Why No KPI?
Chris Crosby, Founder & CEO of CX Ventures, joins us to talk about why KPIs today aren’t worth much and how each one can be “gamed”.
He took a different perspective on KPIs and how companies should be focusing on the fundamentals instead.
If you’re focused on the fundamentals of your operation like…
Are your agents showing up on time?
Are they handling calls effectively & efficiently?
Is your management team forecasting accurately?
If you get those right, your KPIs will fall in line as KPIs are just aggregations of the day-to-day operations.
Key takeaways from Chris Crosby
1. “Dashboards are where data goes to die”
Everyone loves dashboards. It shows when something isn’t where it should be.
But then what? An indicator is red, so what does that mean for a manager reviewing the dashboard?
If you focus on the fundamentals as mentioned above, dashboards become irrelevant. And managers can focus on the important aspects of their team instead of refreshing a dashboard.
2. Just because a KPI is missed by an agent, doesn’t mean that they are doing something wrong
Since KPIs are just an aggregation and every “average” can be gamed, this leaves a lot of unknowns in today’s world of KPIs.
Your customers don’t care if you answer the phone at 21 seconds rather than 19 seconds.
However, an agent answering the call on an average of 2 seconds later than the standard KPI could be penalized. Even though they may have the highest conversion rate or highest CSAT score.
3. Let your agents & managers control what they can control
One of the first things Chris recommends is defining what your agents and managers can control and influence.
If your manager isn’t in charge of scheduling, but responsible for agent attendance that’s a no-go.
You can’t hold someone responsible if you don’t give them the authority to be responsible for those things.
It’s time for companies to revisit their team’s KPIs and identify if they can control what they’re being measured on.
