Beyond the SLA: Why XLAs Are the Future of Customer Experience in Contact Centers

I read this article in CustomerThink, titled “Escaping the Bot Trap: Why Contact Centers Must Become Experience Hubs.”

It argues that contact centers are stuck in a cycle of chasing efficiency over empathy. I have been part of multiple discussions where I have heard CX leaders focus excessively on cutting costs and deflecting complaints.

Besides, they argue that this is the only way the customer experience (CX) function can be run.

This article in CustomerThink nicely calls out this trend, saying that many businesses have lost sight of what really matters, which is the quality of the customer experience.

Let’s examine the typical metrics commonly discussed in a contact center environment.

I have been hearing about average handling time (AHT) and containment rates for more than 20 years now. They remain the focus of contact centers even today.

While these metrics make sense in certain scenarios and may also result in reduced costs, they often leave customers frustrated and agents demoralized. The result is that you have to deal with customer churn.

To address this, the article proposes redefining how success is measured, shifting from Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to Experience Level Agreements (XLAs).

While SLAs focus on process, XLAs focus on outcomes.

XLAs are the focus of this article, and we will look at how XLAs can be effectively implemented in a contact center.

Why SLAs Alone Aren’t Enough

Here are a couple of statements we should look at:

• A call answered in 10 seconds doesn’t matter if the customer still hangs up frustrated.
• A bot that contains the issue successfully but makes the user feel stuck or misunderstood is a brand liability.

What do you think of these two statements?

Aren’t they the current reality in most contact centers?

Though contact centers have a feedback loop, most frustrated customers don’t take the time to leave feedback for you to act on. They simply move on to another provider.

Let us look at a traditional SLA

Answer 80% of calls in 20 seconds.

What does this do?

It measures outputs like speed.

This is an easy-to-game metric. Agents rush, and customers repeat and get frustrated.

Now, let us look at the experience-focused XLA.

90% of callers feel heard and leave a positive sentiment score.

It measures outcomes like emotion, loyalty, and effort.

It is harder to game. It requires genuine resolution and empathy.

In essence, SLAs keep the lights on, whereas XLAs make customers stay. 

Now that we have discussed XLA in some detail, let’s take a moment to define it.

What Is an XLA?

An XLA is a reimagined service agreement that puts customer-perceived value at the center, quantifying outcomes such as satisfaction, effort, and sentiment, in addition to operational outputs.

How to Implement XLAs in a Contact Center?

Start with Journey Mapping

Identify key moments in the customer journey that carry high emotional stakes, such as billing errors, complaints, cancellations, failed deliveries, or disputes related to fraud.

These are where you implement experience benchmarks.

Conduct cross-functional workshops with agents, supervisors, and customers.

Translate Emotions Into Measurable Metrics

You must select 3 to 5 experience-focused metrics based on your business and its operational model.

Some of the examples include:

• Post-interaction CSAT (customer satisfaction score)
• CES (customer effort score)
• Sentiment score from speech and text analytics
• FCR (first contact resolution)
• Agent eNPS (employee net promoter score)

Use AI-driven voice or chat sentiment tools to measure tone, emotion, and stress levels during interactions.

Set Realistic and Stretch XLAs

• 85% of interactions end with positive or neutral sentiment
• 90% of customers say it was easy to get their issue resolved
• Less than 5% of issues escalate after initial contact

These targets should evolve in line with customer expectations and should not be based solely on internal process capabilities.

Build Dashboards That Connect XLAs and SLAs

SLAs and XLAs will have to live together. Use SLAs to support XLAs.

Maintain SLAs for hygiene (e.g., uptime, abandonment ≤ 5%), but make XLAs the north star for bonuses, vendor scorecards, and product roadmaps.

A real-time dashboard might show:

• Average wait time (SLA)
• Positive sentiment percentage (XLA)
• Agent empathy score (XLA)
• First contact resolution (XLA)

Dashboards should show how SLA performances nudge XLA outcomes.

Coach and Empower Agents

Train agents to own the experience. Empower them to:

• Go off-script when needed
• Escalate proactively
• Slow down to listen

Utilize real interaction data and scenario-based coaching based on XLA performance, rather than just call duration.

Use XLAs in Vendor Management

If you work with outsourced contact centers, make XLAs part of your contacts.

Instead of just tracking how fast the BPO picks up calls, track how often those calls end in resolutions and satisfaction. Incentivize vendors based on experience, and not just efficiency.

Real-World Examples

Let us look at various scenarios and understand the differences between SLA output and XLA outcomes.

Scenario 1: E-commerce returns desk

SLA: 90% of refund calls answered in under 30 seconds.

XLA: 88% of callers report that the issues were fully resolved, and they felt understood. Your NPS scores will drastically improve.

Scenario 2: Telecom outage

SLA: Agents must close issues in less than 6 minutes.

XLA: CES less than 2, and 80% of customers receive a proactive status update within 15 minutes.

Scenario 3: Digital bank fraud chat

SLA: Chatbot containment 40%

XLA: Sentiment score greater than 4/5 after fraud case. Automatic human takeover when sentiment dips below neutral

Scenario 4: Loan dispute

SLA: 80% calls answered in 30 seconds

XLA: 85% callers reported “I felt understood” in the post-call survey.

In a world saturated with AI, bots, and templated interactions, experience is the last true differentiator.

Naturally, you would want that to be a differentiator.

So, stop measuring customer experience like a factory floor. Customers don’t remember how fast the call connected, but they remember how it made them feel.

Don’t chase handle times when your customers are chasing empathy. It’s time for you to upgrade your mindset and build an experience hub that your customers and agents deserve.