Insights & Impact Ep.5: Reducing Average Handling Times (AHT)

By Matt McGillicuddy
25 May 2023

3 min read

Every month we sit down with our Head of Insights, Chris Browne, to take a deep dive into the world of Conversation Analytics. In this episode, we’re chatting about reducing Average Handle Times (AHT) in contact centres. Chris talks about how you can easily pinpoint the calls that aren’t being dealt with as efficiently as possible and leverage this data to create efficiencies in processes and ultimately reduce AHT.

P.S. If you haven’t listened to our first episode on Conversation Analytics yet, we highly recommend hitting pause and listening to that first. Listen now.

We recently surveyed 2,000 UK consumers and 40% of respondents said long wait times were the main source of frustration. To add to that, 84% of people said they’d be less likely to return to a brand after having a poor call experience.

This just goes to show that – if you’re not actively looking at ways to reduce Average Handle Times (AHT) – you run the risk of losing out on repeat customers. Not to mention, every minute your agents spend handling calls is money you’re spending. It’s generally around a £1 per minute, so you’re literally burning cash if you’re not dealing with calls as efficiently as you could be.

Like Chris said, once you know what’s leading to long AHT, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to reduce it. Result? Your customers get a better experience, and get your contact centre running like a slick and well-oiled machine.

Keen to learn more about how Conversation Analytics will help you decrease Average Handling Times (AHT)? Start a conversation with us today.