5 ms·

I worked in a call center, as well, but they didn’t prioritize call length as a metric/KPI. Their number one KPI was “first call resolution”, meaning even if it

I worked in a call center, as well, but they didn’t prioritize call length as a metric/KPI. Their number one KPI was “first call resolution”, meaning even if it took an hour as long as the problem was resolved the call was considered a success. I feel like it was a much healthier way to measure call center performance.

jpatokal 8y ago
One support team I used to work with prioritized "first touch resolution" for email cases as well, so the agents would answer every case with a 16-page DYI flowchart listing every single possible problem and its resolution. KPIs are hard...
- swiley 8y ago
  Maybe I’m weird but that’s exactly the kind of response I would want.
  - fphhotchips 8y ago
    No, that's documentation, and it should come with the product or, in the modern era, be available online.
- daurnimator 8y ago
  That sounds great! I'm reminded of https://xkcd.com/810/ https://xkcd.com/810/
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    Getting sent the manual doesn't sound that great to me.
    - scottlamb 8y ago
      It sounds pretty good to me if it inspires them to write a manual that answers the questions support gets. Most products come with a "manual" that's useless for troubleshooting.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  My experience is most customers can't read past the first line of a response. The idea that they can get through a 16-page flowchart seems unlikely to me. And I do sell to a mostly technical audience.
emodendroket 8y ago
We rotated through all of them and our pay was tied substantially to them, which I guess also created an incentive to make it hard to get good metrics all the time on the part of someone else in the organization.
russjr08 8y ago
This is how my call center measured performance until upper management came in and shut it down. Now it’s 800s, or you’re out.
auxbuss 8y ago
This is systems thinking in action. It reduces failure demand[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_demand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_demand
kup0 8y ago
I moved from a call center where length was a KPI to one where it is not a KPI, and it makes a world of difference in the pressure/health of the office environment (and thus better outcomes for customers) It is far better when call length is not a KPI. I would never go back. IMO, if call length is a KPI, it's a key indicator that the company isn't willing to hire enough agents and is trying to apply pressure to shorten calls for purposes of coverage.

jpatokal 8y ago

One support team I used to work with prioritized "first touch resolution" for email cases as well, so the agents would answer every case with a 16-page DYI flowchart listing every single possible problem and its resolution. KPIs are hard...

swiley 8y ago
Maybe I’m weird but that’s exactly the kind of response I would want.
- fphhotchips 8y ago
  No, that's documentation, and it should come with the product or, in the modern era, be available online.
daurnimator 8y ago
That sounds great! I'm reminded of https://xkcd.com/810/ https://xkcd.com/810/
- emodendroket 8y ago
  Getting sent the manual doesn't sound that great to me.
  - scottlamb 8y ago
    It sounds pretty good to me if it inspires them to write a manual that answers the questions support gets. Most products come with a "manual" that's useless for troubleshooting.
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
My experience is most customers can't read past the first line of a response. The idea that they can get through a 16-page flowchart seems unlikely to me. And I do sell to a mostly technical audience.

emodendroket 8y ago

We rotated through all of them and our pay was tied substantially to them, which I guess also created an incentive to make it hard to get good metrics all the time on the part of someone else in the organization.

russjr08 8y ago

This is how my call center measured performance until upper management came in and shut it down. Now it’s 800s, or you’re out.

auxbuss 8y ago

This is systems thinking in action. It reduces failure demand[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_demand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_demand

kup0 8y ago

I moved from a call center where length was a KPI to one where it is not a KPI, and it makes a world of difference in the pressure/health of the office environment (and thus better outcomes for customers) It is far better when call length is not a KPI. I would never go back. IMO, if call length is a KPI, it's a key indicator that the company isn't willing to hire enough agents and is trying to apply pressure to shorten calls for purposes of coverage.