Thoughts from the Cliff Dweller

Voice Quality of Offshore Agents, How Do I Measure That?

The big issue here related to the accents. If you outsource to India or the Philippines and you service North american customers, it has probably been a topic of conversation at some point.

There are a number of different language tests or testing services that can help you determine the quality of your agents before they get on the phones.

Here is a simple and low cost way to to measure voice quality: First step is during the interview have the potential candidate interview with someone on the North American team. Just engage in regular dialogue out side of the normal interview process. Ge the agent talking in a relaxed manner. This is where you will hear their real accent. If they pass that test and make it onto the production floor, listen to what your customers say to the agent. If at anytime during a regular conversation with your agent the customer says, “pardon me”, “can you repeat that”, “I don’t understand what you are saying” then you have a clear issue with this agent and you have to pull them off the phones and or get them additional language training.

Testing can help, but it is what the customer says that should drive action.

Clive…

Got a Question?: http://clivewoodrow.tumblr.com/ask