What Is Call Scoring? How It Helps In Improving Agents Performance

What-is-Call-Scoring
It is quite interesting to know that with a consistent increase in customer expectations, organisations are struggling to find ways to measure and maintain service quality. Providing the best customer support is important for every business, differentiating call centres from competitors. If you are running a call centre, your agents must be at their best when dealing with customers. It will lead to top-notch customer service and satisfied clients. Call scoring is one of the best ways to maintain customer service and improve call agents’ performance over time.

Let’s understand what call scoring is, how it works, and how you can improve your agent’s performance.

What Is Call Scoring?

Call scoring evaluates phone call data against a predefined set of standards and then gives it a score. The main purpose is to evaluate and score customer service agents. It is usually used as a tool for call centres, but it is also effective for sales and marketing teams. You can evaluate your agents while on the call with customers; it will allow you to bring the quality of calls to your organisation’s standards. According to research, 64% of businesses use call scoring to record customers’ feedback. 

Call scoring not only helps you identify issues and problems, but it will also help in finding the strengths and working on them to improve customer service. 

Several methods are used for call scoring; the following are some of them:

  • Automated call rating systems
  • Real-time call monitoring 
  • Analysing call records 

The choice of method usually depends on the number of call agents you want to monitor.

Best Practices For Contact Centre Call Scoring

It is important to use appropriate call monitoring criteria to ensure that your call-scoring methods are effective. Call scoring criteria help you ensure that you evaluate your agents fairly. This type of objective assessment guideline allows you to compare agents with one another and identify areas where additional practice or development programs may be beneficial. This method allows for a thorough evaluation, leading to a better understanding of agent performance. 

In addition, to call scoring criteria, key performance indicators (KPIs) serve as another valuable tool for evaluating agent performance. KPIs provide measurable metrics that help gauge individual and team achievements, highlighting areas of strength and areas that require improvement.

Here are some best practices of call scoring that you can use to improve the performance of your call centre agents:

1. Establish Clear and Specific Criteria

Define detailed criteria that align with your organisation’s objectives and customer service standards. Clearly outline Expectations for call handling, customer interaction, problem resolution, and other relevant factors.

2. Train Evaluators

Ensure those responsible for scoring calls are well-trained and thoroughly understand the criteria. Consistency and accuracy in evaluations are vital, so invest in proper training and calibration sessions for evaluators.

3. Regular Monitoring and Feedback

Implement a consistent monitoring system to observe agents’ performance regularly. Provide timely feedback to agents, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. Constructive feedback can motivate agents and guide them toward better performance.

4. Establish a Supportive Environment

Create a supportive culture where agents feel comfortable seeking help and sharing their challenges. Encourage open communication and provide ongoing training and development resources to help agents improve their skills.

5. Use Technology Effectively

Leverage call recording and monitoring tools to capture and review interactions objectively. Analyse data and metrics from these tools to gain insights into agent performance trends and identify areas that require attention.

6. Set Achievable Targets

Establish realistic performance targets and goals for your agents. It helps to drive their motivation and focus while providing a benchmark for evaluating their progress.

7. Training and Development Opportunities

Offer training sessions and programs tailored to individual agent needs. These initiatives can help agents strengthen their skills, boost confidence, and enhance performance.

8. Recognize and Reward Achievements

Implement a recognition and rewards program to acknowledge and celebrate agent accomplishments. Positive reinforcement and incentives can boost morale and encourage continued excellence.

Remember, the goal is to create an environment that supports continuous improvement and empowers agents to deliver exceptional customer experiences. You can drive agent performance and elevate your call centre operations by implementing effective scoring methods, providing targeted feedback, and nurturing their development.

How Can You Use Call Scoring In The Best Ways?

Here are some tips to make the best use of call scoring and improve your customer satisfaction.

i. Predict and React To Your Callers Needs

In addition to enhancing customer experience, call monitoring provides valuable insights into callers’ needs. By utilising real-time call monitoring, you can observe how customers respond to different agents and communication techniques, allowing you to identify the most effective approaches.

Most VoIP providers offer real-time call monitoring features that offer a seamless experience. You can listen to calls without interrupting agents or callers, gaining valuable information while remaining discreet. Moreover, a whisper function allows you to provide suggestions to agents without the caller’s knowledge, ensuring a smooth conversation.

You can join calls and interact with the agent and the caller if assistance is required. This feature lets you provide immediate support when needed, fostering effective problem resolution and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Call scoring helps improve customer experience and serves as a brainstorming tool. By reviewing calls with your agents, you can analyse conversations step-by-step, identifying areas for improvement and finding solutions to enhance future interactions.

Furthermore, call monitoring allows you to assess the impact of agent fatigue on call quality. By listening to agents’ calls throughout the day, you can understand how fatigue may affect their performance and collaborate with them to find strategies for maintaining high-quality interactions.

Overall, call monitoring offers a wealth of benefits beyond customer experience enhancement. It provides valuable insights, fosters collaboration, and enables proactive measures to optimise agent performance, improving overall call centre operations.

ii. Encourage A Healthy Competition Among Your Agents

Call scoring can create healthy competition among your agents, leading to an overall improvement in performance. Recognizing and rewarding agents who achieve the best scores encourages them to strive for excellence and continuously enhance their performance.

Rewarding agents for their outstanding performance boosts confidence and a sense of accomplishment. This positive reinforcement inspires them to consistently deliver their best and go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer support.

Engaging in call scoring and competition can also stimulate agents’ creativity and encourage them to think innovatively about providing top-notch customer service. They may develop new approaches, techniques, or problem-solving strategies that elevate the customer experience.

By transforming call monitoring into a friendly competition, everyone benefits. Agents are motivated to excel, customers receive exceptional service, and your overall customer satisfaction levels rise. It creates a positive and dynamic work environment where agents are driven to improve their skills and provide outstanding support continuously.

Remember, fostering competition through call scoring aims to achieve high scores and create a culture of continuous improvement and excellence. By recognizing and rewarding exceptional performance, you inspire your agents to consistently strive for greatness, resulting in happier customers and a thriving call center.

What Are The Benefits Of Call Scoring?

benefits of call scoring

One often overlooked benefit of a robust scoring strategy is the alignment it can bring between sales and marketing teams. Surprisingly, research reveals that many sales and marketing teams are not adequately aligned. According to data from Zoominfo, only 8% of companies have achieved alignment between their sales and marketing departments. However, the advantages are substantial for companies aligning their revenue operations successfully.

When sales and marketing teams are aligned, it creates a unified front that works towards common goals. Collaboration and communication improve, leading to a more seamless and efficient workflow. By aligning their efforts, sales and marketing teams can leverage each other’s strengths, share valuable insights, and align their messaging to ensure consistency throughout the customer journey.

Some significant benefits of call scoring include the following: 

  • Increased lead generation 
  • Improved sales productivity 
  • Better revenue 
  • Fast company growth 
  • Enhanced customer satisfaction 
  • Shortened sales cycle 

When your sales and marketing teams are strategically aligned around the same lead-generation goals, you will see a tremendous boost in productivity across the company.

How To Use VoIP To Improve Call Scoring?

To enhance call scoring using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), ensure a reliable and high-quality VoIP service is in place to minimize call disruptions. Implement call recording features within the VoIP system to capture conversations for later analysis. Utilize advanced analytics tools to assess key performance indicators such as call duration, customer sentiment, and agent script adherence. Additionally, leverage real-time monitoring capabilities offered by VoIP platforms to provide immediate feedback to agents during calls. Integrating VoIP data with customer relationship management (CRM) systems can also provide a holistic view of customer interactions, facilitating more accurate call scoring. Regularly review and update scoring criteria based on the insights gained from VoIP analytics, leading to continuous improvement in call quality and customer satisfaction.

Conclusion - Call Scoring

Call scoring is a powerful tool that can greatly contribute to the success of a call centre or any customer-centric organisation. By evaluating phone call data against predefined criteria, call scoring enables assessing agent performance and identifying areas for improvement. It maintains service quality, enhances customer satisfaction, and drives business growth.

Implementing call scoring best practices, such as establishing clear criteria, training evaluators, providing regular monitoring and feedback, creating a supportive environment, and utilising technology effectively, ensures a comprehensive and fair evaluation process. Additionally, setting achievable targets, offering training and development opportunities, and recognizing agent achievements foster a culture of continuous improvement and motivation.

Call scoring goes beyond improving customer experience. It can also align sales and marketing teams, bridging gaps and fostering collaboration for common goals. When these teams work together seamlessly, it leads to increased lead generation, improved sales productivity, better revenue, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

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