The reduction in the average processing time of the business does not necessarily mean that the business has been completely improved. Only if the customer satisfaction remains unchanged does it mean the success of business improvement.
Today we take a look at how to increase the average processing time of a business while ensuring customer satisfaction.

First of all, we need to understand how long is the business processing time?
It depends on the specific situation.
Although the initial waiting time is not part of the average processing time, it is a key indicator that determines how customers view the business capabilities of the enterprise.
Too long initial waiting time will reduce customer satisfaction. If the customer still can not get a solution quickly after connecting with the agent, it will lead to a sharp decline in customer satisfaction and a decrease in customer experience score.
Improving your AHT (average processing time) can help improve the efficiency of enterprise call centers, provide a better customer experience, operate call centers more effectively, and reduce expenses.
We will discuss several methods by which you can improve AHT while ensuring first-class customer service.

What is average processing time (AHT)?

From the beginning to the end of the experience includes-call connection, stay connected, talk time and call work after the agent must resolve the call must perform the operation is called AHT.

Calculation formula: average processing time = (total talk time + follow-up call working time) / total call volume

Subsequent call work hours are the purpose time for the agents to speed up their recording time.
AHT is an important call-type indicator and is used as a key performance indicator (KPI) for call centers.
At the same time, this is also an important indicator for companies to maintain their position. It can be used to evaluate the performance of call centers because it can be a useful benchmark for agents to achieve.
It is usually used to measure the duration of a call.
Enterprises that adopt an omnichannel customer service approach can use this indicator to compare the cost of phone support compared to other support channels (such as chat).

How average processing time affects costs

Average processing time is directly related to cost savings, so call centers spend a lot of time analyzing how to reduce costs.
Let us see how AHT makes your company make money.
Agent salaries are the main cost driver for call centers.
However, layoffs are not an option, so call center managers are looking for other ways to reduce costs, and reducing AHT is one way to achieve this goal.
More calls every day is equivalent to solving more problems, thereby increasing your income.
Therefore, if your call center has to answer a hundred calls a day, and you can reduce the number of calls for a few seconds to reduce AHT, then saving time will translate into saving costs.
This means you can do more with less money, that is, your agent can communicate with more customers at the same time.

Reducing AHT is not your only concern; sometimes, this may cause the quality of customer service to decline.
Agents have the same AHT, so from a cost perspective, they perform the same.
However, whether they can win depends on which agency provides a better customer experience, which you can measure through customer surveys.

Factors affecting average processing time

Average hold time

Hold time is the average time the customer waits in the queue before the agent answers the call.
It is also defined as the average time an operator takes a call.

Calculation formula: average hold time = total incoming call time / total number of incoming calls answered by the agent

The industry standard for holding time is 20 seconds.
The average holding time directly affects your average processing time, so it is necessary to keep the holding time as short as possible.

Repeat call

If your customer calls you for the same problem multiple times, then it will increase your AHT.
This may also damage customer satisfaction, because customers need to call repeatedly to get a solution.
If the agent does not have enough ability to deal with the problem, he/she may put the customer’s problem on hold, which will improve your AHT.

Call transfer time

Sometimes, as an agent, you may have to transfer incoming customer inquiries to another department.
This will cause you to extend customer talk time.
Before transferring a call, you will initially spend some time interacting with customers to collect detailed information.
Therefore, in this case, three factors: the total of talk time, hold time and transmission time will greatly improve your AHT.

Repeat verification

Repeated verification is a problem caused by call transfer. When the first-level agent inquires the customer and transfers to the second-level agent, the transfer agent will still repeatedly ask the customer the same question.
This will not only increase your AHT, but also cause customers to get bored.
With the function of following information can help companies avoid this situation.

In addition to the above, two other factors will also lower your AHT.

Post-call work (ACW) efficiency

The agent preferably uses ACW time to add notes related to that particular call.
However, some seats may use this time to rest, such as smoking or rest in the toilet.
This may make your AHT lose authenticity, because ACW time directly affects your calculation method.

Give up the call

When using AHT to evaluate agent performance, you may find that your agent tends to cut off the caller halfway or transfer it to another department.
This is because they may find it difficult for callers to cope, and conducting conversations will increase call processing time.
This will distort your AHT and lead to a bad customer experience.

Now that you know the importance of AHT, we will show you how to solve these problems in the next issue.