Call Center Agent Scorecard Templates

By Makenna Rose | August 12, 2019

Agent scorecards are a go-to tool for creating a strong, successful call center team. Like any other tool, your performance tracking forms should be set up for your call center team’s specific standards and use-cases. Today we’re covering the most common mistakes that lead to inaccurate or ineffective feedback for your agents, based on nearly 20 years of experience helping contact centers improve team performance through cloud-based call center software. We know how beneficial this call center coaching tool is when used correctly, and wanted to provide some guidance to create a better workplace. Looking for call center agent scorecard templates to help you get started? We’ve included a download link for 6 sample call center performance scorecards at the bottom of this article!

• Overview of Call Center Agent Performance Metrics
• Automated vs. Manual Scorecards
• Common Scorecard Mistakes
• Example Scorecard Templates Based on your Communication Channel
• Matching Scorecards by Department
• Download Your Free Agent Scorecard Templates

Overview of Call Center Agent Performance Metrics

Non-scorecard Metrics

Be mindful that scorecard metrics and templates are best used in conjunction with an overall performance tracker. Before diving into the different style scorecards, it’s important to note some other metrics to score employees on to ensure they are working up to the company’s expectations. Some of these metrics include tartiness, calling out at the last minute repeatedly, etc. It’s important to pick up on trends that might be occurring with your employees and figure out what might be causing certain behaviors.

Main Categories of your Agent Scorecard

It is important for your scorecards to reflect the department your agent is working in. It would be unfair to score someone working in sales the same as someone working in customer service the same since their jobs require different sets of skills. However, there are main categories that can be listed on scorecards disregarding the department. The main categories are as followed:

• Greetings: Agents politely greeted the customer using the company script they learned in training. This script will include an introduction of themselves and the company, in addition to thanking the customer for calling. The most important part of the script is to let the customer know that the call is being recorded.
• Account Verification: correctly ask the caller questions in order to gather information to verify that you are working with the right account.
• Contact Information: In addition to verifying their account, it is important to refresh the caller’s contact information such as their email address, phone number, etc. to avoid miscommunication down the road.
• Customer Service Quality: Personalize the call with the customer, use their name when speaking with them know you are engaged in the call and listening to what they have to say. Repeating specific details back to the customer is a great way to avoid miscommunication.
• Wrapping it up & Following-up: Once the problem has been resolved, ask the customer if there is anything else that you can assist them with and properly thank them again for reaching out. If the problem needs further assistance, create a follow-up appointment that is mutually beneficial to both parties.

Automated vs. Manual Scorecards

Manual Scorecards

When using manual scorecards supervisors physically listen to the conversation between the customer and the agent through either live call monitoring or call recording. They then rate the agent based on what they heard throughout the call.

• Pros: Manual scorecards are extremely accurate
• Cons: it is impossible to listen to every conversation occurring throughout your businesses call center, it takes a lot of time to listen and score a conversation

Automated Scorecards

Automated scorecards are when the software is installed and it listens to each call that goes through the call center. It is programmed to pick up on specific words, phrases or if there any silences. The agent’s score might get docked points if they didn’t correctly greet the customer with the company script, took too long to respond, etc.

• Pros: Automated scorecards pick up on trends based on agent performances making the metrics easily comparable. This type of scorecard saves managers a lot of time because a robot is essentially performing the job they would if they used a manual scorecard.
• Cons: Since a robot cannot make logical decisions, automated scorecards are less accurate. Single handly using automated scorecards to measure agent performances can lead to a decrease in employee morale. Agents will strive to get the highest score rather than putting the customer’s needs first.

To get the most accurate score for your agents it is suggested to use both manual and automated scorecards. A great way to utilize both scorecards efficiently is to use the automated scorecard to pick up on trends and then manually take a look at the top performers and the low performers. Those with next to perfect scores every time might have perfected the script and robotically repeat it on every customer call regardless of the customer’s needs. Those with low scores might be addressing the customer’s needs and getting docked points for not strictly following the script. For example, if a customer calls and begins the conversation stating their issue in their introduction before you have even had a chance to speak (which is fairly common), you wouldn’t then reply with a script asking them their problem. That wastes both party’s time and the agent shouldn’t be penalized for humanizing the caller’s experience by drifting from the company script to appropriately accommodate the caller.

Common Scorecard Mistakes

Scorecards are an excellent tool to use for your call center agent if they are used correctly, However, there are several common mistakes that can lead to inaccurately scoring your agents.

Creating one scorecard to be used in various departments

• It is important to create department-specific scorecards to accurately score agents on their obligations.

Using too many metrics

• If you begin scoring agents on too many metrics it begins to create confusion between agents as to what is most important. Agents will begin to focus primarily on the metrics and customers become their secondary priority when it should be vise versa. The key is to try to stay under 15 different metrics.

Unrealistic Scripts

• By requiring agents to follow scripts throughout the entire call it makes them sound robotic and becomes harder to connect and build a relationship with customers.

Interpretation of the metrics

• It is important to clearly describe what you are measuring in your metrics. It is a great idea to use examples of calls that not only done properly but also ones that are incorrect to point out where the agent could have done things better.

Forgetting your agents are humans, not robots

• Not every customer is going to be satisfied after their problem is resolved, some customers might need more time to cool down than others. Instead of scoring your agents on customer happiness, try scoring them on customer effort. Measure your agents on what they CAN control rather than on what they can’t.

Using only one scoring style

• As we discussed earlier the most effective way to score agents is to use a combined method of automated and manual scoring. It is also a great idea to use your other coaching tools such as live call monitoring or call whisper to develop a strong, successful call center.

Example Scorecard Templates Based on your Communication Channel

There are two main types of communication channels in call centers, phone calls, and chat conversations. Take a look at a sample scorecard for each scenario below.

Sample Phone Scorecards Template

Communication Skills

• No silence pauses
• De-escalates the issue
• Speaks clearly
• Displays confidence
• Uses empathetic phrases/ words

Process

• Did the agent follow appropriate procedures
• Retrieve the accurate information in the process of resolving the conflict
• Was the call handled or correctly transferred to a different department

Product Competencies

• Accurately got to the root fo the problem/ investigated the issue
• Administered all relevant information to the customer
• Resolved the customer’s issue

Call Etiquette

• Positive, energetic and enthusiastic tone
• Proper mannerism — polite, patient

Wrap-up

• Reviewed all the actions taken with the customer
• Asked if the customer has any other questions and politely thanked them for calling

Sample Chat Scorecards Template

Chat Etiquette

• Punctually answered the customer with the proper greeting
• Did the agent ask follow-up questions to ensure they understood the problem
• Informs the customer of the steps that will be taken to solve the problem
• Thank the customer for chatting

Resolution

• Did the agent give the customer the correct information
• Was the question asked accurately and efficiently answer to the agents best ability
• Rapport building
• Used proper chat etiquette
• Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation
• Displayed compassionate responses

Process

• Did the agent take time to explain the process to the customer
• Did the agent pull up relevant records to assist the customer
• Correctly follow the guidelines set in place by the company for answering questions
• Mentioning new products or services
• Agent checks to see if there is anything else they can do for the customer

Wrapping-up

• Offered to assist with anything else they might need
• Thanked the customer for chatting

Matching Scorecards by Department

It wouldn’t be fair to score agents handling customer service calls the same as someone in sales, which is why it is important to use specified scorecards based on that department’s obligations. Below are several sample scorecards to use in various departments.

Customer Service Scorecard Templates

Greeting

• Introduces themselves and the company
• Retrieved the customer’s account number & correctly identified the caller in the system
• Effectively transferred the caller if needed

Problem Solving

• Asked relevant questions to receive more information about the issue at hand
• Showed empathy and took fault for the problem and apologized for the inconvenience
• Gave the customer an appropriate time frame for the problem to be resolved
• Followed the companies hold procedures

Call Etiquette

• Did not interrupt the customer
• Remained confident, displayed patience, and proper mannerism
• Refrained from using any type of slang or jargon
• Spoke clearly, using the appropriate tone
• Went the extra mile for the customer

Wrap-Up

• Reviewed all the actions taken with the customer
• Asked if the customer has any other questions and politely thanked them for calling

Related: Call Center Software for Customer Service

For the extensive list of scorecard templates, check out our full Call Center Agent Scorecard Template guide for a free downloadable agent scorecard template to use today!