Have you ever worked with service level targets for a customer operation, only to find that exactly meeting one target means that another target isn’t achieved? I’ve seen this inconsistency quite a few times in different operations. It can undermine the effectiveness of your performance targets and add unnecessary cost into an operation.
In customer operations, typical metrics for inbound interactions (eg calls, emails, and chats) include average speed of answer/response, abandonment rates, and the percentage of items responded to within a certain timeframe. Yet targets for these measures can sometimes be at odds with each other, and exactly achieving one target might mean another is missed or overachieved.
Consider an inbound contact centre with the following targets:
• Answer 80% of calls within 15 seconds
• Maintain an abandonment rate of 4%
Each point on the scatter plot above represents one historical week. We see a correlation: as the abandonment rate increases, the proportion of calls answered within 15 seconds decreases. When the 80% service level is met exactly, we can expect the abandonment rate to be between 2.3% and 2.8%, overachieving on the abandonment target. Conversely, when the 4% abandonment rate is met exactly, we can expect the service level to be between 70% and 75%. Therefore in this example, the two service level targets are misaligned.
Inconsistent service level targets make one target irrelevant if another is significantly stricter. This misalignment can cause confusion to staff, as they might feel they are constantly failing to meet one expectation and/or overdelivering on another. If the stricter service level is used to set resource levels, than perhaps the operation is being staffed to a level costlier than that truly desired.
Therefore, when setting service level targets, examine your historical data and make sure that the targets you set are consistent with each other. Note that the data will be different for each inbound contact type, so this relationship is unique to each specific application. Therefore it is crucial to tailor targets to your specific context.
Also, remember to review and adjust these targets periodically. Customer behaviour and expectations do change, especially with the introduction of new technologies.
By setting consistent and clear service level goals, you can make it much easier to manage performance and deliver an excellent customer experience.
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At Atlantic Insight, our mission is to help Customer Operations achieve sustained improvements in operational effectiveness and customer engagement. We would be delighted to partner with you to improve performance. To start a conversation, please email us at hello@atlanticinsight.com, or call us on +44 (0) 161 438 2009
Philip Stubbs is Partner of Atlantic Insight, and has over 25 years’ experience of improving performance within operational areas within a wide range of industries.
