Improving efficiency in a contact centre doesn’t always require major investment. Small but strategic changes can make a big impact.
By focusing on smarter processes and better use of existing resources, contact centres can enhance both agent performance and customer satisfaction.
To find out more, we asked Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact, for some key tips that contact centres can use to speed up Average Handling Time (AHT).
Video: How Can You Speed Up Average Handling Time?
Watch the video below to hear Ben outline two tips contact centres can use to reduce Average Handling Time (AHT):
With thanks to Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact, for contributing to this video.
Two Tips to Speed Up AHT
There are two key ways to enhance performance with minimal cost: directing interactions to the right agent and improving agent training and knowledge.
1. Routing Interactions to the Right Agent
Getting customer queries to the most suitable agent is essential. This can be done by refining IVR menus, webchat prompts, or email routing.
Asking a few extra questions at the start helps ensure that customers reach the person best equipped to solve their issue.
“The first is to get the right interactions with the agent that can solve the problem. So either through your IVR or your webchat asking those extra few questions.
Or whether it be an email that comes in, where you read the content of the email, and you get it through to the agent that can solve the interaction, even sometimes by sacrificing the average wait time.”
While this may sometimes increase wait times slightly, it reduces the need for transfers and repeat contacts, ultimately improving resolution rates and customer satisfaction.
2. Enhancing Agent Training and Knowledge
Once an interaction reaches an agent, they need to have the right knowledge and tools to resolve the issue quickly, as Ben explains:
“Then the second one is training and knowledge.
Once that interaction gets through to the agent, having the agent who can solve the problem, but also has the tools available to them quickly in order to get the information to solve the problem is becoming pivotal in this day and age, with more complex problems becoming apparent in the contact centre.”
With contact centres handling more complex queries, access to clear and up-to-date information is crucial.
Effective training, combined with easy-to-use knowledge bases, enables agents to work efficiently and provide accurate responses without unnecessary delays.
If you are looking for more great video insights from the experts, check out these videos next:
- Examples of Tone of Voice in Action
- What Is Call Centre Agent Burnout and What Are the Signs?
- What Is Conversation Analytics?
Author: Ben Booth
Reviewed by: Robyn Coppell
Published On: 14th Feb 2023 - Last modified: 30th Apr 2025
Read more about - Video, Average Handling Time (AHT), Ben Booth, MaxContact, Videos
