As well as the Call Centre Ranking results below, ACXPA Members also have access to a range of additional insights, including all the monthly reports, trend data, additional performance metrics, a downloadable spreadsheet and lots more!
Australian TAFEs October 2023 Call Centre Rankings
October 2023 was the third consecutive month of reporting on the Call Centre performance of Australian TAFEs, where we conducted mystery shopping calls to a minimum of six different TAFEs across Australia.
You can read more about the assessment criteria and methodology here, but the quick version is we make random mystery shopping calls posing as real customers and assess both accessibility (how easy it was to connect) and the customer service/quality of the interaction when speaking to a live agent across 48 different performance metrics.
Just scroll below for additional insights or use the links below to jump directly to a section.
Call Centre Rankings Key:
POOR
BELOW STANDARD
MEETS STANDARDS
EXCEEDS STANDARD
OUTSTANDING
TAFE’s Overall Rankings (October 2023)
The Overall Score Rankings provide insights into the Contact Centres of Australian TAFEs we assessed as being the best in their sector.
Each of the mystery shopping calls we make is assessed against 48 different criteria and the calls are made by our local (Australian-based) trained assessors at random times and days throughout the month.
The Overall Score is determined by combining the two primary component scores below and applying some proprietary weightings that place a higher emphasis on the quality of the interaction:
- Accessibility Score – measures the experience of connecting to a live contact centre agent.
- Quality Score – measures the experience of the interaction with a contact centre agent.
Key Findings – Overall Scores, TAFE’s (October 2023)
- Accessibility across the sector declined in October 2023 with a score of 75.4% (a decrease of 11.6% from September results); however, as Accessibility results declined across all sectors, that result still made TAFEs the easiest of all sectors we measured to connect to a live customer service employee.
- After having the lowest quality score for all sectors in September 2023, quality did improve in October 2023 to 56.6%, an increase of 4.7%, which is the best result since we commenced reporting on TAFEs in August 2023. Whilst the improvement is good news, there is still a lot of room for improvement, with TAFE’s second lowest quality ranking of all industry sectors (Car Insurance was the lowest in October 2023 at 43.7%).
- Put simply, TAFEs were the easiest sector to reach a live person in, but when you do, the quality of customer service is ‘Below Standard’.
- Accessibility scores ranged from 51.7% (TAFE QLD) to 97.5% (TasTAFE).
- Quality Scores ranged from 39.2% (TAFE QLD) to 83.3% (Holmesglen Vic).
- Overall, Holmesglen TAFE was ranked the highest of all the TAFEs we assessed (85.6%), with TAFE QLD the lowest at 32.9%.
- In September 2023, across the sector, 100% of the mystery shopping calls we made were answered within 10 minutes. However, in October 2023, this decreased to 88.9%, with both TAFE WA and TAFE QLD failing to answer 33% of the calls made within 10 minutes.
- Average Wait Times increased across the TAFE sector in October 2023, following their best result ever in September 2023. On average, customers waited 02:05 minutes (up from 01:14 minutes last month).
- The Average Wait Time ranged from 00:15 minutes (TasTAFE) to 04:54 minutes (TAFE QLD), which had the longest wait times each month for the previous quarter.
- Of the five Quality Competencies we assess using the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards, the ‘Engage’ competency was the lowest rating (33.3%), with ‘Energy’ the highest at 79.9%.
- TasTAFE was the only TAFE without an IVR. TAFE QLD had the most layers (three), and across the TAFE sector, menu navigation took an average of 00:23 minutes.
- Pre- and post-IVR messaging (i.e., recorded announcements) added an additional 00:18 minutes to each call, with TAFE SA having the longest at 00:49 minutes.
- Talk time averaged 05:52 across all TAFE, ranging from 03:56 minutes to 08:01 minutes.
- View the monthly trend data for TAFEs here >
TAFE’s Accessibility Rankings (October 2023)
The Call Centre Accessibility Rankings are designed to assess the ease of the phone experience for customers who want to speak to a live person to discuss their education requirements.
The Accessibility Score measures the experience before interacting with a live agent with our assessment including 30 individual elements grouped into five core components: Search, Design, Ease, Audio and Timing (along with deductions for calls not being answered within thresholds, technical glitches, etc).
Elements including queue wait times, how easy it was to find the phone number, ease of menu options (i.e. press 1 for this, 2 for that), hold music, audio quality, etc.
Key Findings – Accessibility Scores, TAFE’s (October 2023)
Overall, the Accessibility of TAFE’s was rated as ‘Met Standard’ with a score of 75.4%, their lowest results since we commenced reporting in August 2023 with a 13.4% decrease from their September 2023 results.
Despite the lower result, TAFE’s were still ranked the most accessible of all industry sectors; the next best was Councils at 73.6%.
- The best TAFE for Accessibility in October 2023 was TasTAFE, with a score of 97.5%, the third consecutive month they have led the sector and their best result to date. And even more impressive, 97.5% was the highest result of ALL contact centres we assessed in October 2023!
- The lowest-ranked TAFE for Accessibility in October 2023 was TAFE QLD, with a score of 51.7%. This is the third consecutive month they have been assessed with the lowest score and their lowest score to date.
- After answering 100% of all the mystery shopping calls we made within 10 minutes in September 2023, in October 2023, the TAFE sector only answered 88.9% of calls, with both TAFE WA and TAFE QLD failing to answer all the calls we made within the threshold.
- The average wait time to connect to a TAFE was 02:05 minutes (an increase of 00:51 minutes from the previous month), with TasTAFE achieving the quickest average wait time of 00:15 minutes.
- On average, an additional 00:23 minutes was required to navigate the IVR menus, with TAFE NSW taking the longest at 00:49 minutes.
- TasTAFE was the only TAFE assessed in October 2023 not to have an IVR.
- In addition to the time spent navigating the menu and waiting for the call to be answered, TAFE’s pre-recorded messaging added an average of 00:18 minutes to each call, with TAFE SA the longest with 00:48 minutes.
- Talk time across all TAFEs averaged 05:52 minutes, an increase from the previous month (+00:51 minutes)
TAFE’s Quality Rankings (October 2023)
While average wait times are important, what happens during the call has a large influence on the satisfaction of the customer.
And whilst there appears to be a push by some TAFE’s to try and move people away from the phone channel, a number of recent studies have shown that over 70% of consumers surveyed said that speaking to a real person instead of a chatbot is highly important, so when it comes to trying to secure new business, providing customers with a seamless experience on their preferred channel should be high on the priority list!
The Quality Insights Score (QIS) measures the experience received during the interaction with the live contact centre agent across five core competencies (Engage, Discover, Educate, Close and Energy) and 18 individual behaviours as defined in the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards.
Key Findings – Quality Scores, TAFE’s (October 2023)
When assessed against the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards, the TAFE sector was assessed as ‘Below Standard’ for Quality with score of 56.6%, their best recorded score to date.
- The top-ranked TAFE for Quality in October 2023 was Holmesglen (Vic) with 83.3%, the best-recorded score for any TAFE since we commenced, and the third-best score nationally in October 2023.
- The lowest-ranked TAFE was TAFE QLD, with 39.2%.
- Holmesglen (Vic) was the most improved from the previous month, with an increase of 18.9% (64.4% to 83.3%). This is the second consecutive month they’ve had the largest improvement in quality.
- The largest decrease from the previous month was in TAFE QLD, with a 20.9% decrease (60.1% to 39.2%).
- Of the five quality competencies we assessed, the TAFEs were rated poor for the ‘Engage’ competency with a score of 33.3% – the lowest score of all industry sectors.
- Of the four behaviours we assess for the ‘Engage’ competency, the TAFEs were rated as ‘Poor’ in three of the four:
- Welcome (68.8% – Met Standard)
- Intent (39.9% – Poor)
- Name (29.9% – Poor)
- Bridge (28.7% – Poor)
- Training is available for all TAFEs to improve quality results (View: frontline employees courses and Team Leader courses).
Additional information on the quality competency scores is available below (or you can click here to jump to the section).
TAFE’s Average Wait Time Rankings (October 2023)
The Average Call Centre Wait Time measures the time to connect to a live call centre employee at a TAFE in Australia after navigating the IVR systems (press 1 for this, press 2 for that) and listening to any pre-recorded messaging.
Most people would refer to this as waiting in a call centre queue (or being stuck on hold), and it’s often the measure that has the highest correlation to customer frustration.
*Mystery Shopping calls top TAFE’s are terminated at 10:00 minutes for sales-related mystery shopping calls. As we disconnect at 10:00 minutes, the actual wait times would be higher. In the event of any calls exceeding 10 minutes, the maximum threshold time of 10 minutes is applied to calculate average wait times.
ACXPA Members have access to the number of calls that exceed the 10-minute threshold in the summary download report.
Key Findings – Average Wait Times, TAFE’s (October 2023)
Average Wait Times for TAFEs increased by 00:51 minutes compared to September 2023, resulting in 02:05 minutes in October 2023.
- All but two TAFEs (Holmesglen & TAFE QLD) experienced an increase in average wait times in October 2023 compared to September data.
- The biggest decrease compared to September 2023 results was TAFE QLD (-00:31 minutes).
- The quickest average wait time in October 2023 was at TasTAFE, 00:15 minutes, followed very closely by Holmesglen, 00:25 minutes.
- Despite an improvement, the longest wait time was still TAFE QLD, averaging 04:54 minutes. This is the third consecutive month they had the longest wait times of all the TAFEs we assessed.
TAFE’s Quality Competencies Summary (October 2023)
The Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards have been developed and refined over 30 years and when businesses consistently achieve high ratings in these core competencies, there is a direct correlation to improved business metrics however you measure them – Sales Conversions, NPS, Customer Effort Score, improved efficiency, reduced AHT etc.
They are applicable to all contact centres and are adapted to suit either customer service or sales calls.
Quality is assessed across five core competencies and 18 call-handling behaviours that directly correlate to better customer and business outcomes: Engage, Discover, Educate, Close, Energy.
Learn more about the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards >
Download the ACXPA Members Summary Report (TAFE’s October 2023)
The ACXPA Members Summary Report for TAFE’s October 2023 contains additional data exclusive for ACXPA Members, including the results for three random TAFE’s each month.
TAFEs who purchase the Contact Centre CX Benchmarking service will see the FULL data for ALL TAFE’s we assess.
What type of scenarios do we use to conduct the Mystery Shopping calls?
The scenarios we use are typically based on new sales opportunities (i.e. course enrollment), however, we may also just have general enquiries about courses, campuses, timetables etc.
How does the scoring work?
You can learn more about the framework we use here >
How many calls are assessed?
For the public monthly report, we include at least three calls per TAFE.
When you purchase our CX Contact Centre Benchmarking service, you will receive at least six calls for your TAFE included in the report.
Please refer to our customised Benchmarking service >
Why aren’t all the TAFEs included?
We’d love to have all the TAFEs included; however, conducting independent Mystery Shopping is expensive!
We randomly chose TAFEs to commence our program with and as (or if) other TAFEs purchase our CX Contact Centre Benchmarking program, they’ll be included in our monthly report.
How can we improve our score?
Our Mystery Shopping program has been designed to provide TAFEs with the insights they need to improve performance!
When you purchase the CX Contact Centre Benchmarking service, you’ll receive detailed information on your performance against over 48 individual elements, so you know exactly where to focus, and we also include a quarterly report that provides you with personalised key recommendations on areas to focus on.
We also offer a range of training courses that can help teach your frontline employees the skills they need to deliver great customer service or improve sales:
- Customer Service Phone ‘Essentials‘ & ‘Professional‘
- Inbound Phone Sales ‘Essentials‘ and ‘Professional‘),
- Training courses for your Team Leaders/Managers so they know how to coach effectively using the Quality Standards to improve your performance (and scores!).
How do I get my contact centre included?
We have a fixed-price service starting from $1,297 per month that will provide you with information on your contact centre, as well as a benchmark of your performance against a minimum of five other TAFEs that you can nominate. Learn more >
How do I order the service?
We have an online ordering form that makes it easy to order the service, nominate the TAFEs you’d like to benchmark against, who you’d like the reports to be sent to etc. View the online order form >
How do I access the full data for the TAFEs?
ACXPA Business Members get full access to the summary monthly data for TAFEs (and other sectors) along with a host of other benefits.
An ACXPA Business Membership starts from just $497 per year and includes five individual memberships you can allocate to key employees who could benefit from gaining access to leading industry insights for contact centres, customer experience (CX), digital service, and in-person customer service.
Is there someone I can speak to to learn more?
Absolutely! If you’d like to speak to someone further about the Benchmarking Service, please get in touch with our General Manager of Quality Insights, Simon Blair – 0407 002 113 or [email protected]
What type of scenarios do we use to conduct the Mystery Shopping calls?
Most of our mystery shopping scenarios involve new course enquiries, timetable questions, etc, where we don’t need to disclose account numbers or personal information.
Why do you hang up at either 10 or 15 minutes?
All our Mystery Shopping calls are conducted live by our accredited Mystery Shoppers who are all based in Australia. We cut off the calls at either 10 minutes (sales scenarios) or 15 minutes (service scenarios) for two key reasons:
- Research has shown that these are at the end of typical times customers will wait before they hang up.
- It’s expensive! As we use real human beings to conduct the Mystery Shopping call, it’s simply not practical to pay them often for hours (hello Centrelink!) whilst waiting for the call to be answered. So unless we get a very generous sponsor that enables us to wait the full time, we thought this was a reasonable decision.
Do TAFEs really care about the service they provide?
Whilst TAFEs are government-owned, it doesn’t mean they don’t care about the customer experience!
But sometimes, whether it’s through a lack of resources or skills, the customer experience is well below expectations.
When TAFEs focus on delivering a better customer experience, not only is it good for you, it actually makes them more efficient meaning they need less resources in the contact centre, which can then be better directed to improve services in other areas.
Why does ACXPA publish results each month?
Our mission is to improve the level of customer experience in Australia so by publishing the results monthly, we’ll continue to ensure that TAFEs are accountable for the level of customer service they are providing and to enable consumers to make an informed choice.
What type of services does ACXPA offer?
In addition to the Mystery Shopping CX Benchmarking, we offer a range of services and resources for people working in contact centres, customer experience (CX), digital service and in-person customer service/retail. You can learn more about us here >
Purchase exclusive insights for your TAFE
If you’d like to gain insights specifically for your contact centre performance, and benchmark your results against other TAFE’s, we’ve got a new, cost-effective, fixed-price benchmarking service that makes it easy!
Starting from just $1,297 per month, by purchasing our Contact Centre CX Benchmarking Service, you’ll receive the following:
- Six Mystery Shopping calls into your call centre each month at random times and days where you’ll receive the full assessment against 48 metrics, our quality assessor’s notes, the employee’s name (where provided) and the full call recordings.
- Six Mystery Shopping calls each into five other TAFE’s (a total of 30 calls) that YOU nominate so you can benchmark your performance against other TAFE’s that matter the most to you.
- Aggregate data from all the other TAFE’s we assess providing you with sector-wide results to further compare your results to.
- A monthly email with data to track your performance along with the call recordings.
- A quarterly report containing insights and trends that are easy to understand, along with actionable recommendations to help improve your performance.
- An optional Quarterly Insights workshop for your team (conducted live via Zoom) that can provide additional insights, coaching and guidance.
- Access to training to help you improve results.
CX Roundtables - Upcoming Guest
Live and interactive sessions for customer experience professionals in Australia.
Contact Centre Manager Roundtables - Upcoming Guest
Live and interactive sessions for contact centre professionals in Australia.
Next Members Symposium Livestream: Tuesday, 21st May, 2024, 13:30 AEST
The Members Symposium sessions are only available to ACXPA Members!
ACXPA Members can watch the symposium live, and, can watch any of the sessions at any time in their Video Library.
Preview of upcoming Symposium Sessions:
IVR Best Practice
Over 90% of contact centres are using an IVR (Press 1 for this, press 2 for that), and we've encountered many contact centres with over four layers of options for customers to select from. In this session, Nadine will be sharing some best practice tips on IVR design for 2024.
Presented by Nadine Power, Chief Product Officer, Datagamz (and ACXPA National Advisory Board Member)
Tips to Boost Engagement on Calls
Of the five quality competencies we assess as part of the Australian Call Centre Rankings, the 'ENGAGE' competency from the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards has consistently been at the bottom of the rankings throughout 2023 and into 2024.
In this session, Simon will provide some tips that can be shared with agents on how to increase engagement with customers at the start of calls.
Presented by Simon Blair, General Manager Quality Insights, ACXPA
More sessions announced soon!
(If you're interested in speaking at one of our events, click here to learn more >)
