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3 Top QA Scoring Tips for New Evaluators
Listening to a huge range of customer interactions and scoring each one quickly, fairly, accurately and consistently is no easy task.
That’s why so many evaluators find scoring difficult when they start – and that’s nothing to be ashamed of!
If you’re a newly appointed evaluator in a contact centre – or you have a couple in your team – rest assured that with a bit of practice and the right support, scoring interactions well is more than possible to get the hang of.
Building up this bank of experience takes time, but there are a few techniques that you can apply immediately to help you get on top of scoring. So, we can’t promise the tips below will take you all the way – but they will provide a solid foundation on which to improve.
Here are EvaluAgent’s top tips for new evaluators:
1. First, Listen to or Read the Interaction Without Scoring
Filling in a QA scorecard without knowing what’s going to happen next is stressful and often results in inconsistent scoring as you struggle to keep up with the flow of the interaction.
Avoid the temptation to evaluate as many interactions as you can in a short space of time. Allow yourself the space to listen to or read through each interaction entirely without so much as glancing at the scorecard. This will give you an overall sense of the tone of the conversation, as well as a vague sense of its success.
Must read: EvaluAgent’s Complete Guide to QA Scoring
Only start scoring on the second look through. Knowing what’s coming next will reduce pressure and allow you to focus on scoring fairly and consistently.
This is particularly true for voice-based interactions like phone or video – but it’s also worth reading email conversations and live chats through before scoring. This will help you remain consistent and give you some much-needed thinking time between each evaluation.
2. Take It One Item At A Time
“One item at a time” is a very simple – but very effective – mantra for QA evaluators everywhere.
You will likely be scoring many, many interactions over the course of the day, which can definitely be taxing if you don’t take a considered approach. Focusing on several lines at once, or skipping back and forth over the course of the interaction, is much more likely to cause tiredness and confusion than taking a step-by-step approach.
If it helps – avoid looking at your workload for the day overall and simply focus on the next interaction. Long lists of interactions to score can increase stress. Reduce yours.
3. Collaboration Is Key
The best contact centres are collaborative, from senior management right down to agent level.
This is particularly true in the case of QA scoring. You are working within a team of evaluators, all of whom are tasked with providing consistent and fair feedback to agents working on the front line. You won’t be able to achieve this without some degree of communication and discussion.
There are official channels for this – the more calibration sessions you can get yourself into, the better idea you’ll have of what passes for a great interaction across the business. You can use this information to feed back into your own scoring, so that it becomes more reflective of your contact centre’s objectives.
However, It’s also important to mention informal methods here too! Day-to-day discussion with your fellow evaluators is a great way to ensure consistency and expand your knowledge and experience in the area.
You could compare samples with other evaluators, or simply share questions and advice conversationally – the break room over a hot drink is a great place to do this, as are MS Teams/Slack channels if you’re working remotely!
By Tom Palmer
Tom is EvaluAgent’s Head of Digital and takes the lead on developing and implementing our digital and content management strategies which results in creating a compelling, digital-first customer marketing experience.
