Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Why to measure Average Wait time Metric in Support Department?


Average Wait Time is a crucial metric in the Customer Support Department that measures how effectively the team meets customer expectations for prompt responses. Setting an Average Wait Time goal is essential to ensure customers receive timely assistance, maintaining their satisfaction and trust.

Average Wait Time is typically measured across two primary live support channels:

  1. Chat

  2. Phone Calls

What is Average Speed of Answer (ASA)?

Average Speed of Answer (ASA) represents the total time customers spend waiting in the queue, divided by the total number of transactions (chats or phone calls). This calculation accounts for calls handled by both an interactive voice response (IVR) system and Customer Support Agents.

Formula to Calculate ASA:


ASA= Total Customer Waiting Time in Queue (sec)/Total Number of Transactions (Chats/Calls)

Example:

  • Total calls handled in a month: 10,000

  • Total customer wait time in the queue: 200,000 seconds

ASA = 200,000/10,000 = 20 Sec 

Tracking ASA consistently helps the support team achieve its operational goals and ensures customers experience minimal delays.

Misconceptions About ASA and Customer Satisfaction

There is a common misconception that reducing ASA always leads to higher Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). However, improving ASA is not always the key to achieving higher satisfaction scores. For instance:

  • If your team achieves a 90% CSAT score with an ASA of 20 seconds, simply reducing the ASA to 10 seconds may not necessarily result in a 95% CSAT score.

  • The root cause of customer dissatisfaction might lie elsewhere—such as poor case handling by agents or product performance issues.

It’s essential to assess whether staffing adjustments are genuinely necessary to achieve your desired CSAT score. Unnecessary staffing increases can raise operational costs without guaranteeing improvements in satisfaction.

Best Practices for Setting ASA Goals

A good benchmark for ASA is to set it between 30–35% of your Targeted Average Handle Time (AHT). This ensures a balance between operational efficiency and customer satisfaction without overburdening resources.

Examples:

Example 1: High CSAT Score

  • CSAT Score: 90%

  • ASA: 20 seconds (0.33 minutes)

  • AHT: 15 minutes

Here, ASA is 2.20% of AHT, which is well below the 30–35% threshold. Adding more staff in this case is unnecessary, as it’s unlikely to further improve customer satisfaction meaningfully.

Example 2: Low CSAT Score

  • CSAT Score: 78%

  • ASA: 7 minutes

  • AHT: 15 minutes

In this scenario, ASA is 46.67% of AHT, which exceeds the recommended 30–35% threshold. Here, increasing staffing is critical to reducing wait times, which could significantly improve customer satisfaction.

Key Takeaways:

  • ASA alone does not dictate customer satisfaction. Consider other factors like case handling quality and product performance when evaluating CSAT scores.

  • Optimize staffing strategically. Focus on balancing ASA, CSAT, and operational costs instead of solely targeting lower wait times.

  • Set realistic benchmarks. Aim for an ASA of 30–35% of your AHT to maintain efficiency without over-investing in resources.

By consistently monitoring and analyzing these metrics, support departments can balance customer satisfaction and cost efficiency.

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Customer Support Team Leader Mastery Certification

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