The time that is taken for emails, back office, and other non-real-time transactions to be completed and returned to the customer. This considers when the work order was created, the time in queue, the time that is taken for the representative to complete the work once it is picked up, notifying the customer of its completion, and presenting it to the customer via internal business processes. There is usually no consideration of the quality of the completed work in this metric. TAT differs from AHT because it involves the total period that customer is waiting for the result, which may include multiple work items, each with its own AHT, as well as downtime when no representatives are working.
Measurement: (Transaction created time to customer accessibility of the result)-(Excluding non-work time, such as weekends, holidays, as agreed with by customer)
Benchmark: Guided by the nature of business, the complexity of work, and the impact of the delay on the customer’s interest. Turnaround times can range from hours to business days.
Importance: Lowering TATs are key to increasing customer processing and maximizing revenue. However, this should not come at the expense of quality, as speed is often secondary to quality in the long run.
Alternate Terms: TAT