INSIGHT | CUSTOMER SERVICE AND CHANGE
50% fewer call transfers. No increase in handling time.
Customers should not have to be transferred simply because an internal procedure says so.
Talk to Roger01
When the rules got in the way
In one of my previous leadership roles, we dealt with a familiar problem: too many calls were being passed between departments, even when some enquiries could have been handled by the first team.
Sometimes staff were not following the agreed procedures. In other cases, the procedures themselves encouraged agents to transfer a call before trying to resolve it.
02
Not every transfer is unnecessary
Cancellation calls still needed to go to the retention team. Technical issues requiring specialist support still belonged with second-line support.
But when the knowledge was already available in the frontline operation, there was no reason to send the customer elsewhere as a matter of routine.
03
Change the procedures and support the team
We revised procedures that caused unnecessary transfers and coached employees where existing procedures were not being followed. The aim was to help the team resolve appropriate enquiries directly, without preventing transfers when specialist help was needed.
04
The result: 50% fewer transfers
Call transfers fell by 50%. Average handling time, or AHT, remained unchanged.
For me, the lesson was about questioning how work gets done. The goal was never to eliminate every transfer. It was to stop internal boundaries getting in the customer's way.
This result comes from a previous leadership role, not a REM Consulting client project. It does not predict what another business could achieve.
Have unnecessary handoffs become normal in your operation?
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