The 7 Quality Tools in BPO For Customer Satisfaction

What do quality tools in BPO have to do with winning wars? Quite a lot, it turns out.  

Let’s travel back for a moment to World War II. The United States had been shipping large volumes of equipment overseas, but this equipment was hastily made, and was largely low-quality and in some cases, defective. The military realized that the outcomes of battles were directly tied to the quality of the equipment being manufactured back home, and that this was hurting the war effort. 

The realization resulted in a focus on quality and the development of better tools and processes. This started with statistical sampling, then grew into quality control techniques, and in turn, was adopted by and built upon by Japan in the post-war years. In response to Japanese advances in quality, the U.S. developed Total Quality Management, and quality management tools and practices have become a key business component ever since. 

In the context of quality control, BPOs are no different from those behind military efforts, and quality tools in BPO have become a key element in driving customer satisfaction. In this article, we’ll look at 7 quality tools in BPO that you should consider implementing if you have not already. 

What are quality tools in the BPO? 

Quality tools in BPOs help these organizations continually improve the quality of the service they are providing and increase customer satisfaction.  

Quality tools in BPO are focused on constant improvement, standardizing the customer experience, delivering delightful customer experiences, and empowering agents to efficiently deliver client results.  

The importance and benefits of quality tools in BPO 

Running BPO operations can be extremely challenging. There are clients with high expectations and BPO agents that need to be motivated, educated, and engaged – and all of this must happen on tight deadlines and on a constant basis.  

The benefits of implementing quality tools in BPO are immense and include: 

• Increased customer satisfaction 
• Fewer errors, complaints, and having to re-do work 
• Increased efficiency and better use of resources 
• Cost savings 
• Better risk management 
• Gaining a decisive advantage over competitors 

7 Key Quality Tools in BPO 

There are seven well-known quality tools in BPO that successful organizations have leveraged. While there is a perception that quality management applies to physical goods or manufacturing, these tools and methodologies are equally applicable to the services provided by BPOs.  

Six Sigma  

Six Sigma is a data-driven methodology aimed at improving process performance by identifying and eliminating variations and establishing consistency. It utilizes statistical analysis and tools to measure and analyze processes, set performance goals, and implement improvement initiatives, ultimately leading to increased efficiency and customer satisfaction. 

Lean Methodology 

Lean methodology focuses on streamlining processes to achieve operational efficiency. It emphasizes the continuous flow of value, and empowering employees to identify and eliminate non-value-added activities. By optimizing resources, Lean methodology aims to improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance customer value. 

Total Quality Management (TQM) 

TQM is a management approach that emphasizes the continuous improvement of quality throughout all aspects of an organization. It involves a holistic view of quality, involving every employee in the pursuit of excellence, customer satisfaction, and ongoing process improvement. TQM principles encompass areas such as customer focus, continuous improvement, employee involvement, and a systematic approach to decision-making. 

Quality Management Systems (QMS) 

QMS is built around establishing quality objectives, quality control measures, and constant improvement of processes. It includes well-known frameworks such as ISO 9001. 

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) 

The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic management framework that incorporates a balanced set of performance indicators to measure and manage organizational performance. It goes beyond financial metrics and includes non-financial aspects like customer satisfaction, internal processes, and learning and growth. The BSC enables organizations to align their activities with strategic objectives, monitor progress, and make data-driven decisions to improve overall performance. 

Statistical Process Control (SPC) 

SPC is a statistical technique used to monitor and control processes to ensure their stability and predictability. By understanding and controlling process variations, SPC helps organizations maintain consistent quality and identify opportunities for improvement. 

Kaizen 

“Kaizen” is a Japanese term that translates to “continuous improvement.” It is a philosophy that encourages small, incremental changes and involvement of all employees to enhance productivity, efficiency, and quality. Kaizen promotes a culture of ongoing improvement by empowering employees to identify and solve problems, and make suggestions for process enhancements, resulting in sustained improvements over time. 

Implementing Quality Tools in BPO with Centrical 

Quality tools in a BPO start with investing in your agents. By empowering, motivating, upskilling, and engaging your employees, you can achieve the results you are looking for from a quality management and customer satisfaction perspective. 

Centrical offers everything a BPO needs in one place to boost employee performance, customer satisfaction, and revenue, including:

Consistent and Connected Quality Management Traditionally, the quality management experience has been disconnected, static, transactional, and does not optimize the full value that QM processes can bring to organizations. The Centrical platform enables a customized experience with flexible forms, timely coaching and learning recommendations, a robust feedback loop, and more.  

Targeted Microlearning To deliver a quality customer experience, it is important to reinforce agent training at a regular cadence, and provide additional training as needed. The Centrical platform’s AI-powered microlearning enables agents to train, upskill, and cross-skill faster by delivering bite-sized learning within the flow of work. 

Transparency into Performance Both employees and managers have insights into qulaity scorecards, as well as progress against other goals. This enables employees to gauge where they are and how they can improve performance, and managers to deliver the best coaching actions when needed.  

Augmented Coaching To optimize its value as a quality tool in BPO, coaching sessions must be frequent, actionable, and delivered at the time of need. Centrical delivers AI-powered coaching that brings meaningful, actionable discussions with automated manager insights, learning recommendations, and a continuous feedback loop. (Learn more about Centrical’s Digital Coach.) 

A Gamified Approach When tied to learning and goals, gamification helps motivate and engage employees and boost performance for everyone, from quality assurance teams to supervisors to agents. The Centrical platform offers advanced gamification, which goes beyond the leaderboard and includes healthy team and individual competitions, earning points and badges, passing levels, social sharing, recognition and rewards, and more. 

Learn more about gamification with the 2024 gamification guide. And if you are starting your enterprise gamification journey, this buyer’s guide has helpful tips and an evaluation checklist.

Efficient and Scalable Content Creation Part of quality tools in the BPO is creating quality frontline training materials. But this can’t always be done as quickly as needed, or at scale. With AI Microlearning, admins can leverage generative AI to quickly create training materials when a need is recognized (such as when there are many low quality scores in a common area, or to reflect regulatory changes).  

Centrical clients have seen a number of benefits, including 50% improvement in time-to-proficiency, 23% less attrition, and a 20% decrease in average issue resolution times. 

Watch the Centrical platform in action with a quick preview.  

Key Takeaways and Summary: Quality Tools in a BPO Start Here 

Implementing quality tools in a BPO can give organizations a sustainable advantage over competitors and drive long-term customer satisfaction. Below are a few takeaways: 

• The evolution of quality tools can be traced back to U.S. military efforts during World War II and were built upon post war 
• While quality tools were developed for the military, these processes and practices have served customer-facing organizations, including BPOs 
• By offering a high quality of service, and evaluating that quality consistently, organizations can drive significant results, including higher CSAT rates 
• The key to quality management and improvement is investing in the agent and supervisor experience 

Centrical is the leading way in which quality assurance teams, agents, and supervisors can be engaged, motivated, and inspired to improve on a daily basis. Quality tools in BPO start with implementing Centrical in your organization. See the platform in action with a quick preview and request your personalized demo today.