A Complete Guide to Call Center Metrics | The Real PBX
Identifying the flaws in business operations and
fixing these quickly seems hard, but with call center KPIs, it has become an
easy task. There are several call center metrics that can assure a productive
call center environment.
Here is the list of some important call center
metrics that you should use in your call center to streamline your business operations.
1. First Call Resolution
FCR (First Call Resolution) is a call enter metric
that defines customers’ calls that need no transferring to others as these calls
get resolved in the very first attempt. Or we can say that FCR explains the
agents’ ability to solve the customer query in the first attempt.
Higher FCR rate means more satisfied customers. You
can ensure a higher FCR rate in your call center by providing training to your
call center agents so that they can handle the calls efficiently.
Also, higher FCR can be achieved by implementing advanced
call center tools like IVR. Through
that, all calls will be routed to their appropriate departments, and agents
will be able to handle those calls efficiently.
2. Cost Per Contact
This metric defines how much each call costs to
your call center. Whenever your agents send an email, dial, or pick up the
customer call, it costs to your business and lies in call center operating
costs.
Through this call center metric, you can do a cost
analysis and easily figure out the overall operational cost.
3. Call Quality
Basically, call quality is measured on a scale of
0-10 that explains how good an agent handled a particular call. Call quality is
measured through feedback systems and by monitoring the calls.
Call quality represents the facts and data that use
to determine how well agents are doing, and are they meeting the performance
objectives or not? Call quality assurance metrics increases operational
efficiency and create a smooth journey for your customers that converts into
loyal customers.
4. Service Level
Each call center sets its terms and conditions or
creates plans like how much calls an agent should answer at a particular time.
Service level KPI is used to ensure that the target is being met or not.
This call center metric gives you insight related
to resource planning and operations management that ensures all resources are
effectively utilized, and call volumes are under control.
5. Average Idle Time of
Agent
In the call center environment, it is challenging
to signify which agent is more productive and which one is not. That is why it
is important to identify the agents’ performance to get optimum results.
Average Idle time is a call center metric that
defines how much time an agent is free and has waited to handle a customer
call. Whereas, the average idle time of agent represents the total call
handling time to the total working hours.
This metric helps in workforce management; for
example, if a campaign has high call volume, then you can switch your agents
into another campaign that will eliminate agents’ idle time and boost their
productivity.
6. Abandoned Call Rate
(ACR)
Abandoned Call Rate or ACR defines the percentage
of calls that are hung up by callers before an agent answers. A high abandoned
call rate results in decreased customer satisfaction, and this is mainly due to
long hold and waits times.
You can easily calculate the overall abandoned call
rate by dividing the total abandoned calls to the total incoming calls. For a
business, the abandoned call rate should be lower, and you can facilitate this
by offering self-service options to customers.
7. Average Speed of Answer
(ASA)
ASA is the average time of the call that defines how long a call has been queued to get answered. This metric determines the time each caller spends on call waiting either on phone rings or in a call queue.
ASA = Total length of customer wait time * 100
Total number of calls answered
Using the ASA calculation, call centers can easily
determine how quickly they are responding to customers’ calls. Lower ASA score
is good as it ensures callers do not have to wait too long, whereas higher ASA
is a sign of bad customer service.
8. Average Handling Time
Average handling time or AHT is the average time an
agent takes to handle a call from start to finish.
Once you have some data points like talk time, hold
time, and wrap time, it will be so easy to calculate AHT as it is the average
of total talk time, hold time and wrap time divided by the total numbers of
calls handled.
Avg. Handling Time = Total talk time + Total hold time + Total wrap time
Total number of calls handled
Where,
Talk Time = Amount of time agent spends on a call.
Hold Time = Amount of time customers spend on hold.
Wrap Time = Total time spent by the agent in doing after call work like
disposition codes.
Basically, AHT assesses the call center efficiency
with the aim to improve agent performance and customer satisfaction. Ensuring a
low AHT signifies good agent performance, but it requires a lot of efforts as
you have to:
- Organize agents’ training session
- Monitor agents’ performance
- Record and analyze all calls
- Streamline work process
- Use the knowledgebase
With the above call center practices, you can achieve low AHT and at the same time, boost customer satisfaction.
9. Average After Call Work
Time
A variety of tasks like disposition codes, call
notes, and updating information in a CRM are required to be completed from
customer service representatives, once the call has ended. This process is also
known as post-call processing. It is crucial for call center agents to enter
data accurately and error-free to avoid any discrepancies.
Also, customer service representatives should not
take more than 20 to 30 seconds to finish up the call, as it may decrease the
overall call center efficiency. However, some call centers may have different
ACW standards, but the main goal of every call center is to finish these tasks
as soon as possible.
Call center agents should be trained for post-call
activities so that they can utilize their time to perform another piece of
task.
10. Average Call Transfer
Rate
This call center metric defines the total number of
calls transferred by an agent to another department or queue.
For example, X receives n numbers of calls in which
he/she has transferred (n-2) calls to his/her supervisor or another department,
then avg call transfer rate would be:
Avg. Call Transfer Rate = total number of calls transferred (n-2) * 100
Total number of calls (n)
High call transfer rate may negatively affect
customer satisfaction; that’s why you need to ensure the use of an IVR system in your call center. IVR system helps you to navigate customers’ calls
appropriately that will reduce the rate of call transfer and ultimately boost
customer satisfaction and business productivity.
11. Customer Satisfaction
Score
Customer satisfaction score or CSAT measures the
customers’ satisfaction with a business related to purchases and interaction.
Generally, it is calculated on a scale of 1 to 10 by asking a question like
“How would you rate our services?”, “How likely are you to recommend our
services to others?” or “How satisfied are you?”.
A big strength of CSAT is its simplicity. It is an
easy way to determine whether your customers are happy or not. These scores
will give you insight into improving customer service.
Conclusion
Call center KPIs allows to set objectives and to
measure the overall call center performance. These metrics help you to find
weak points or areas where you need more emphasis also helps to create action
plans for the same.
Call center metrics demonstrate progress in each
business area by maintaining the quality of customer service.