ITeS Processes: BPO, Data Entry, KPO and Customer Support
This domain tests the vocabulary and behaviour of service delivery: how targets are measured, how data entry accuracy is protected, and how a support agent should handle a real complaint.
Process vocabulary
- SLA (Service Level Agreement): the agreed service targets - accuracy, turnaround time, availability, abandonment rate.
- TAT: turnaround time, the elapsed time allowed to finish a task.
- AHT: average handling time per contact. FCR: first contact resolution. CSAT: customer satisfaction score. Shrinkage: paid time not spent handling contacts (breaks, training, absence).
- Escalation matrix: the defined levels and time limits for passing an unresolved issue upward.
- QC/audit sampling: a percentage of transactions is re-checked against a quality scorecard.
Data entry rules
- Work from the source document; preserve case, spacing, punctuation and spelling exactly. You do not "improve" source data.
- Verification methods: double-keying (two operators key the same batch and mismatches are re-checked), field validation, mandatory fields, checksums.
- Alphanumeric and numeric keypads have separate speed benchmarks; accuracy always outranks raw speed.
Customer support sequence
Greet → listen without interrupting → empathise → verify identity and facts in the CRM → resolve or state the exact next step and date → confirm understanding → log and close. Never disclose one customer's data to another caller.
Worked example
An angry customer says a refund has not arrived. The CRM shows it is in process with three working days remaining. Correct handling: acknowledge the frustration, state the verified status and the promised date, offer written confirmation, log the call. Wrong: promising an instant refund you cannot authorise, or blaming another department.
Traps that cost marks
- Promising beyond your authority to calm a caller.
- Treating AHT as the only quality measure - speed must not beat accuracy.
- Confusing SLA (the agreement) with TAT (one time limit inside it).
- "Correcting" data during entry.
- Skipping identity verification before discussing an account.