Quality Assurance Will Help Keep Your Call Center from Sounding like a Bad Sitcom

My aunt had to undergo cataract surgery, and she had a check-up with the ophthalmologist, and they agreed on a date. The Doctor told her to check out the rest of the details with his front office staff regarding the type of lenses, cost, and the timing of the surgery.

She asked me to help with this process.

I picked up the phone, called the hospital front office, gave them the patient’s name and number, and gave them a background on the surgery to be done. I wanted to know the timing of the surgery.

The first person I spoke to said that only when she knows what lens we are choosing will she be able to confirm the cost and then the timing of the surgery.

I said, fair enough. Can you tell me the options available?

She repeated, “No, only when I know the lens you are choosing, I can tell you the cost of the surgery.”

I said, please help me with the choices, and I will choose.

That’s when she transferred me to an optometrist, and I had to repeat the entire conversation to her. After that, I asked her to help me with the choices to choose.

She transferred me to a senior optometrist, and the same charade continued. At the end of it, I was told to bring my aunt to the hospital and meet with the Doctor to choose the lenses.

This was straight out of the Dilbert comic strip.

You’re transferred from one agent to another, each one less helpful than the last until you’ve finally connected to someone who greets you with absolutely zero enthusiasm, and the loop gets over there.

That’s the kind of experience that quality assurance (QA) in a call center is meant to prevent.

Does QA Matter in a Call Center?

According to PwC, it matters big time, as one in three customers will ditch a brand they love after just one bad interaction.

QA isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the safety net that keeps your brand from being the punchline in the next office joke or a Dilbert cartoon.

Let me give you an example.

You call up your mobile service provider to check on a refund they were supposed to process. One agent says your refund is 7 days away, another says 12, and the last one says they can’t even find your account.

With QA, you wouldn’t have to go through this frustrating experience.

What Is Quality Assurance in a Call Center?

Have you ever seen the backstage crew in a theatre production? You normally don’t. At the same time, you cannot imagine a play without the backstage crew.

They are the ones who make everything run smoothly. Your backstage stage is the QA equivalent of a call center.

They review and monitor all customer interactions across all channels to ensure that agents are providing accurate information, ensuring compliance, empathy, and effective communication.

Essentially, QA is the system that keeps your call center from turning into a customer service sitcom.

Let us look at the example I gave in the previous section, where every agent tells a slightly different version of the same story.

In this situation, QA steps in, audits the interactions, spots the discrepancies, and updates the training materials to ensure that everyone is on the same page. They ensure that the problem gets solved before it gets blown into a crisis.

Parameters of Quality Assurance in a Call Center

Here are some key parameters to keep an eye on:

Information Accuracy

Customers expect accurate information, whether they are asking about account balance or trying to figure out a technical issue.

For instance, a retail company would use QA to monitor how consistently agents explain return policies to avoid confusing customers.

Resolution Time

Wait times are the biggest customer service roadblocks, and nobody likes to keep waiting. QA measures how quickly and effectively agents resolve customer issues, and if there are any violations of the promised SLAs, and the reasons for them.

For example, a tech support team might aim to resolve common software glitches in under five minutes, ensuring that agents are both quick and thorough.

Tone and Empathy

Is there a difference between saying, “Our policy doesn’t allow us to do that,” versus, “Let me see what I can do to resolve this for you.”

You get the drift, right?

QA assesses whether agents maintain a polite, empathetic, and professional tone throughout the interaction.

Compliance and Data Privacy

Protecting customer data is non-negotiable. You cannot have a data breach, and your agents cannot mishandle sensitive information.

For instance, in financial services, QA might involve monitoring how agents verify a customer’s identity before discussing account details. 

Call Handling Process

Imagine you want to book a ticket to a destination, and you call up the customer support of your travel agent.

QA process will have defined a checklist for agents to confirm travel dates, destinations, and contact information to avoid booking errors.

QA will ensure that agents stick to a particular flow to maintain consistency and avoid missing key steps.

What Are the Good Practices for Quality Assurance in a Call Center?

These five practices are key to ensuring a good experience for your customers.

• Review calls periodically to identify common pain points and areas for improvement.
• Using AI and analytics to analyze sentiment, identify potential issues, and provide actionable insights to agents
• Provide specific and constructive feedback to agents based on monitored interactions. This is not about policing but about improving the experience.
• Regularly update agents on new protocols, product updates, and customer service best practices.
• Collect customer feedback to address everything actionable to improve the overall customer experience.

Though cliched, this statement rings true for call centers.

Prevention is better than cure.

QA in call centers isn’t a nice-to-have checkbox in the operations list, but it’s the backbone of delivering consistent and memorable customer experiences. It is the safety net that catches potential issues (prevention) before they spiral into a crisis.

We have spoken so much about QA, but how do you measure them qualitatively?

While there are several metrics to measure quantitatively, your customer feedback can bring out this qualitative measurement.

When customers hang up feeling genuinely helped, that’s when you know your QA strategy is working.