Improve Average Handling Time

A valid question for customer service organizations and its managers, is how to improve Handling Time Average (AHT). But by improving AHT customer service representatives (CSR) can lose focus on the main goal of the customer service center: serving customers. So, how does an organization improves its AHT will it still satisfies its customers?

Answers can be found in the field Customer Process Management (CPM). CPM focusses at customer contact processes and the continuous improvement of the internal process. It connects the moment of customer contact to the back office organization. CPM enables organizations to reduce costs by handling these contact moments and the processes that follow, more efficiently en effectively. So AHT will decrease and organizations will generate more income and are able to manage resources better.

In the CPM philosophy all relevant customer information is being made available to the CSR. Now they do not need to look for it in the various different back office applications. Neighter do they have to ask the customer for it. No, the CSR immediatelly can serve the customer. This reduces the AHT signifficantly and it will increase the ratio Right First Time.

But there is more. The productivity of CSRs will increase as well. A CSR can supplement customer data, during the moment of contact, with information such as an agreement for an upgrade, or change in method of payment. The customer would like to take this into consideration for a few days and he or she will get back on it. The CSR creates a workflow process and when the clients contacts again, every CSR in the building instantly understands the contact reason.