Building a World-Class Quality Assurance Program

1 Contact Center QA Guide: Building a World-Class Quality Assurance Program Sponsored by: About DMG Consulting LLC DMG Consulting LLC is the leading analyst firm in the contact center and analytics markets. We are a strategic advisor to companies large and small. Our mission is to help companies build effective contact center and service environments that provide an outstanding customer experience. We achieve this goal by helping our clients leverage technology, process and people to optimize operational efficiency, sales and profits. Our actionable strategies and tactics effect change that enable companies to make strategic and tactical improvements with a rapid return on investment. Our customers include Global 2000 companies, government agencies, non profit organizations, and more than 150 contact center and analytics vendors. DMG Consulting LLC's business strategists have an average of 20 years experience in customer experience management (CEM), customer relationship management (CRM), contact centers, Building customer focused businesses and financial analysis.

2 We understand the power of customer data and the contributions that Quality management, recording, speech analytics, performance management, surveying, eLearning, coaching and workforce management systems make to the contact center and the entire enterprise. Our consulting experience with more than 2000 end user organizations and our hands . on operational, technology and financial expertise give us deep insight into what customers want and need from enterprises and vendors. All rights reserved. This report is protected by United States copyright law and may not be copied, reproduced, displayed, published, transmitted or distributed in whole or in part in any form or medium without the express written permission of DMG Consulting LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from this report. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of DMG Consulting LLC is prohibited.

3 Substantial effort went into verifying and validating the accuracy of the information contained within this Report, however, DMG Consulting LLC makes no warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. DMG Consulting LLC is not liable for any damages, consequential or otherwise, arising from use of this information. Copyright 2009 DMG Consulting LLC 2009 DMG Consulting LLC -i- April 2009. All rights reserved. Table of Contents Executive Summary ..1. 1. Introduction ..2. 2. What is Contact Center Quality Assurance ? ..3. 3. Quality Assurance Program Benefits ..6. 4. Components of a QA 7. 5. Getting Started ..10. Creating a Quality Assurance Leadership Team .. 15. Staffing QA Positions ..16. Implementation 6. Developing a QA Evaluation Form .. 21. Form QA Evaluation Form Assigning Weights to QA Evaluation Forms ..26. 27.

4 Example QA Evaluation Forms ..29. 7. Quality Assurance Monitoring Criteria and Guidelines ..48. Quality Monitoring Criteria and Guidelines ..48. Why are Quality Monitoring Criteria and Guidelines Necessary? ..49. 8. What is Calibration?..50. Benefits of 51. The Calibration Process ..52. 9. Quality Assurance Program Mechanics and Processes ..54. Transaction Selection Determining the Number and Frequency of Evaluations .. 55. Coaching ..56. Evaluation Feedback and Escalation Process ..58. Ongoing Training ..59. Addressing Agent Performance Rewards and Recognition ..63. Updating 2009 DMG Consulting LLC - ii - April 2009. All rights reserved. Monitoring Quality Assurance Reporting .. 67. QA Database .. 74. 10. Kicking Off the QA Program .. 75. Agent Training .. 76. QA Program Pilot .. 78. 11. Advanced Quality Assurance Initiatives .. 79.

5 Surveying .. 79. Customer Experience Monitoring .. 79. First Call Resolution (FCR)..80. 12. Quality Management/Liability Recording Suites ..81. Appendix A: Procedure Format Sample ..85. Appendix B: Policy Format Sample ..88. 2009 DMG Consulting LLC - iii - April 2009. All rights reserved. Table of Figures Figure 1: Quality Assurance Process ..5 Figure 2: Quality Assurance Program Development Figure 3: QA Implementation Roadmap ..19 Figure 4: Common Quality Evaluation Form Sections/Categories ..24 Figure 5: Financial Services Customer Service QA Evaluation Form ..30 Figure 6: Healthcare Customer Service QA Evaluation Figure 7: Technical Support QA Evaluation Form ..38 Figure 8: Sample Customer Service Quality Monitoring Figure 9: New Order Precision Quality Monitoring Figure 10: The Calibration 53 Figure 11: Coaching Methods ..56 Figure 12: Average Contact Center QA Score: December 67 Figure 13:Contact Center Average Scores by Evaluation Section: December Figure 14: Average Scores by Evaluation Question: December 70 Figure 15: Average QA Scores by Agent: December 72 Figure 16: QA Scores by Agent by Evaluation: December 72 Figure 17: Average QA Scores by Agent by Category: December 2008.

6 73 Figure 18: QA Agent Training 76 Figure 19: Workforce Optimization Suites ..82 2009 DMG Consulting LLC - iv - April 2009. All rights reserved. Executive Summary Contact center Quality Assurance (QA) is an ongoing business activity that provides valuable insights into agent, customer and contact center service delivery performance and opportunities. The primary goal of any QA Program is to verify and ensure that a company's ter QA Guide contact center services are being performed in a manner that meets or exceeds internal requirements and customer expectations. At a fundamental level, QA programs measure how well agents comply with internal policies and procedures and interact with customers in phone, email and chat sessions. The more advanced QA programs go well beyond these basics. They combine the results of customer satisfaction surveys with internal measurements to provide a 360 degree view of the customer experience.

7 Well designed and effective QA programs demonstrate a company's commitment to its customers and agents, Contac t Cennter and are essential for Building world class contact centers. This Guide is a cookbook for Building a strong, effective and well received QA Program . It is ideal for managers and supervisors in contact centers of any size who are either Building their first Quality Assurance Program or want to enhance an existing Program . 2009 DMG Consulting LLC -1- April 2009. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Quality Assurance isn't an option for contact centers; it's essential for the success of the contact center, customer and agent satisfaction, improving agent and supervisor productivity and effectiveness, and keeping management in touch with their staff's performance. To achieve the best ter QA Guide results and foster confidence in the Program , managers must ensure that they are evaluating the right components of agent performance during customer interactions and using appropriate measurements and weights.

8 Building an effective QA Program is an iterative, multi step process that requires senior management support, planning and input, and buy in from all levels of contact center staff. Automation is helpful for formalizing, standardizing and institutionalizing the initiative, but QA a Program will succeed only if the staff is on board and believes in its value. nter Contac t Cen 2009 DMG Consulting LLC -2- April 2009. All rights reserved. 2. What is Contact Center Quality Assurance ? Contact center Quality Assurance , also known as Quality Management (QM), is a process where managers, supervisors and QA specialists monitor and evaluate how well agents handle customer transactions. The monitoring process includes a simultaneous review of a call and the system screens used to handle the interaction. (If QA is being done on an email or a chat session, it will review just the servicing screens and the content of the agent's response.)

9 QA can be done in a ter QA Guide real time mode where the supervisor or QA specialist live monitors calls. For live monitoring QA, reviewers can either access calls through their automatic call distributor (ACD) technology, or can sit next to agents and watch and evaluate them as they handle calls. QA is often performed on recorded transactions. There are pros and cons to both live monitoring and using recorded transactions. When live monitoring, the QA specialist/supervisor can provide immediate feedback to the agent. This can nter become an effective coaching opportunity, as the feedback is provided in real time when the call is still fresh in the agent's mind. On the other hand, doing QA from recorded transactions allows an organization to schedule calls, making the process more efficient for the reviewer. It allows QA Contac t Cen specialists/supervisors to find interactions that require their attention, either because they are really good or really bad, instead of wasting time on satisfactory calls.

10 It allows the reviewer to be able to carefully review the interaction/screens, including the ability to go back and re review a portion of the interaction. And, lastly, it is an anonymous process, so agents are not aware that they are being evaluated and will not necessarily be on their best behavior. When doing QA, the reviewer completes an evaluation form that measures how the agent handled each component of the call or online transaction. The form can be on paper or part of a QA system. The fundamental purpose of QA programs is to measure how well agents adhere to contact center departmental policies and procedures. Contact/call center managers have traditionally live monitored or listened to recorded interactions in order to gauge agent performance and internally evaluate the customer experience. To be effective, the Program should be a formalized ongoing process designed to: 2009 DMG Consulting LLC -3- April 2009.