What Is A Quality Framework Template

I of the biggest issues for growing customer service teams is the disability or failure to measure and manage the quality of service and conversation that forepart-line advisors are having with customers.

It is easy to focus on performance metrics such as telephone call answer times as they are readily available from systems, but while the quality of chat is arguably more than important, how to measure quality assurance is non as uncomplicated.

Run a quick google search, and yous'll find thousands of scorecard templates that you could download. One of these may exist a good starting point, but it is crucial to ensure that this is adapted to meet your specific needs.

In this blog, I will explicate how to develop a quality framework an arroyo that will deliver existent improvements to your QA process, your team, your arrangement and your customers past developing a quality scorecard that measures, manages and supports the commitment of a high standard of service.

The quality of service is of critical importance for contact centres as it is an accurate indicator of performance relating to the customer. Measuring quality and client perception of service are ii of the nearly used metrics in managing performance in successful operations, so it is critical that the measurement is itself of a high quality.

Creating a Quality Framework. Where should y'all start?

In Contact Centres the people that make things happen are Team Leaders. A good Team Leader will know the strengths and weaknesses of each of their team and will be able to guide and motivate them to deliver their best. They have an organisational responsibility to encounter the corporate objectives but also provide the bridge betwixt the company and individual Advisors. Nevertheless for many Squad Leaders, they lack the required tools and processes. Having an insight and overview of the quality of service provided by each member of their team is essential to support the development of agents.

When I get asked, "How practice I create a Quality Assurance framework" past phone call centres, a six-stage process is typically recommended.

This includes:

Purpose
Channels
Values
Measures
Scoring
Implement

Designing-a-quality-framework

Stride 1. Empathise the purpose

The first area to address when building scorecard or framework is the purpose of QA; what are we measuring and why?

It is often the case that measuring quality is about developing a score to report as a KPI, but quality scorecards can and should evangelize so much more than this.

When Quality is used correctly, it can exist an effective tool to:

Measure compliance with regulations
Assess adherence to policy
Measure out the customer experience
Monitor Advisors performance
Change Advisors behaviour

At that place needs to be clarity about what the scorecard is going to be used for and and then ensure that the blueprint meets these objectives.

Footstep ii. Identify the Channels

Telephone call Recording Quality Management (CRQM) was originally developed around call scoring and reviewing the telephone call recordings. In today'southward multi-channel environments, some Advisors may not handle telephone calls. Instead many may deal exclusively with Live Chat, email, social media or a wide range of channels.

Customers may never interact with an organisation over the phone, but the quality of the engagement still needs to be measured. Unlike channels have dissimilar components, and therefore the measures need to be adapted.

For example

Live Chat volition involve a written discussion, and so the quality of spelling and the correct use of grammar is a critical mensurate of quality.

vs.

An e-mail is still a written interaction but is usually more formal than Live Conversation so a different evaluation of style volition exist required.

Pace iii. Align with Company Objectives and Brand Values

The objectives of the contact eye and the values of the brand should be incorporated into the design of a scorecard. In that location are thousands of scorecards available to download, but the type of organization and the value of the services that information technology provides will bear on the points of assessment and the scoring.

For example:

A loftier-value sales organisation would require different scoring criteria to a low-value service.
In Financial Services and other regulated sectors, in that location is a requirement for particular terminology and diction to be used, merely this is not the instance in all industries.
Entering communications volition have a different context to outbound where a different level of introduction volition be required.

All of these factors brand a deviation to the scoring criteria and ofttimes affect how Advisors operate and behave.

Stride four. Develop Specific Measures

The previous three steps highlight some of the factors involved in the design of a scorecard. Using the information gathered so far equally a baseline, the next stride is to map out what the measurements may be, what are the specifics that need to be assessed and measured.

These may be varied and cover a wide range of areas, but we advise that the overall composition of the scorecard be simple to use. This could issue in the creation of sections to house questions that relate to one another.

For example:

Compliance
Customer Experience
Process

Within each of these areas, there may be several specific measures that contribute to a rating for that surface area.

Of real interest is the development of measures from step one which relate to a mixture of mandatory or discretionary components of a contact.

For example, if the contact relates to a regulated area, then it may exist compulsory to land a specific phrase. If this is the instance, then that should be a specific measure or contribute to a detail compliance measure.

Struggle to get the right balance inside your existing quality assurance framework & scorecard? Bank check out another one of our blogs.

Step 5. Identify Scoring

The scoring is the most contentious area of scorecards as they can be both objective and subjective.

Where there are specific compliance matters, then the outcome is simple; yes or no. However, when the issue is more subjective, i.e. about building rapport, and then you could utilize a range of different scoring templates and outcomes such as a three, iv or ten point scale.

Type	SCORE	NOTES
Binary	Yes / No	Used where clear compliant/non-compliant is hands measured.
R.A.G	Scarlet, amber, green	Where a measure can be partially met in improver to Aye/No
Calibration	Range or scale such as ane-10	A range of scores enable a more subjective mensurate to be applied due east.g. seven = met the requirement but could improve.

For instance:

The call closure after a chat with a disgruntled customer that is closing their account. Asking them if there is anything else that yous tin can help them with may not exist appropriate, and therefore this element should be removed from the call scoring for this interaction or have the pick to score the question as Northward/A (Non-applicable).

It is as well the case that some areas of scoring are more important than others then consider weighting questions accordingly to reflect this. The instance of compliance reflects this equally this will be of much greater importance when in a regulated surround than having the correct call closure.

Top tips: Do not overcomplicate a scorecard; information technology should be easy to complete, review and understand.

Step 6. Implementation

The final stage in developing the scorecard is planning the implementation. Introducing a new quality framework or any class of assessment tin be a business concern for Advisors who will be suspicious of them 'existence checked up on'. It is essential to involve Advisors in the evolution of the scorecard at all stages and to launch it properly.

A launch should include:

Active involvement from Advisors in the development
Communication with all stakeholders about the purpose and objectives including how it will be used
Explanation about the questions and scoring criteria
Conference about the benefits to the arrangement, customers and Advisors
A pilot process to test the scorecard.

When implementing in large teams or when multiple Evaluators are involved then information technology volition also be essential to introduce a calibration procedure. In that location is a potential consequence where one Evaluator may score differently to others. Having the ability to cheque this by sharing completed scorecards and ensuring that the scoring is equal is vital in developing a fair and consistent approach.

Calibration discussions also help with the development of Evaluators and Team Leaders as well. This can exist done by request different members or the QA team to undertake the same cess or through Group sessions where multiple stakeholders score the aforementioned interaction.

For more best practice on Scale, check out our webinar: The 6 common challenges of Calibration and how to overcome them.

What now?

Building a great scorecard is i part of the puzzle, but it can speedily become but some other tick-box exercise with little purpose. Feedback to Advisors is important and an essential part of managing and improving all areas of performance. Feedback should be shared to advisors in real-fourth dimension and regular ane to ones should be scheduled where agents and their line managers have the chance to hash out their overall functioning, learning and development.

Having data from regular assessments will enable Team Leaders and Managers to build a profile of the individual team members simply also the overall team. Analysing this information will kickoff to highlight trends which in turn volition enable prompt action to be taken to resolve issues.

It is interesting to observe how quickly bad practice starts and spreads through a Contact Centre and early intervention is possible with ongoing analysis. Similarly, if the majority of the team are performing poorly in the same area, and then additional team training may be delivered to resolve and ameliorate the issue.

Quality scorecards are an aid to measuring and improving functioning. They're challenging to become right, simply by post-obit these steps, you will have a much better hazard.

To leave yous with i top tip:

Review your scorecard at to the lowest degree every half-dozen months. Is it working and meeting your requirements? Has it adjusted to your changing business organisation? Is it helping to ameliorate the quality of operation?