WHEN WE DISCUSS CALLER TOLERANCE WE SEEK TO DEFINE CALLERS ’ CAPACITY TO TOLERATE THE UNFAVORABLE CONDITION KNOWN AS “ HOLD ”...
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FINE ART OF CONTACT CENTER MANAGEMENT - PART 2
THE FIVE FACTORS OF CALLER TOLERANCE .
BY KATHLEEN M . PETERSON , POWERHOUSE CONSULTING , INC .
In last month ’ s Contact Center Pipeline article , my topic was on the Art and Science of contact center management and its three driving forces : Random Call Arrival , Visible and Invisible Queue , and Caller Tolerance .
This month ’ s article completes the topic and focuses on Caller Tolerance and its five critical factors : degree of motivation , substitutes available , expectations , time available , and human factors .
When we discuss Caller Tolerance we seek to define callers ’ capacity to tolerate the unfavorable condition known as “ hold ” to the public and “ delay ” to contact center leadership .
Understanding the five factors of caller tolerance is important because it fuels proper resource planning and impacts customer experience ( CX ) outcomes . ( We will focus on normal conditions and not queue conditions that make headlines and heads roll .)
WHEN WE DISCUSS CALLER TOLERANCE WE SEEK TO DEFINE CALLERS ’ CAPACITY TO TOLERATE THE UNFAVORABLE CONDITION KNOWN AS “ HOLD ”...
Keep in mind that caller tolerances do change when conditions change . For example , callers stuck in an airport with flights being cancelled will hang on in the airline ’ s queue regardless of their tolerance for delay under normal conditions .
1 . DEGREE OF MOTIVATION
Let ’ s begin by determining how important the call is to the business .
For new customers ( prospects ), should you work harder to get their calls handled faster because they are high value contacts ? The prospect has a high value to the business but a low tolerance for delay .
Accordingly , different treatments in the queue may be considered when designing for the prospect call . Call routing may be given priority to reduce delay .
12 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE