Quality Assurance - QA

In a previous section, we learned that the Quality Assurance (QA) department takes care of auditing agents' calls to ensure they are being handled according to the client's requirements.

QA then becomes one of the key performance metrics for any agent and the call center itself. It all starts with the client providing the guidelines and instructing trainers, operations leads, and QA analysts on how to measure such guidelines and processes, so they can cascade them to the agents.

In most cases, QA is measured using a system of points from 0 to 100, but it can also be done using percentages. Each call handling criterion is assigned a certain number of points that are added or deducted depending on how well an agent has handled a call.

Normally, a QA score ranging between 80 and 85 is considered a passing score, and anything below is a failing score. It will depend on each client to determine what is acceptable.

It also depends on each client how detailed a QA scoring sheet is. Some clients will go with very specific details, as if an agent used the customer's name X amount of times during the interaction, if there was additional help offered, or if a specific term was used, while other clients will set general guidelines, and it will be up to the QA analysts to determine the points assigned to each category.

The total QA score for each agent will be calculated using each individual score and the total number of evaluations received.

Let's see a quick example of a general QA scoring guideline:

In the chart above, we can see the different items that QA will be evaluating for every single interaction an agent handles. The analysts will determine how many points will be deducted or granted to the agent based on how the interaction was handled.

Now, let's see how those points are added or deducted depending on how the interaction was handled by the agent.

The good scenario:

As we can see, our agent handled it pretty well, and even when missing a few points on some categories, the QA score is within acceptable levels.

The not-so-good scenario:

In this scenario, the agent failed to obtain several points in each category, probably meaning there were critical steps missed or the wrong processes were performed.

A good synergy between QA, Operations, Training, and the client is needed to understand where the gaps that lead to low QA scores are, and to ensure all agents are receiving much-needed feedback and updates to improve their performance. 

A good Call Center will always have a strong and positive policy around coaching and feedback.