Why Agents Fail
A Contact Center Survey for Understanding Mistakes During Calls
January 14th, 2021
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With an estimated 39,000 contact centers and 3.5 million agents across the country serving as the front-line of businesses, more research into common reasons for mistakes and which training tools are most effective will advance contact center performance and customer satisfaction.
In September 2020, on behalf of Balto, Centiment conducted one of the largest surveys of its kind by surveying over 1,000 contact center agents to identify some of the most common reasons agents make mistakes and which training tools are most effective by the following categories:
- Agent experience level
- Use Case
- Industry
- Company Size
Human Error – Not Training – is #1 Cause of Contact Center Agent Mistakes
From the survey, here are some key findings:
- 66% of agents report that the primary reason they make mistakes on a call is due to human error, while only 34% of agents attribute their mistakes to gaps in company training.
- Agents were 2x more likely to attribute their mistakes to forgetting (24%) than lack of training (12%).
- Agents at larger companies (1,000+) forget the right response 8% more than smaller companies.
- The most helpful training tool for agents is company training (83% find it helpful).
The findings indicate that agents feel they have the training they need, but it isn’t always helping them while they’re live on a call.
As contact centers continue to invest in training and technology, they need to consider which tools will be most effective at solving this problem and providing agents with the guidance they need while they’re live on a call.
