Stopwatch

4 Tips for a Winning Lower Handle Time Strategy

Share on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterShare on Google+Share on LinkedInEmail this to someoneBuffer this page

How to reduce your call handle times for improved customer satisfaction and increased agent efficiency.

It’s the moment we all dread. We’re calling customer service, but before we get to hear even a single word from a trained agent, we’re stuck in a queue. Before you know it we’re sighing, checking our watches, and starting to question whether we’d be better off just hanging up.

Sure, having to wait is a fairly common experience for anybody calling a support centre, but too often customers experience wait times longer than the time the problem would take to fix! The amount of time your customers spend on the line with an agent is measured by Average Handle Time (AHT), and by Average Wait Time, more commonly known as Average Speed of Answer (ASA). This includes time spent waiting as well as time spent problem solving with one of your agents.

We can’t overstate the importance of a good customer experience. Long wait times and ineffectual agents are the crux of the majority of complaints about contact centres, and as experts in customer management, it’s your goal to prevent this from happening. Here are a few simple steps that can reduce the amount of time your customers spend on the line and improve their overall experience.

1. Locate the Bottleneck

One of the first things you should assess about your customer service experience is where the holdups are occurring. Are you understaffed? Have you hired enough agents but find that they are on the phone with each caller for long periods of time? Either one of these options can tank your ASA and AHT faster than you can say “Please stay on the line, you call is important to us!”

Figure out where your weak points are. Once you identify the logjam you’ll be able to plan a strategy to address the problem and understand what steps you can take to prevent them in the future.

2. First Contact, Last Contact

One easy step you can take to guarantee a better customer experience is making sure complaints are resolved with as few calls as possible. If you can resolve their issue in one call instead of two, you have effectively reduced their waiting time by 50 percent.

A 2014 customer service survey conducted by Parature indicates that 65 percent of customers have cut ties with a business due to a single poor customer service experience. With numbers like that, it’s clear that you want to get your customers through their problem as quickly as possible. Moreover, you can bet that they’ll have a better impression of your service if they can resolve their query in a single call.

3. The Right Folks with the Right Skills

So, your centre is fully staffed and you’re confident that you can get all of your calls answered in a timely manner. That’s great, but what happens when a dozen agents are stuck trying to find solutions to customers’ problems while the phones are ringing off the hook? This is where proper training of your support staff comes in.

It doesn’t matter how many employees you have on the phones if they can’t effectively deal with the calls that come in. Ensure that your agents know your business inside and out so that they have the essential skills to handle each call with the expertise that your customers expect.

Review all of the applications and information your agents have to use in order to handle a call. Conducting Time in Motion studies of your call types can determine areas where agents may get bogged down trying to find the right information for your customers. When these areas are found, collaborate with your team and others in your organization to identify a better way.

4. Let the Phones Work for You

Virtual Queuing is another way many businesses are managing unpredictable spikes in call volume.  Regardless of how well staffed you are, situations can arise where the number of calls you receive goes well beyond what your agents are able to handle. Virtual Queuing allows customers to request a call-back option wherein they will be able to resume their normal activities, and get a call from whichever agent is available next.

This tool can take some stress off of your agents as well as providing your customers with a positive alternative to waiting on the line indefinitely. Frustratingly long wait times is one of the biggest detriments to a positive customer experience, and is one of the biggest causes of that dreaded indicator of failure, call abandonment. Give your customers an alternative to waiting in line and you’ll find that they’ll be far more pleasant when their number comes up.

While you won’t be able to answer every call immediately as it arrives, you can definitely improve your odds of keeping your customers happy. Recognizing your weak points, ensuring that your staff is equipped with the skills to keep your ASA and AHT down, problem solving in as few calls as possible and utilizing technology to provide your customers with some flexibility will guarantee that they have an unparalleled customer service experience.

Curious to learn more about how to reduce speed of answer and call handle times? Download our free whitepaper.

Download the FREE Whitepaper: 10 Proven Strategies to Decrease the Costs of Your Customer Care Without Sacrificing Service Levels