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The average time taken by the company to
turn around and respond to a client/request is called its Turnaround Time or TAT.

Harish K Saini
Author: Harish K Saini
  • Category: Others

A timely response to customers forms a pivotal part in the overall customer experience extended to them.

Customers ask for a service, make a query or register a request with huge expectations from a company, underneath lies a hope to get the quickest of responses.

What is TAT or turnaround Time?

The length of this TAT goes a long way to make customers stay with a company or leave it

Customers want to get respect, they want their requests to be heard earnestly, they want to feel that they are esteemed and there is no way better by handling their request in a time-bound manner.

Being ignored is the worst emotion they can bear and they will carry a poor image of the organisation in their mind. While a brand spends a fortune in building its reputation, a poor TAT or no reply from the organisation will ruin it instantly.

Once they are on board with you, they can bear anything but neglect. Your products or services may be of top-tier quality, but if you don’t meet their expectations in responding properly to them in time, you are not going to retain them.

Companies must declare the TAT both to company employees and customers so that there is no expectation mismatch. For example here in A1 Slides, we have a TAT of 3 hours for customers on all working days.

Every person in the organisation is bound to reply from earliest to a maximum of 3 hours on working days. While employees follow the TAT religiously, customers must also be informed about maximum waiting time. This includes the enquiry of our service even on the form we declared how long they should expect the response.

Here are two ideal processes of declaring TAT

  • Define and communicate TAT to each employee in the organisation. Make this part of onboarding and all customer-facing/handling staff must aware of this. This is called external TAT
  • The customer must also be aware of TAT so that he knows when his query shall be responded to. The information may be communicated to the customer while signing the deal or in verbal communication by the marketing executive who is handling the deal
  • All information may be kept on the system or in the self-help portal of the website for standardisation and both internal & external parties can see that as a standard in the organisation

While most of the time TAT ( Turnaround Time ) is only related to external customers or deals but same may be well used inside the company (internal TAT)

Like in A1 Slides we have internal TAT of five hours that means any employee can expect a response from any member including management member within five hours

Why TAT is important?

  • The number one reason for having TAT is setting the expectation of customers and giving them a reasonable time of response from the organisation side.
  • Imagine that you are having a dialogue with your friend, how you feel when you don’t receive a response after you finish asking a question…. awkward right.. same is true in client-vendor relation. If one is asking a query or sharing a point then an answer is expected from the other end within a set period.
  • It is a well-known fact that responding to a client in the least minimum time increases customer satisfaction and sometimes became the reason for elation.
  • Frequently delayed responses lead you to loss of customers and eventually, loss of revenue.
  • Conversely, if you wish to transform into a brand and have an accumulation of dedicated customers, a mechanism must be ingrained in your organization wherein qualitative products or services are backed up by efficient and well-timed customer responses.
  • Communication consistently with your customers solves the problem seamlessly. If your organization’s employees are constantly communicating with your clients, who may be there for different requirements, they are always in the know what clients want individually and when they know their demands, they can respond aptly on a timely basis after collaborating among themselves.
  • Online modes have solved the matter even more accurately and seamlessly. This is a useful way of keeping a record of service requests, helping both parties to keep track of demands and responses. Live online-medium becomes a bridge for instant solutions and responses. But as per experiences, customers get satisfaction when they get to talk to representatives of the company.

In many companies during the contract formation, TAT is specially motioned and agreed upon, for example for critical services TAT may from Instant to a maximum of an hour time while in non-critical services it may be beyond 1 hour to a day.

TAT to a customer is undeniably an integral part of the final customer experience delivered by businesses. Sometimes, quicker responses cover the mistakes in the delivery of services, customers are generally so happy with the quickness of the response that they gloss over the mistakes and move ahead.

TAT in Corporate: Beyond the Basics

TAT in Corporate Meaning

While we’ve discussed turnaround time in customer service, in the broader corporate landscape, TAT simply refers to the time taken to complete a specific business process from start to finish. This applies across departments – from processing loan applications to fulfilling orders. Just like customers, internal teams rely on clear TAT expectations to function efficiently. 

TAT in Corporate Salary Context

TAT plays a crucial role in human resources, particularly for salary processing. Here, TAT refers to the time needed to process payroll changes, salary revisions, or bonus disbursements. For example, a multinational IT company we worked with maintained a strict 48-hour TAT for addressing salary discrepancies, resulting in 22% higher employee satisfaction scores compared to industry standards. 

TAT Full Form

While we’ve been using TAT as shorthand, it’s worth clarifying that TAT stands for “Turnaround Time.” The term originated in manufacturing but has since become ubiquitous across industries as a key performance indicator. 

TAT in Corporate Examples

Some real-world examples of TAT in different corporate scenarios include: 

  • A leading private bank promises a 3-day TAT for credit card approval and 7-day TAT for loan disbursement. 
  • An e-commerce giant maintains a 24-hour TAT for query resolution, contributing significantly to their 92% customer retention rate. 

TAT Synonyms in Corporate Terminology

In corporate discussions, you might hear terms used interchangeably with TAT: 

  • Cycle Time 
  • Resolution Time 
  • Lead Time 
  • Service Level Agreement (SLA) – though this is broader and often includes TAT as one component 

TAT Compliance Meaning

TAT compliance refers to an organisation’s ability to consistently meet the turnaround time standards it has established. This becomes particularly important when regulatory bodies mandate specific response times for certain processes. Companies that maintain high TAT compliance often display these metrics proudly – “Our team maintained 94% TAT compliance last quarter” – much like we do at A1 Slides with our transparent 3-hour external TAT policy. 

TAT Full Form in Logistics

In logistics and supply chain, TAT maintains the same full form – “Turnaround Time” – but takes on specific significance. In logistics, TAT typically refers to the time taken for a vehicle to complete a round trip, including loading, transit, unloading, and return. A transportation company we consulted reduced their fleet TAT by 18%, resulting in cost savings of nearly 12% annually. 

What Is TAT in Customer Service

In customer service (which we’ve touched upon), TAT specifically refers to the time taken to acknowledge, process, and resolve customer queries. In today’s digital-first environment, customer service TATs have become increasingly granular: 

  • First Response TAT: The time taken to acknowledge a customer’s initial contact 
  • Resolution TAT: The time taken to completely resolve the issue 

Studies show that companies reducing their first response TAT from 24 hours to under 1 hour saw customer satisfaction increase by up to 25% – proving once again that timeliness in business communication is not just good practice, it’s good business. 

Just as we’ve implemented at A1 Slides, organisations that master their TAT management position themselves for superior customer and employee satisfaction. Remember, in today’s fast-paced business environment, responding swiftly isn’t optional—it’s essential for maintaining relationships and reputation. 

Frequently Asked Questions About TAT

An acceptable TAT varies widely by industry and type of service. For critical services, TATs may range from immediate response to a maximum of 1 hour, while non-critical services might have TATs of 24-48 hours. The key is setting clear expectations and then meeting them consistently. In our experience, even longer TATs are acceptable to customers if they're communicated clearly upfront.

Effective TAT measurement requires establishing clear start and end points for each process. For customer queries, the clock typically starts when the customer submits their request and stops when they receive a resolution. Many organisations use CRM systems or helpdesk software to track these timestamps automatically. At A1 Slides, we monitor TATs across all customer touchpoints, allowing us to identify bottlenecks and continuously improve our response times.

Absolutely. Research shows that companies with faster TATs typically enjoy higher customer retention rates. One study found that businesses that responded to leads within 5 minutes were 100 times more likely to convert them than those that took 30 minutes. In our own experience, when we reduced our internal TAT from 8 hours to 5 hours, we saw project completion rates improve by 15%.

Small businesses can maintain competitive TATs by setting realistic expectations, implementing efficient workflows, and leveraging automation where possible. Setting priorities for different types of requests also helps ensure critical matters receive prompt attention. Remember, consistency is often more important than speed—customers appreciate knowing exactly when they can expect a response, even if it's not immediate.

Consistent failure to meet promised TATs can damage both customer trust and internal team morale. Externally, it often leads to increased customer complaints, reduced loyalty, and eventually, customer churn. Internally, it creates stress among team members and can lead to a culture of firefighting rather than strategic thinking. If you find your organisation regularly missing TAT targets, it's time to reassess either your processes or the TAT promises themselves.

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