As a CRA/background screening provider, one of the key stresses you face is managing pressure from clients who need quality research, fast. They can’t make their critical hiring decisions without it. And you can’t manage their expectations without knowing where the work is in progress, if there might be a delay, and what commitments you can realistically make.
In a nutshell, managing expectations is about communication and transparency. You need both. You need to have access to information about the status of your work and transparency into the metrics that will determine when that work will be delivered. Here are 5 metrics you should have at your fingertips:
Did your research partner receive your order? Are they working on it? How long has it really been in the works? Whether you want to see new orders from the past 24 hours, orders from 24-48 hours, or an even longer view, your work-in-progress should be readily accessible and easy to filter.
Where is your work concentrated? Is work being completed faster or slower in certain parts of the country or state? Is there a jurisdiction that is particularly fast or slow? Are there problem areas in a particular jurisdiction or state that are causing backups in your work? Having work-in-progress, turnaround times, and “outlier” information at your fingertips, by geography, can help you better manage client expectations or identify areas of concern to address with your research provider.
How much work is going in and out of your research provider’s system on a daily basis? Is that matching up with the demand? What does this tell you about your own workload at the moment? You should have access to metrics that show you volume in, volume out, and work-in-progress (WIP) on a daily basis, with the ability to filter those numbers over any timeframe you choose.
How long are your research orders taking to complete? Does that turnaround time (TAT) vary from month to month or is it consistent over time? Month over month TATs are something every research provider should be able to deliver to their CRA customers. It is probably the best way to identify issues with quality. If TAT in a particular jurisdiction changes from 2 days one month, and to 6 days another, there is a good chance something is awry. Consistent, predictable TATs are critical in the public records research business. Furthermore, those TATs should be broken down by hits (records) and clears (no records) to provide meaningful and accurate estimated time of arrival (ETAs).
Consistently accurate ETAs are extremely difficult for most public records research providers to deliver. But when it comes to your ability to manage customer expectations, ETAs are essential. Are you given an accurate ETA for each order as soon as it is created? If there is a delay, are you immediately notified with a reason and revised ETA?
Having the right metrics at your fingertips can give you a leg up on your competition by reducing customer concerns and helping you operate more efficiently. If your research provider can’t give you these metrics, it might be time to give Wholesale Screening Solutions a try.