Evaluate Agent Performance like a Pro with this Contact Center Score Card 

Rockstar agents aren’t born great…they’re made. Sure, if you’re hiring correctly, your contact center will be filled to the brim with the right personalities and work ethics for success—but being surrounded by the best call center agents means effective training, constant support, and strategic goal setting.

(It only takes 60 seconds!)

All contact center managers know that the job entails so much more than just scheduling a team and watching them work. Managers act as the team’s support system, training resource, knowledge bank, and biggest motivator. It’s a bit of a daunting job, but there are a variety of ways management tasks can be streamlined while keeping agents engaged in their work.

One way to approach this is by using our Contact Center Agent Scorecard to evaluate agent performance — it gives managers a simplified way to track agent success and also sets agents up with an overview of their performance that will lead to better results.

The value of proper agent performance evaluations.

One of the easiest ways to identify potential improvements for contact center processes is to track key performance indicators (KPIs). When you track numbers, certain insights about areas for improvement quickly come into view.

The same goes for your agent performance. If you have a thorough understanding of their numbers, their areas of strength and weakness are made quite clear, especially when you can see the numbers all in one place, on one scorecard.

5 best practices for effective agent evaluation.

Before we get into the details of the Agent Performance Scorecard, there are some best practices for agent evaluation that you should keep in mind:

1. Always maintain a positive attitude during an agent review.

No matter the results on an agent’s scorecard, it’s important to keep spirits high and find at least one piece of positive feedback. Overly negative reviews become defeating fast and may cause the agent to burn out or feel like their steps to success are too overwhelming to actually accomplish.

2. Schedule reviews regularly and well in advance.

To ensure agents know when their reviews are, schedule them in batches and on the same cadence. You might decide to meet bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending on how many agents you’re responsible for.

3. Tap into technology to track specific KPIs.

Some of the agent scoring we’ve included on the scorecard is subjective, but many of the other KPIs require smart tracking to be measured properly. The Fonolo Portal puts real time insights and analytics at your fingertips so you know where your contact center and agents stand.

DID YOU KNOW? Call-back technology is a great way to lower abandonments and raise customer satisfaction by allowing them to bypass long hold times.

4. Make sure call monitoring is on your to-do list.

In order to determine the quality and overall helpfulness of your agents’ calls, you’ll need to either listen to recordings or use call monitoring technology to tune in while they’re chatting in real time. Either way, be sure to listen for a proper greeting, thorough personalization throughout the call, empathetic phrases, and whether or not the issue was resolved.

5. Ask each agent to have a self-assessment prepared for your meeting. 

You can choose to create a template for this one or simply ask agents to write on a piece of paper. When agents assess themselves, you’ll get a better idea of why they may be succeeding or having difficulty in certain areas. Also, holding people accountable for their own growth helps to keep agents feeling engaged throughout the process.

Consider asking these questions for the self-assessment:

• What are you doing well in your role?
• Where do you feel you could improve?
• What is one goal you’d like to achieve over the next month?
• What steps will you take to reach this goal?
• Is there anything you feel you need from your manager or the company in order to grow in your role?

Get to know the Agent Performance Scorecard terms.  

First call resolution (FCR).

The percentage of customers who end up calling the contact center more than once to resolve their issue.

Average speed to answer (ASA).

The average time it takes for a customer to get through to an agent.

Abandon rate.

The number of callers who hang up while waiting in the queue.

Average handle time (AHT).

The average amount of time it takes for an agent to resolve a call.

Average hold time.

The average amount of time a customer waits in the queue.

Customer satisfaction ratings.

A score determined by customer satisfaction (CSat) surveys.

Schedule adherence. 

How well an agent follows their schedule, including start times, end times, and break times.

Call quality. 

A score with the number of your choosing based on the quality of an agent’s calls from greeting to conclusion. This score can be determined through attentive call monitoring.

How to use the Scorecard.

We’ve divided our scorecard into two distinct sections. The first is where you’re able to track the key metrics for the contact center as a whole. The second are scores and specifics for the individual agent. Having call center metrics written down in one place allows you to quickly compare the overall team’s performance with the individual agent’s performance.

Fill out both sections before your meeting with an agent and rate their overall performance out of 10. When you meet, walk them through the first two sections so they can see where the team stands and compare that to their own numbers.

Next, have them walk you through their self-assessment. Start filling in the written portion of the score card with them, noting positive feedback and opportunities for improvement. The goals section is integral to seeing growth in your agent. Feel free to work towards more than one goal at a time if the agent wishes to do so.

(It only takes 60 seconds!)