What this episode is about
This is an older episode, from October 2020, on two questions I get a lot: should you QA live calls or recorded calls, and how do you run a calibration session that actually helps.
My answer on live versus recorded is both. Live calls are like adjustments during the game. You're catching tone or verification issues on the fly. Recorded calls are the after-game evaluation, where you can take a breath, think it through and look for trends. If you only ever score recorded calls, the reps notice, and the monitoring staff starts to look like they're out to get people.
On calibration, about half of our clients meet weekly and the other half every other week. We like a mix of live listening and about 30 minutes of recorded calls, scored together in real time, so a client can trust that a 95 on their form means the same thing to us as it does to them. Don't throw a penalty on every play. Be fair about the hard calls.
Bring reps into the sessions sometimes, not to embarrass them, but so they own their work. A lot of those calls are good ones, and getting high-fived in front of the client is a huge boost. Use the session to find training trends and energy gaps on the floor. Small centers should do this too: supervisor with supervisor, or a manager with their team once or twice a month.
Key takeaways
- Use live monitoring for quick in-the-moment fixes and recorded calls for trends.
- Calibrate every week or two so everyone reads the score the same way.
- Score calls together during the session instead of comparing notes afterward.
- Don't nitpick every small miss; be fair on difficult calls.
- Bring reps in occasionally, especially for good calls.
In Tom's words
“Should we be using live calls or recorded calls and you know again my answer is both”Tom Laird · 03:23
“we really like these calibration sessions so that we understand if we score something on their scoring system as a 95 or as a 3 or as a C or a B”Tom Laird · 10:27
“So they need to be just as into when somebody does something good as when somebody makes a mistake”Tom Laird · 08:03
Transcript excerpt
These excerpts come from an automatic transcript and are lightly edited for readability (filler and obvious transcription errors removed). For exact wording, listen at the timestamp.
[03:23]Should we be using live calls or recorded calls? My answer is both. Live calls are events you're listening to during the day, where you're making adjustments on the fly. Recorded calls are different. They're basically your after-game evaluation of what happened, so you can take a breath.
[10:27]Our clients can blind monitor, but we really like these calibration sessions so that we understand if we score something on their scoring system as a 95 or as a C or a B, that client can see that and trust the numbers that we're giving.
[15:04]Bring your reps into these sessions. It's not there to embarrass them, but they need to know they're putting their name to their work. A lot of times these are really good calls, and when the rep is in there getting high-fived, it's a huge boost.