By Pete Slease, Rick DeLisi & Matthew Dixon
Practitioners have long debated which metric is best for assessing the performance of a service organization. We’d submit that the worstservice metric is average handle time, or AHT, which is principally a measure of call length, or, more simply, talk time.
AHT has been around for almost as long as the telephone itself. Given that the service department is a cost center in most companies, leaders have long relied on AHT as a critical lever for keeping staffing levels, and therefore costs, in check.
Why is average handle time such a bad metric? Three reasons:
- AHT is a relic of the old service world. Company websites, discussion boards and YouTube videos siphon off low-complexity issues. Customer problems that end up making it through to live representatives are the ones that customers can’t solve on their own. What matters now is “Did the rep solve the customer’s problem?” not “How fast did the rep get the customer off the phone?”
- Customers can hear the stopwatch ticking. Customers report that one of their biggest sources of frustration is the feeling that the rep is trying to rush them off the phone rather than take the time required to make sure that their issue is resolved.
- AHT is a culture killer. Leading companies have realized that they get far better results from their service reps when they enable them to exercise more judgment in customer interactions. Things like scripts, checklist-oriented quality assurance and, worst of all, AHT, only send the message that reps should do exactly as they’re told, and quickly.
Jill Stevens, national customer service leader at Westfield Insurance, said, “Our reps tell us that their focus has shifted from watching the clock to focusing on active listening and resolving customers’ issues.” Sharon Stines, director of operations customer care at LoyaltyOne, echoes the point: “Our process and metrics are aimed at delivering the right, rather than the shortest, handle time.”
In today’s service world, companies need to hold reps accountable less for being fast and more for being right.
Pete Slease and Rick DeLisi are principal executive advisers, and Matthew Dixon is the group leader, in CEB’s customer contact and customer experience practice.