FOR WHEN DONE RIGHT, EFFI- CIENCY AND CX DON ' T COMPETE. INSTEAD, THEY SHOULD REINFORCE EACH OTHER.
COACH’ S CORNER
PART 1
BY MARK PEREIRA
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
AVERAGE HANDLE TIME VS. HUMAN TIME FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE IN THE CX AGE.
In today ' s call and contact centers, agents are caught in the middle of a quiet- but constant- tug-of-war. Leadership wants faster calls, tighter metrics, and improved efficiency. Customers want patience, empathy, and solutions. Agents are expected to deliver both: all while navigating complex systems, expanding queues, and performance metrics that rarely reflect the realities of the work.
Spend time in agent communities on Reddit or Facebook and the frustration is unmistakable: " They want us to be efficient but not rushed. Empathetic, but fast. Knowledgeable, but trained on everything."
10 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
In many organizations, average handle time( AHT) has become the most visible battleground between efficiency and customer experience( CX).
FOR WHEN DONE RIGHT, EFFI- CIENCY AND CX DON ' T COMPETE. INSTEAD, THEY SHOULD REINFORCE EACH OTHER.
But the issue isn ' t that agents are spending too much time with customers. The real problem is where that time is being spent.
In many centers, a two-minute customer question turns into a 10-minute interaction because the agent is navigating systems, policies, and processes that were never designed to work together.
Too often, contact centers try to improve efficiency at the agent level- shortening talk time, accelerating training, broadening cross-training, and tightening adherence- to name a few.