What are the most common mistakes when tracking average handle time?

1 Mistake 1: Ignoring outliers

One of the most common mistakes when tracking AHT is ignoring outliers, or extreme values that are much higher or lower than the average. Outliers can skew the AHT and make it seem more or less than it really is. For example, if an agent has a very long call that lasts an hour, this can inflate the AHT and make it seem like the service desk is slow and inefficient. On the other hand, if an agent has a very short call that lasts a few seconds, this can deflate the AHT and make it seem like the service desk is fast and effective. However, these outliers may not reflect the typical customer experience or the agent's performance. Therefore, it is important to identify and exclude outliers from the AHT calculation, or use a median instead of a mean to reduce their impact.

2 Mistake 2: Comparing apples to oranges

Another common mistake when tracking AHT is comparing apples to oranges, or different types of customer interactions that have different characteristics and expectations. For example, comparing the AHT of phone calls to the AHT of chats or emails is not fair or meaningful, because each channel has different advantages and disadvantages, such as speed, convenience, clarity, and complexity. Similarly, comparing the AHT of different types of issues or customers is not valid, because some issues may require more investigation, explanation, or follow-up than others, and some customers may have more questions, feedback, or complaints than others. Therefore, it is important to segment and compare AHT by channel, issue type, customer segment, and other relevant factors.

3 Mistake 3: Focusing on quantity over quality

A third common mistake when tracking AHT is focusing on quantity over quality, or prioritizing the number of interactions over the quality of service and customer satisfaction. While AHT can be a useful indicator of efficiency and productivity, it should not be the only or the main goal of the service desk. Reducing AHT at the expense of quality can have negative consequences, such as lower customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention, higher customer churn and complaints, lower agent morale and motivation, and higher agent turnover and burnout. Therefore, it is important to balance AHT with other metrics that measure quality, such as customer satisfaction (CSAT), first contact resolution (FCR), net promoter score (NPS), and customer effort score (CES).