What are KPIs?
Here are essential call center as well as BPO KPIs that can help you better measure and improve the performance of your call center.
Call Center Metrics for Measuring Call Center Performance
1. Call Arrival Rate
The frequency of inbound calls during a certain time period is measured by the call arrival rate. This is a basic call center measure that helps you determine peak hours and seasonal calling trends, allowing you to employ and plan people more sensibly.
2. Percentage of Calls Blocked
The percentage of calls blocked indicates how many inbound callers receive a busy tone. You want this number to be as low as possible since it indicates that all of your clients can reach you. When customers hit a busy tone, their customer experience suffers, putting your relationship at risk.
3. Average Call Abandonment
The number of callers who hang up before reaching an agent is measured as average call abandonment. It is another call center measure you want to see at zero or as close to zero as possible.
Understaffing, poor performance, technology, and inadequate processes all contribute to high call abandonment rates.
4. First Response Time (FRT)
The average amount of time a consumer waits before speaking with an agent is measured by FRT. A "good" FRT varies by industry, but in general, the lower your FRT, the more likely your consumers will be happy. A high FRT might suggest issues with staffing or technological skills.
5. Average Handle Time (AHT)
The average handling time indicates how long it takes an agent (or group of agents) to assist a caller. The lower your AHT, in general, the better. An AHT that is too low, on the other hand, might be an indication that something is wrong. Customers appreciate quick service, but they despise having to call again—especially for the same issue. The goal is to achieve the best possible result in the shortest amount of time, with an emphasis on the best possible result.
6. First Call Resolution (FCR)
FCR is the percentage of calls where the agent is able to fix the customer's issue on the first call without the need to transfer, escalate, pause, or return the call. It basically shows you how frequently you produce optimal outcomes. Customers are upset when they have to call a firm several times to address a problem, and this can have an influence on future spending—the higher your FCR, the better.
7. Cost per Call (CPC)
CPC reveals how much each phone call costs on average. You divide the overall cost of all your calls (personnel, technological expenditures, general business expenses to operate the call center, etc.) by the total number of calls. You want to keep your CPC as low as possible. A high CPC suggests that there is inefficiency somewhere along the route. It is possible that the underlying technology is costly to sustain and maintain. It's possible that representatives aren't assisting clients quickly enough. It may be both.
8. Agent Productivity
Agent Productivity is the number of calls or tasks that an agent can handle in a given amount of time. This metric generates call records that track and assess how effectively your staff completes tasks.
Metrics for Measuring Customer Experience
It makes sense to highlight that, in addition to being gathered and utilized to improve call centers, these metrics are also collected and used to improve other areas and services of the BPO company.
1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
CSAT measures customer satisfaction with a business, including products, services, and customer service. It is calculated using surveys about customer experience. There is no single CSAT survey template or scoring methodology, as BPOs operate differently.
To calculate CSAT, customers are asked about their satisfaction during different stages of the process on a scale of one to five. The CSAT is the percentage of satisfied customers (answer four or five) from the total. There is no "ideal" CSAT score, but creating a model that accurately reflects CSAT is crucial for making informed decisions and improving the score.
2. Customer Effort Score (CES)
CES measures how easy it is for customers to resolve their issues. The more effort a customer has to put in, the more of a negative impact it will have on their experience and feelings towards your company.
A CES score is calculated by asking consumers a single question, usually along the lines of "How easy was it to handle your issue on a scale of one to five, with one being very difficult and five being very easy?".
The score is computed by dividing the proportion of those who said it was easy (choose four and five) by the percentage of those who thought it was tough (pick one and two). A high CES indicates that more clients find it easy to work with you than find it difficult to deal with you.
3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
With one question, NPS helps you determine how loyal and pleased your consumers are: "On a scale of one to ten, with one being unlikely and ten being likely, how likely are you to recommend this business to a friend?".
You divide the replies into three categories: promoters (those who choose nine or ten), passives (those who choose seven or eight), and critics (those who choose six or less), then subtract the total number of promoters from the total number of detractors. As with other customer experience call center measures, the higher your NPS, the better.
4. Customer Retention Rate (CRR)
The CRR is the percentage of customers who continue to use the BPO company's services after the initial contract period. It assesses your organization's capacity to retain clients over time and create recurring income from existing customers. A retention rate of 100% is usually desirable. Meanwhile, a 15% retention rate is typically considered poor.
5. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the overall cost of obtaining new customers, computed by summing up sales and marketing expenditures and dividing them by the number of new customers acquired within a certain time period.
Conclusion
It is your responsibility to fully understand the data, design a plan, implement modifications when and where they are needed, regularly coach employees, and ultimately accomplish your corporate objectives when it comes to improving your services and increasing customer satisfaction.
