When we talk about After Call Work , we refer to all those tasks that are carried out in the contact center after a phone call with a customer. In this article you will find all the information you need to incorporate best practices and thus optimize your ACW processes.
What is After Call Work (ACW)
As mentioned before, After Call Work concens all those tasks that an agent or adviser does after interacting with a client in a phone call. We are talking about everything that agents write down or do after they finish speaking with a customer, such as: why did he/she call, the result of the call, follow-up actions to be carried out, etc..
To sum up, it is a series of actions that, although in many cases we do not attribute a specific name to them, configure this activity which is called After Call Work .
But who performs this set of actions? As you can imagine, the profile is very broad, since it can encompass both freelance professionals and companies with large contact centers. Therefore, in short, any professional who uses the telephone for work matters should know this term and learn to correctly manage the data derived from it.
As we will now see, a good management of the After Call Work will have a positive impact on the process of transforming the contact center into a true center at the service of the customer experience.
Tasks covered by the ACW
The tasks covered by the ACW are not always the same, since they depend on the type of work being carried out in each specific case. However, some of the main tasks are: the reason for the call, what product the customer is interested in, available budget, how did he/she got to know the company, what information is pending to be sent, fill in any pending forms, etc .
Basically, you should write down and ask yourself everything that is considered essential to work with that client. Therefore, it is necessary that you adapt the ACW to the specific requirements and needs of your company.
It should be taken into account that, in ACD systems (Automatic Call Distributor, Automatic Call Distribution), while an agent is working on After Call Work tasks, he will not be available to answer any other incoming calls, which will be reflected in its status.
How much time should be spent on After Call Work?
Naturally, the ACW will not always have the same duration , since, even if we try to orient the customer in one direction, it can always end up lengthening the call.
Nevertheless, there are 4 factors that clearly influence the duration of the ACW:
- The sector. Obviously, not all companies do the same thing or need to invest the same time in this task. Sectors such as banking or technology tend to require greater dedication to ACW. However, it will also depend on how the service is optimized or the amount of information that is requested from the customer.
- The type of call . Not all calls are of the same type, nor do they require the same tasks. For example, the After Call Work of an informative call should be shorter than that of an incident.
- The internal processes . Certainly, internal processes can also prolong response time. For example, if the agent is required to add additional customer information to the system. In this case, the company should make an effort to optimize these processes in order to reduce the time that must be invested after each phone call.
- The agent behavior . Each person can have a bad day and therefore make mistakes or work more slowly. In addition, each agent will have a different level of experience, knowledge, typing speed, attitude, etc.
Regarding the ideal time that should be devoted to this task, the experts assure that the less time is invested in the ACW, the better . This is because it is better for the agent to do most of the work during the call. This saves time and also provides greater confidence to the client, who watches as the agent records all the details of their case.
How to reduce the time dedicated to ACW?
To minimaze the time used in the ACW, is interesting to take into account the following recommendations:
- Execute part of the ACW during the call . The essential thing in this situation is to try to find a suitable balance, so that the call is not unnecessarily lengthened or affects the quality of the service or the customer experience .
- It can be useful to prepare a guide to cover each of the calls, even while you are talking to the customer and as the information is requested. Thus, you can write down your email, the reason for the call, what products you are interested in, the maximum available budget; in short, what is considered to be of the greatest interest to the company.
- It may also be interesting to establish a standard abbreviation guide so that agents can type faster and therefore minimize ACW time.
- It is important not to write down anything that the client has not said and to avoid personal opinions . Otherwise, the time spent on After Call Work could be lengthened in a totally unnecessary and unproductive way.
- In certain cases, it may be necessary to implement a timer to prevent the time spent on After Call Work from getting out of control.
In any case, as the company and the agents acquire experience , the results will be reflected in the efficiency and speed of the ACW. Therefore, the sooner you undertake the review of your post-call processes, the sooner you will see the results.
In short, After Call Work optimization will allow you to better manage customer information, refine unnecessary data, minimize waiting times and, ultimately, get more satisfied customers. Without a doubt, the effort is worth it.
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