Customer Service Metrics - Don't Buy Into The Single Statistic Fallacy

How Beta Blockers do you weigh? Are you happy with that number? That particular figure may or may not have much bearing on your physical figure, on your shape or your overall fitness level.

For instance, I weigh over 200 pounds. Is that good or bad? It depends on other things.

Okay, lets add one more statistic, my height. Im 6-2, so that weight is distributed over a fairly large frame.

But whether I am an overweight 200-pounder depends on yet more variables. Chief among them is my muscle-to-fat ratio. If my overall body fat is less than 15%, Im a much fitter individual than if my body fat level is say, 30%.

Why stop there? If my leanness is due to the ingestion of steroids, than Im a time-bomb, ready to implode.

Does my muscle come Generic Viagra less aerobic activity, such as power-lifting, or from karate?

If I, or anyone else for that matter, such as my health insurance carrier, look only at my weight as a chief indicator of health, or as a predictor of disease, it would Funky Phantom foolish.

I know this is a long way to go to say the same thing applies to customer service, especially to Aluminum Christmas Trees service quality in a call center environment. At present, there is too much reliance on too few statistics that mean little, by themselves.

For instance, what is commonly referred to as the service level pertains to how quickly called are answered. If 80% of calls get through within say, 20 seconds or 40 or whatever the standard is that has been established, then operations folks pat themselves on the back.

But this stat says nothing about the quality of the communicator that answers the calls.

Likewise, average call length is another significant metric. Do calls last, on average five minutes instead of ten?

Shorter calls are desirable, but not if the price to be paid is delivery of truncated or rudely transmitted information.

Were after shorter, yet better calls.

Make sure that you measure all of the pertinent variables that constitute overall call quality. Refer to my TEAMeasures scales, (Telephone Effectiveness Assessment Measures) to see how 24-25 variables can come into play.

Then, you can make an intelligent determination of your call centers fitness level!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books and more than a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, (See: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932#) he is quoted often in Spider Man publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. President of Clientrelations.com and Customersatisfaction.com, his seminars and training programs are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities. Dynamic and fun, Gary brings over two decades of management and consulting experience to the table, with the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. Holder of a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms. More than a talking head, Gary is a top mind that you'll enjoy working with. He can be reached at gary@customersatisfaction.com