Configure and analyze rubrics

A Coach rubric defines the behaviors expected on a call and converts Coach’s evaluation into a score. Rubrics power call-level Coaching, Average Score, Coaching Insights, and Rubric Performance. You configure rubrics under Coach → Settings → Rubrics and analyze their results from the Coach Overview or an agent page.

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Understand rubric structure

Each rubric has:

• Title: the name shown in settings and reports
• Direction: Inbound or Outbound
• Active state: whether Coach can use the rubric for new evaluations
• Selection criteria: a plain-language description of when the rubric should apply
• Sections: categories that organize related behaviors
• Criteria: the individual goals Coach grades as Yes, No, or N/A
• Points: the contribution of each criterion to the overall score

Coach uses direction and selection criteria to choose the best active rubric for a call. Write selection criteria that distinguish call types, services, or situations instead of repeating the rubric title.

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Create a rubric

1. Open Coach → Settings → Rubrics.
2. Select New rubric.
3. Choose a blank inbound or outbound rubric, or start from a template.
4. Enter a distinct title.
5. Confirm the direction.
6. Describe when Coach should select the rubric.
7. Add sections and criteria.
8. Assign criterion points.
9. Turn on Active when the rubric is ready.
10. Select Done, then save the page-wide changes.

Templates remain available even when other rubrics already exist. The starter templates are:

• Bookable Inbound
• Not-bookable Inbound
• Bookable Outbound
• Not-bookable Outbound

Treat a template as a starting point. Customize its criteria, categories, and points to the team’s actual call-handling process before activation.

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Write effective criteria

Each criterion should describe one observable behavior. Prefer:

• “Confirmed the customer’s service address”
• “Explained the next step and expected arrival window”
• “Acknowledged the pricing objection before offering an alternative”

Avoid combining unrelated requirements into one criterion. A compound criterion is difficult to grade and difficult to coach. Use a consistent voice:

• State what the agent should do.
• Include the condition when it matters.
• Avoid subjective words such as “good” or “professional” without defining the observable behavior.
• Keep policy exceptions in the selection criteria or a separate rubric.

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Set points

The editor shows the total across all criteria. Configure an intentional total of 100 points so the score is easy to interpret. New criteria start with a small nonzero point value. Older or imported rubrics without meaningful weights can be normalized, but explicitly assigning points is safer and makes the rubric’s priorities clear.

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Manage multiple rubrics

Use separate rubrics when the expected behavior is materially different, such as:

• Inbound booking calls
• Outbound follow-up calls
• A specialized service line
• A distinct call purpose with different compliance steps

For each rubric:

• Set the correct direction.
• Write mutually understandable selection criteria.
• Keep only production-ready rubrics active.
• Give similar rubrics distinct selection language.

If several active rubrics could match, Coach chooses the best fit from the call and selection criteria. Use the Rubric Playground to verify that choice. Common production setups are:

• Inbound starter: Bookable Inbound and Not-bookable Inbound
• Inbound and outbound: separate bookable and not-bookable rubrics for both directions
• Advanced: an additional intent- or service-specific rubric only when its selection criteria cleanly separate it from the general rubrics

Do not add a specialized rubric merely to avoid N/A results on a few calls. First confirm the call population is meaningfully different and can be described with non-overlapping criteria.

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Test in the Rubric Playground

Select Test rubric from the Rubrics page. You can test:

• Up to 10 Coach call IDs
• 10 random calls from the team
• 10 random calls for one agent

The Playground uses the active rubric set and selects the best rubric for each call using the same direction and selection-criteria model as production grading. For each test:

1. Confirm the selected rubric.
2. Read the selection reasoning.
3. Review the criterion answers and evidence.
4. Compare the result with the recording.
5. Refine ambiguous selection criteria or grading criteria.
6. Re-run the test before saving a broad production change.

The Playground is a configuration test. It does not replace reviewing real production trends after the change.

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Add the objection-handling playbook

The Rubrics settings page includes an Objection handling playbook. Record the approved strategies Coach should reference when a call contains an objection. Keep the playbook:

• Specific to the team’s current policy
• Organized around recognizable objection types
• Written as coaching guidance, not unsupported promises
• Updated when pricing, financing, scheduling, or escalation policy changes

The playbook can surface in call reviews to help reviewers identify missed objection-handling opportunities.

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Analyze team-wide Rubric Performance

From Top Failed Rubric Items on the Overview, select See all or open Rubric Performance. The page groups every available rubric item by category and shows:

• Current success rate
• Change from the prior period
• Direction and rubric filters
• Coach Suggestion and suggested script
• Recent calls with the issue
• A daily success-rate trend
• A link to every call where the item was missed

Success rate is the complement of the miss rate for the calls in the selected population. Always confirm the date range and rubric filter before comparing categories.

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Analyze one agent’s rubric performance

Open an agent from Agent Performance, then select View score breakdowns by all categories. The agent-level view uses the same category, criterion, success-rate, and prior-period structure, but scopes the calls to that agent. It can be exported as a PDF report. See Analyze agent performance.

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Correct one call without changing the rubric

Open the call’s Coaching tab to review its rubric result.

1. Unlock the rubric.
2. Change the applicable criterion answers.
3. Update reasoning if needed.
4. Save the override.

Use Exclude from Grading only when the entire rubric does not apply. Exclusion sets every criterion to N/A and removes the call from score calculations. See Review a Coach call.

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Manage rubric changes safely

• Test selection and grading before activation.
• Change one concept at a time when possible.
• Record when a material rubric change goes live.
• Expect Average Score to shift when criteria or points change.
• Compare pre-change and post-change periods cautiously.
• Do not use a call-level override to compensate for a consistently ambiguous master rubric.
• Save or discard pending changes before leaving the settings page.

Disable an obsolete rubric to stop using it for new evaluations while preserving historical results. Deleting a rubric permanently removes its evaluation results, though it does not delete the underlying calls.

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Troubleshoot rubric selection

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Calls have no score

Confirm at least one appropriate rubric is active, its direction and selection criteria cover the call, and the call finished processing.

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The wrong rubric graded a call

Review the selected rubric on the call, then narrow overlapping criteria. Add explicit exclusions such as “Do not use for billing-only calls” where they distinguish the competing rubrics.

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Too many criteria are N/A

Confirm the correct rubric was selected. If the criteria genuinely do not apply to a repeatable population, move them to the applicable rubric or create a distinct rubric with clear selection criteria.

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Scores changed after a rubric edit

The scoring standard changed. Record the activation date and avoid treating the before-and-after score difference as agent improvement or decline without reviewing the rubric change.