point — we realize our stellar scores are masking deeper issues.
Our people aren’t improving. And the service experience for Customers isn’t improving either.
Here’s What We Did
The first step was to deliver some practical Customer Service workshops for Managers, focusing on communication behaviors and their Customer impact.
Post-workshop, it was easy for the Team to craft their Service Vision, refine their performance standards and even weight some of the important Customer behaviors higher — such as empathy and problem-solving.
They Handled Change Leadership Well
Of course, lowering scores created its own challenge — people don’t like seeing their numbers drop. When the old 93.887 became the new 72% that meant some change leadership work with the Agents mattered.
Because that’s a big transition on how people feel about the work they do.
Within six months, their Customer Satisfaction jumped.
To the point where the CEO heard about it and invited the Center Manager into a board meeting to share the story of what they had done.
High Quality Scores Don’t Mean Much if You Measure the Wrong Things
Sure — you can’t manage what you don’t measure. But you can’t improve performance if you’re measuring the wrong things.
Don’t let inflated scores lull you into a false sense of security.
Revisit your quality behaviors regularly to ensure they truly reflect the quality of your Customer’s experience.
And maybe sleep better at night.
Thank You for Reading
I regularly share stories, strategies, and insights from our work across Contact Centers, Customer Service, and Customer Experience. If this resonates, I’d love to stay connected.
You can drop me a line anytime, or subscribe on our site.
Daniel Ord
[email protected]
www.omnitouchinternational.com
