How Tracking Customer Outliers Can Improve Your Contact Center Operations

Customers can struggle with your website for many reasons. Sometimes, the problem is complex, or the customer may not be very comfortable online. These situations can disrupt contact center operations, especially when teams focus heavily on metrics like Average Handle Time (AHT). Certain customers create outlier cases that skew these metrics and make it harder to understand overall performance.

Tracking these outliers and understanding their impact can help contact centers improve operations and customer satisfaction. Using tools like cobrowsing and screensharing can speed up resolution for complex issues and help customers learn to navigate your site more easily. This post explains why tracking outliers matters, how to identify them, and how to use technology to handle them effectively.

Why Outliers Matter in Contact Centers

Outliers are customer interactions that take significantly longer or require more effort than typical cases. These can be caused by:

• Complex technical problems

• Customers unfamiliar with digital tools

• Unique or rare issues not covered by standard scripts

  
  

When outliers occur, they distort key performance indicators like AHT. For example, if most calls last 5 minutes but a few take 30 minutes, the average increases and may give a misleading picture of efficiency. This can lead to unrealistic targets or pressure on agents.

Ignoring outliers means missing opportunities to improve service for customers who need extra help. Tracking them allows contact centers to:

• Understand how many outliers occur and why

• Measure their impact on overall metrics and operations

• Develop targeted strategies to reduce their frequency and handle time

  
  

By focusing on outliers, contact centers can balance efficiency with quality, ensuring all customers get the support they need.

How to Identify Outliers in Your Contact Center Data

Identifying outliers starts with analyzing your contact center data. Here are practical steps:

• Set thresholds for handle time: Define what counts as an outlier based on your average call duration. For example, calls lasting more than twice the average could be flagged.

• Segment by issue type: Group calls by problem category to see which issues generate the most outliers.

• Look for repeat callers: Customers who call multiple times for the same problem may indicate unresolved complex issues.

• Use agent feedback: Agents can flag calls that felt unusually difficult or time-consuming.

  
  

Once identified, track these outliers over time to spot trends. Are certain issues becoming more common? Are specific customer groups struggling more? This insight helps prioritize improvements.

Using Cobrowsing and Screensharing to Handle Outliers

Cobrowsing and screensharing let agents see and interact with a customer’s screen in real time. These tools are especially useful for outliers because they:

• Speed up problem resolution: Agents can guide customers directly through complex steps instead of explaining over the phone.

• Reduce frustration: Customers feel supported and less confused when they see the agent navigating with them.

• Help customers learn: By watching the agent, customers gain confidence using your site, reducing future calls.

  
  

For example, a customer struggling to complete a payment might take 20 minutes on a call. With cobrowsing, the agent can quickly spot the issue and guide the customer through the process in 5 minutes. This reduces handle time and improves customer experience.

Best Practices for Managing Outliers

To make the most of tracking and handling outliers, contact centers should:

• Train agents on identifying outliers: Help them recognize when a call is an outlier and escalate or use special tools.

• Integrate cobrowsing tools into workflows: Make it easy for agents to launch cobrowsing sessions without disrupting the call.

• Analyze outlier data regularly: Use reports to find patterns and adjust resources or processes.

• Create specialized support teams: Assign experienced agents to handle complex cases or outliers.

• Communicate with customers: Let them know about cobrowsing options and how it can help.

  
  

These steps ensure outliers don’t overwhelm your contact center and that customers get the help they need quickly.

The Impact of Tracking Outliers on Contact Center Metrics

Tracking outliers helps improve several key metrics:

• Average Handle Time (AHT): By isolating outliers, you get a clearer picture of typical call duration and can set realistic targets.

• First Call Resolution (FCR): Using cobrowsing can increase FCR by resolving complex issues on the spot.

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Customers appreciate faster, clearer support, boosting satisfaction scores.

• Agent Efficiency: Agents spend less time stuck on difficult calls and can handle more interactions.

  
  

For example, a contact center that started tracking outliers and using cobrowsing saw a 15% drop in average handle time for complex issues and a 10-point increase in customer satisfaction within six months.

Conclusion

Cobrowsing and screensharing can not only help to transform "outlier" problems into long term, happy customers but also provide a foundation for creating a stable and predictable contact center model that benefits all types of customers.