The Power of Quality Monitoring & Speech Analytics – Working Together

As the growth of technology and artificial intelligence permeate the workplace, few can deny the obvious benefits of computer-driven analytics. Computers can data crunch millions of records, solve complex equations within seconds, and build widget after widget – without ever tiring. There are limitations to the abilities of a machine though. Ask a computer to understand sarcasm, or detect emotion and it will fall short every time. As Forbes contributor, Roger Wu, once described in an article, what’s often missing is “that secret sauce – the ability of humans to read between the lines, pick up contextual cues and insights from abstract concepts.”

It is tempting for an organization to look to a speech analytics solution as their only quality solution.  After all, a speech analytics tool provides an organization with the ability to mine 100% of calls they receive, which can be extremely useful in a highly regulated compliance industry or a strong union environment. With the breadth and depth of data provided by a speech tool, companies have a tremendous ability to analyze and resolve issues within the customer experience that can improve customer loyalty and create bottom-line results.

In contrast to the high-powered speech tool that monitors all interactions, a traditional Quality Monitoring program looks at a more targeted sample of customer contacts, allowing humans to listen with the “ear of the customer” to gain deeper and more valuable insights than a machine could spit out. The outcome is actionable feedback on both agent performance and business process opportunities that drive measurable results. While there are benefits to using each solution as a stand-alone tool, there is tremendous power in using them as complementary solutions – here’s how.

Data-Driven Listening for Actionable Insights– A speech analytics tool is able to systematically collect data from a large sample size of interactions, but as the saying goes, “data is nothing unless it can be turned into information.” A best-in-class Quality Monitoring program can help turn that data into actionable information.  Using the speech analytics tool to determine key issues that require a deeper dive and combining that with targeted human listening to analyze the interactions for meaningful insights, root cause analysis, and behavioral correlations create richer and more actionable outcomes. This has a much greater impact on improving the bottom line.

Targeting for Coaching – A speech analytics tool can usually identify calls that contain specific words or phrases. That’s helpful when trying to pinpoint calls that require escalation or immediate attention. When coupled with an expertly designed Quality Monitoring program, the team can leverage the technology to focus on those contacts for agent coaching opportunities – evaluating them for specific agent behavioral trends, identifying agent behaviors that need improvement, and providing actionable feedback to the supervisors for coaching and training purposes.

Linking CX Across the Organization– It is clear that speech analytics tools can capture data from a large sample size, but the value of all this customer data may not be fully realized if it’s only used to measure agent performance. A best in class Quality Monitoring program combines traditional quality monitoring data with a deeper set of analytics to gather meaningful insights that impact the business far beyond just the customer contact center. This includes correlating data to customer experience measures like CSAT, NPS, and Customer Effort; as well as, sales and operational KPIs, CRM data, complaint data, and agent HR data. By integrating Quality Monitoring results with other key data points, business leaders can identify and address the true root causes of issues like dissatisfaction, customer attrition, and many other problems that can affect the health of the business.

In the end, incorporating both traditional Quality Monitoring and Speech Analytics as an integrated solution can fulfill your company’s needs in a compelling way. Speech Analytics is able to collect data on the transactional part of customer interaction. It can be used easily and effectively for compliance and automation to increase efficiency.  Yet without the integration of traditional Quality Monitoring, the next level insights that truly affect the whole customer experience are not identified or resolved. Powerful information comes from a combined solution that is designed to deliver results.

Northridge can help design a solution for your business that uses an integrated approach to most effectively deliver the business insights that will drive improvements in agent performance, customer experience, and your bottom line. Learn more about our Quality Monitoring solution here or contact us to find out how we can help your organization drive results.