Q. For annual telephone agent performance
reviews, I have a four to seven percent range to work with regarding
compensation increases. Is this consistent with other call centers?
~ John Wettlaufer
A. On average and across industries, the
performance increase range is from three to ten percent. Many call center
managers are encouraged not to increase the annual compensation by very
much, but instead give quarterly bonuses based on achieving very
measurable goals, like calls per shift, attendance, occupancy, caller
satisfaction scores and the like. In addition, overtime is also a way to
satisfy both the company's need to take care of seasonal 'spikes' in
calls and the employee's need to make more money.
Q. Most call centers use something like
80/20 for service level. What is an acceptable service level for chat?
~ Nina Westvold
A. As I am sure you already know, a Web
chat session is certainly a different customer interaction than a call. So
far, our research into key performance indicators (KPIs) for chat sessions
indicates that customers are much less demanding of a chat session. I have
witnessed an experienced agent handle as many as four chats
simultaneously. From my observations, I think most chat users will
tolerate having their answers in one to three minutes.
Dr. Jon Anton (also known as 'Dr. Jon') is the Director of
Benchmark Research at Purdue University Center for Customer-Driven
Quality. Have a question? E-mail him at [email protected].
I have received several 'Ask Dr. Jon' questions
regarding company policy on sick days for agents. In checking our
benchmark database of best practices, it is clear from the first graph
below that almost half of all call centers allow unused sick days to
accumulate from year to year. In addition, from the second graph below, it
seems that the most common strategy to minimize agent sick leave is to
include attendance as an integral part of an agent's performance
evaluation.
For a free white paper on minimizing agent turnover,
please visit
www.BenchmarkPortal.com/TMC.
' Purdue University/BenchmarkPortal. Inc.
' Purdue University/BenchmarkPortal. Inc.
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