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 TAFE’s September 2023 Call Centre Rankings
This was our second consecutive month of assessing 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 (September 2023)
The Overall Score Rankings provide insights into the Contact Centres 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 (September 2023)
Following our first Call Centre Rankings for TAFE’s in August 2023 that rated the TAFE sector overall as ‘Below Standard’ with a score of 56.1%, the results for September 2023 revealed an increase of 6.7% to 62.8%, which moves the sector up to ‘Met Standard’.
- Accessibility across the sector was rated as ‘Exceeds Standards’ with a score of 88.0%, making the TAFE’s the easiest of all sectors we measured to connect to a live customer service employee.
- The overall score, however, was impacted due to the quality of the interactions, with the TAFE sector rated as ‘Below Standard’ for Quality with a score of 51.9% – the lowest of all industry sectors we measured. In other words, it’s the easiest of all sectors to get through to a live person, but when you do, they are rated the lowest for quality.
- Accessibility scores ranged from 72.2% (Tas QLD) to 96.5% (TasTAFE).
- Quality Scores ranged from 39.6% (TasTAFE) to 64.4% (Holmesglen Vic)
- Overall, Holmesglen TAFE was ranked the highest of all TAFE’s we assessed (72.0%) with TasTAFE the lowest on 56.7%.
- In August 2023, across the sector, 94.4% all the mystery shopping calls we made were answered within 10 minutes, and in September 2023, the TAFE sector achieved 100% for the first time.
- With a high Accessibility score, Average Wait Times across all TAFEs were low, with an average wait time of 01:14 minutes – the lowest of all industry sectors measured in September 2023.
- Average Wait Times ranged from 00:05 minutes (TAFE NSW) to the longest wait of 05:25 minutes (TAFE QLD).
- Of the five Quality Competencies we assess using the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards, the ‘Engage’ competency was the lowest rating (20.8%), with ‘Energy’ the highest at 75.0%.
- TasTAFE was the only TAFE that did not have an IVR, with TAFE QLD having the most layers (three).
- 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 05:01 across all TAFE, ranging from 03:24 minutes to 08:02 minutes.
TAFE’s Accessibility Rankings (September 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 (September 2023)
Overall, the Accessibility of TAFE’s was rated as ‘Exceeds Standard’ with a score of 88.0%, an improvement on the August 2023 results with a 8.2% increase.
This was the best result of all industry sectors; the next best was Councils at 82.5%.
- The best TAFE for Accessibility in September 2023 was TasTAFE, with a score of 96.5%, the 3rd best result Nationally of all contact centres we assessed.
- The lowest ranked TAFE for Accessibility in September 2023 was TAFE QLD with a score of 72.2%, the second consecutive month they have been assessed with the lowest score.
- TAFEs answered 100% of all the mystery shopping calls we made within 10 minutes; the first month they have achieved this.
- The average wait time to connect to a TAFE was 01:14 minutes (a decrease of 01:39 minutes from the previous month), with TAFE NSW achieving the quickest average wait time for the first time with a 00:05 minute average wait, followed closely by TasTAFE with 00:06 minutes.
- On average, an additional 00:20 minutes was required to navigate the IVR menus, with TAFE QLD taking the longest at 00:48 minutes.
- TasTAFE was the only TAFE assessed in September 2023 not to have an IVR.
- In addition to the time navigating the menu and waiting for the call to be answered, TAFE’s also added an average of 00:18 minutes to each call with pre-recorded messaging, with TAFE SA the longest with 00:49 minutes.
- Talk time across all TAFE’s averaged 05:01 minutes, a slight decrease from the previous month (-00:06 minutes)
TAFE’s Quality Rankings (September 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 (September 2023)
When assessed against the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards, the TAFE sector was assessed as ‘Below Standard’ for Quality with score of 51.9%, an improvement of 6.0% from the August 2023 results (45.9%).
Even with the improved results, TAFE’s were ranked the lowest of all industry sectors for Quality in September 2023, just ahead of Internet Providers.
- The top-ranked TAFE for Quality in September 2023 was Holmesglen (Vic), with a score of 64.4%.
- The lowest ranked TAFE was TasTAFE, with 39.6%.
- The most improved from the previous month was Holmesglen (Vic), with an increase of 15.3% (49.2% to 64.4%).
- The largest decrease from the previous month was TasTAFE, with a decrease of 6.8% (46.4% down to 39.6%).
- Of the five quality competencies we assessed, the TAFEs were rated poor for the ‘Engage’ competency with a score of 20.8% – the lowest score across all quality competencies in the country.
- Of the four behaviours we assess for the ‘Engage’ competency, the TAFEs score poorly in all of them:
- Welcome (39%)
- Intent (17%)
- Name (22%)
- Bridge (6%)
- Training is available for all TAFE’s to improve their quality scores (and, more importantly, the customer experience) – we have courses for frontline employees and Team Leaders.
You can see additional information on the quality competency scores below (or just click here to jump to it).
TAFE’s Average Wait Time Rankings (September 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 (September 2023)
Average Wait Times for TAFE’s decreased 01:39 minutes compared to August 2023 results to 01:14 minutes in September 2023, the quickest wait times on average of all the industry sectors we measured in September 2023.
- All but one TAFE experienced a decrease in average wait times in September 2023 as compared to August data (TAFE WA + 00:09 minutes)
- The biggest decrease compared to August 2023 results was TAFE QLD (-04:35 minutes).
- The quickest average wait times in September 2023 was TAFE NSW with 00:05 minutes, followed very closely by TasTAFE with 00:06 minutes.
- The longest wait time was TAFE QLD, averaging 05:25 minutes, which, as noted above, had the largest decrease of all TAFEs. However, they were still assessed as having the longest wait times of all TAFE’s and this is the second consecutive month they had the longest wait times for the sector.
TAFE’s Quality Competencies Summary (September 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 September 2023)
The ACXPA Members Summary Report for TAFE’s September 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 >)
