Investing in the quality of your customer support experience is one of the most powerful ways to grow your company, but every company\u2019s definition of \u201cquality\u201d is different. That\u2019s why we partnered with Klaus<\/a>, the conversation review and QA platform for support teams, to get a deeper understanding of what \u201cquality support\u201d actually looks like.<\/p>\n Together, we surveyed hundreds of CX professionals, team leads, managers, and executives to get a deeper understanding of how they measure and improve support quality. We wanted to know: what are the industry standards for support teams? How are other customer-centric support teams measuring the impact of conversational support? And how can you put a QA process in place that actually tells you if your support is moving the needle in the right direction?<\/p>\n The result is the Customer Support Quality Benchmark Report 2021<\/a>. Get your copy now, or keep reading to learn some of our key takeaways about how support quality is changing \u2013 and what you need to do about it.<\/p>\n This last year has brought about an enormous shift in the way support teams work \u2013 and in customers\u2019 expectations of that support. Increasingly, we\u2019re seeing that customers want digital-first solutions that allow them to get the support they need, on their own terms. That means: meeting customers in the channels they\u2019re already using; providing them with resources so they can self-serve when they want to; and offering personalized, empathetic, conversational experiences when they\u2019re needed.<\/p>\n In our survey, we found that:<\/p>\n But while the approach to customer support has undergone a transformation, the way that companies measure its success \u2013 and track its impact \u2013 hasn\u2019t necessarily evolved to match these new goals.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the problem with the support metrics that most teams have been using up until now? It\u2019s not that there\u2019s anything wrong with them, exactly \u2013 it\u2019s just that they\u2019re not giving you the full picture<\/a>.<\/p>\n Take time to close, for example. It only tells you the time spent; it doesn\u2019t reflect the difficulty of the problem, the relationship with the customer, or whether the support rep went above and beyond to find the best solution. If you\u2019re focusing on time to close as your primary support KPI, it could inadvertently encourage your support reps to prioritize the fastest, easiest short-term solve \u2013 not necessarily the one with the greatest long-term result for the customer.<\/p>\n Similarly, an irate customer who\u2019s having issues with your product could leave a negative conversation rating because they\u2019re frustrated with an answer they don\u2019t like<\/a>, even if your agent dealt with the issue in an empathetic and thoughtful way.<\/p>\n Timely responses and customer happiness are integral to delivering a quality support experience, of course. But as we can see, they\u2019re limited in the information they provide. So what\u2019s a quality-minded, customer-centric support team to do?<\/p>\n \u201cRather than focusing on any one figure, the trick is to curate a selection of KPIs that give you a 360\u00ba view of your team\u2019s performance, and which align with your values as an organization\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Rather than focusing on any one figure, the trick is to curate a selection of KPIs that give you a 360\u00ba view of your team\u2019s performance, and which align with your values as an organization. Using a combination of operational metrics that track things like timings and number of resolutions in tandem with more in-depth conversation quality reviews, assessing factors like empathy and tone, you can create a more comprehensive set of metrics that will give you a clearer picture of the overall quality of support your team is delivering.<\/p>\n \u201cQuality\u201d is a subjective term \u2013 and that\u2019s okay. Every company has its own vision of what their customer-facing interactions should look and feel like. What matters is that each support interaction represents you as a company, and meets not just your customers\u2019 expectations but also your own internal standards.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, we found that there are some common factors to look out for. According to our research, almost 86% of support teams check the proposed solution offered by the support rep as a sign of the conversation\u2019s quality. Nearly 80% look for product knowledge, and almost 78% look to see that the agent followed internal processes correctly. This emphasis on accuracy makes sense; good support relies on helping the customer to do the thing they\u2019re trying to do, in the best way for them.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost 84% of support teams look for tone and empathy when they\u2019re assessing quality\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n Perhaps most interestingly, we learned that almost 84% look for tone and empathy when they\u2019re assessing quality. This is a big indicator of the importance of human support within the Conversational Support Funnel<\/a>, our framework for providing efficient, effective, and personal support at scale. It’s clear that support leaders are recognizing the importance of tone and empathy to great support experiences, especially when you\u2019re trying to foster personalized, long-lasting customer relationships.<\/p>\n As a greater number of simple support queries can now be resolved with proactive<\/a> and self-serve support<\/a>, things like tone and empathy are the areas where your human support reps<\/a> can really shine. And, as the number of \u201cdifficult\u201d conversations has risen significantly<\/a> since the start of the pandemic, it\u2019s also one of the areas where your reps can make the most impact.<\/p>\n Another trend we saw is an increased focus on proactive support as an indicator of quality, with 44.2% of respondents saying that they look for support reps sending links to further reading to customers as a quality criteria. This is certainly one to watch, and it\u2019s a great way to start building proactive support into your KPIs<\/a> so you can start to track and measure its impact \u2013 especially since 85% of customer service teams now report offering proactive help.<\/p>\n Once you know what you\u2019re looking for \u2013 such as accuracy, tone and empathy, and proactivity \u2013 it\u2019s time to map out those internal quality standards into an actionable, measurable framework. To do this, you can create a scorecard that will help you to track your own unique internal quality score (IQS) based on the criteria you value most.<\/p>\n Equipped with that scorecard, you then need to put a process in place for implementing those reviews. How often will you perform them? How will you select which conversations to review? Who will do the reviews? Again, these will depend on your own team\u2019s needs \u2013 but here are some industry insights to help guide you.<\/p>\n In our research, we found that 43% of support teams have dedicated support QA specialists. The number of dedicated QA specialists scaled in proportion to the size of the support team.<\/p>\n In other cases, conversation quality reviews are performed by managers, trainers, or even peers (which is what we do here at Intercom).<\/p>\n \u201cAll our remotely onboarded agents appreciated the peer-to-peer exercise and they see it as a valuable way to learn best practices from their more experienced colleagues\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Izabela Gusa, Quality Manager at Avira<\/a>, told us that since pivoting to working remotely, her team has started doing peer-to-peer reviews. \u201cAll our remotely onboarded agents appreciated the peer-to-peer exercise and they see it as a valuable way to learn best practices from their more experienced colleagues,\u201d she says. \u201cThe distance we all expected to challenge us proved to release new ways of improving the quality of our conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n We learned that 69% of support teams conduct regular conversation reviews, with 53% doing so on a weekly basis. If you\u2019re looking to get more raw data to work with, however \u2013 for example, if you\u2019re just starting out on your QA journey and want to get a solid baseline \u2013 consider setting daily review goals<\/a>, which will bring in the biggest review volumes.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving fewer metrics on your scorecard means that you can build quality reviews into your daily routine with just a few extra minutes\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n Don\u2019t forget that the \u201cwho\u201d and the \u201chow often\u201d are intrinsically linked. If you have a dedicated QA team, you\u2019ll have more resources to work with, but if you\u2019re relying on manager or peer-to-peer reviews, be mindful of their workloads. In this case, having fewer metrics on your scorecard<\/a> means that you can build quality reviews into your daily routine with just a few extra minutes, and without overstretching your team.<\/p>\n The vast majority of respondents (81.9%) review random samples of their support conversations. This is a useful way of getting an effective sample across the whole team, and maintaining consistency on an ongoing basis.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost 44% of teams find the silver lining in difficult situations by reviewing escalated conversations and turning them into learning opportunities\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We also found that over half of support teams use quality reviews as part of their onboarding for new agents. In these situations, you might start by reviewing 100% of the new agent\u2019s conversations at first, then gradually lowering that percentage as they successfully onboard. Conversation reviews play an important role in coaching, too; 43.8% also use them to help correct poor agent performance.<\/p>\n Almost 44% of teams find the silver lining in difficult situations by reviewing escalated conversations<\/a> and turning them into learning opportunities.<\/p>\n Defining what quality means for your team and building your team\u2019s unique metrics around that definition means that you can be confident that you\u2019re delivering a consistent, conversational support experience every time.<\/p>\n And while 82% of support teams believe that conversation reviews improve the quality of their customer service, building better relationships with your customers isn\u2019t the only benefit. The same number of respondents also believe that conversation reviews are useful for their team members\u2019 professional growth.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the end of 2021, 80% of support teams will have QA procedures in place\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n Indeed, Scott Tran, founder of the customer support community Support Driven<\/a>, has noticed that many support teams in the community \u201chave increasingly adopted quality as a KPI to help make the case for specialization and career path development.\u201d According to the report, one in three support teams surveyed say they\u2019re currently tracking IQS, and 10% of support teams say it\u2019s their most important metric<\/a>. By the end of 2021, 80% of support teams will have QA procedures in place.<\/p>\n What makes quality such a powerful metric is that there\u2019s simply no substitute for it. This is particularly potent when we take into consideration the uniquely human components that define \u201cquality\u201d, such as empathy.<\/p>\n Building this focus on quality into your support team\u2019s KPIs means that every support interaction becomes an opportunity to create an impactful, personalized, tailored customer experience. And isn\u2019t that what you should be measuring?<\/p>\nHow the support landscape is changing<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nDefining \u201cquality\u201d<\/h2>\n
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How support leaders are measuring quality<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2092\/04\/43-of-support-teams-have-dedicated-QA-specialists.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWho reviews?<\/h3>\n
How often?<\/h3>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2092\/04\/69-of-teams-conduct-regular-conversation-review.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhich conversations?<\/h3>\n
Providing quality support at scale<\/h2>\n
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