Should Contact Centers Consider Measuring Average Handling Time (AHT)?

You walk into a restaurant, and you place your order. The waiter was very polite, and he helped you with the description of each item that you ordered.

After taking the order, he tells you that it would take 10 minutes for the order to be ready. Meanwhile, he gives you the option of choosing a fruit punch or soup, which is complimentary. You go with the soup, and it is served promptly.

After 10 minutes, as promised, your food is served.

Here is the catch.

The taste was horrible, and you find it difficult to finish it and go out hungry.

While the staff were polite and the service was great, the food tasted bad.

Now, how would you describe this experience?

Would you rave about the staff and their service promptness?

Or would you complain about the quality of the food served?

Obviously, they did not satisfy you with the food, which is the primary reason for their existence.

The same applies to customer experience across verticals. Suppose you call customer support, and you find the agent to be very polite, empathetic, and professional, but they do not provide a resolution or solve your problems.

Would you be happy with the experience?

Every customer interaction will have to address the larger objective of the customers, which is resolving their issues or challenges, and then comes the experience of how it is done.

For years, I have been hearing that organizations measure a bunch of metrics to ensure they provide exceptional customer experiences. One of the metrics that is spoken about at length is Average Handling Time (AHT).

I have always had reservations about AHT and its relevance in the larger context and in addressing the customer’s larger objectives.

In this article, we will look at everything related to AHT and see if it makes sense for us.

What is the Average Handling Time?

AHT is the time taken by an agent to resolve a customer’s query from the moment the interaction starts to the time it ends, including disposition and after-call tasks.

It is primarily used to measure the agent’s operational efficiency.

The bigger question here is: Does measuring AHT align with the broader goal of improving customer experience, or does it focus too much on internal efficiency?

Why Does It Make Sense to Measure AHT?

Imagine you are running a call center for a retail operation during a peak holiday season. You are getting a large volume of calls on a bunch of mundane things like order tracking to product returns.

In this context, measuring AHT definitely makes sense.

If calls about returns take 8 minutes on average instead of the expected five, this could indicate system issues, unclear return policies, or agents needing better training.

Measuring AHT here can improve the speed and quality of your customer experience.

Let Me Give You Another Example to Emphasize the Need for AHT

Assume that you are an agent in technical support and you are taking more time than other agents in handling technical queries.

With AHT, the organization is able to identify that you are lagging when it comes to complex troubleshooting, as you are spending excessive time on each call.

This is a clear indication that you need to be trained on specific technical topics and need to be provided access to better resources. This can cut the handling times without compromising on the quality of service.

Can It Help in Resource Planning?

Let me give you a use case where it can help with resource planning.

Imagine you are running a financial services organization, and your AHT typically is higher than usual during tax season. Then, you have to staff yourself adequately to handle the incoming queries.

Alternatively, you can look at automation tools to handle simpler queries like tax refunds and payment deadlines, which will allow your agents to handle complex queries.

What Are the Pitfalls of AHT?

AHT Can Hurt Interaction Quality

You call customer care of a healthcare facility regarding a query about your insurance policy. The agent who is under pressure to stick to the defined AHT is rushing you through the conversation instead of providing you with a reasonable resolution.

You start to feel that you are not being provided the attention you and your situation deserves.

You complain about not receiving resolutions as agents are too focused on cutting call times. Likewise, multiple customers complain about the poor customer service.

The healthcare organization decides to shift its focus from AHT to first call resolution (FCR).

This reduces repeat calls and boosts customer satisfaction.

AHT Doesn’t Take Into Account Customer Satisfaction

Assume that all your agents close their calls within the defined AHT of three minutes. While you get to see the amount of time the agents spend on calls, you don’t get to see if your customers are satisfied with the resolutions.

If your customers are not satisfied, they are going to call you back, which is only going to increase their frustration levels.

Instead, if your agent spends 10 minutes instead of the defined three minutes but resolves the customer query, it is going to improve customer satisfaction and enhance their experience.

So, the focus should be more on resolutions while keeping an eye on AHT for operational reasons. As a policy, you should not hold AHTs against your agents.

AHT Measurements – Where Can This Be Justified?

A few use cases where it is 100% justified include:

• If you are primarily focused on transactional queries like order tracking, order returns, balance inquiry, or product availability – AHT measurement will be fully justified.
• If your call center is receiving 1000s of calls every day, then AHT is fully justified as it helps you improve operational efficiency.
• If the queries are simple and repetitive, then AHT is justified. For example, if you are a corporation collecting property tax or water tax, then AHT becomes a critical metric.

Should You Invest Time in Measuring AHT?

I am sure your primary goal is to improve the customer experience. In this case, AHT should be one of the metrics to measure operational efficiency. However, it should be combined with other forward-looking metrics to ensure that you offer exceptional customer experiences.

You should focus on customer-centric metrics like:

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): This metric directly measures how happy your customers are after interacting with your agents.
• First Call Resolution (FCR): This measures whether the customer queries are resolved in one interaction, which is a strong indicator of efficient service.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): This measures how likely your customers are to recommend your company based on the overall experience.

I have always been perplexed by this statement: Smoking helps me feel more alert and awake.

Is there a truth to this?

There certainly is, as nicotine acts as a stimulant to help you feel more alert and awake. I have discounted all the ill effects of smoking here.

Likewise, AHT does have a role to play, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. It can be used as a diagnostic tool to spot inefficiencies and plan resources, and it shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow the quality of service your customers receive.

For a truly customer-centric approach, you should combine AHT with other metrics like CSAT, FCR, and NPS to get a holistic view of your operational efficiency and customer experience.