Queue Management Best Practices

As much as we would love to perfectly balance service levels; with occupancy rates, call queues are an inevitable reality in any contact centre. When customers dial an inbound centre at a rate higher than the available agent capacity, they are directed to a virtual call queue. Customers may be actually put on hold while wait music plays, they may interact with an IVR to ensure engagement till an agent is free, or the customer may abandon the call and request a call back while staying on the virtual queue.  

Last year, as call volumes reached an unprecedented peak, it is estimated that call abandonment increased to over 10% due to long queues. Now, as we gradually approach the rebound, it is important to apply queue management best practices to deliver the best possible CX to your callers.  

1. Forecast your headcount requirements accurately – Accurate labour estimates are the first step to keeping call queues short and manageable. You can use predictive tools to analyse historical traffic data and predict demand during potential peak periods
2. Keep the customer informed – Customers always appreciate predictability when the CX follows their expected pathway. Keep the customer informed about their place in the queue so they can psychologically prepare and even plan around the wait time if it is too long
3. Obtain real-time queue metrics – Real-time metrics like the longest call on queue, the average handling time, the average speed of answer, etc. tell agents the kind of demand they are facing and how equipped the contact centre is to address it. This allows them to dynamically adapt their performance and make their way through the queue more efficiently
4. Train agents on cross-channel skills – In a multi-channel contact centre, you will have several queues going at once, across calls, email, etc. By providing agents with cross-channel skill sets, you can manage high volumes on one channel when traffic on a different channel is low. 
5. Ensure there is music on hold – As we mentioned, in a previous article, silence is a CX killer, and hold music can help to manage customers’ perception of time, reduce anxiety, and deliver a branded experience
6. Create a priority queue for high-value customers – Prioritising your most valuable interactions can help keep customer experience quality and ROI in check during peak periods. You can even have a dedicated priority support line that operates with its own team
7. Leverage predictive routing technology – Predictive routing in an automatic call distribution system gauges the team’s average handling time, occupancy rate, incoming traffic volumes, etc., to match in-queue tickets with the perfect agent for timely resolution
8. Focus on FCR, not AHT – While it may seem like a lower average handling time lets you process more calls in a given day, this tactic can actually lower the quality of CX per call. Instead, training agents to focus on first call resolution, so that the same customer doesn’t ring twice, thereby keeping your queue length in check

Finally, remember to invest in quality support and empathy-led service interactions, as customers would be willing to wait in a queue as long as they receive their due attention and efficient resolution.