Call Center Metrics

Every respectable company that sells products or services either has own call center or uses services of other call centers and helpdesks. It is impossible to imagine post sale service without call center support. When people buy products/services or are about to buy them usually ask questions about these products. Sometimes certain problems occur and these problems have to be resolved. Post sale services contribute to customer loyalty to a particular brand even if the support is provided not by the producer company but by an individual call center. Let’s also not forget about sales call centers and call centers that process internet orders. Lots of people buy online these days, and thus, call centers have to efficiently work in order to process and confirm all orders.

Most popular call center KPIs

Every call center is an inseparable element in successful functioning of a company. It is not enough just to enter the market with a new product. As already said above post sale service is important and thus excellent performance of a call center in a must. In order to improve performance it is necessary to set goals and measure current and potential performance. This is where Balanced Scorecard comes into play.

Call center evaluation chain

Call center BSC consists of the traditional 4 perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth. At that, it is impossible to say which category is the most important. As a rule, weights are set individually by top managers and those responsible for BSC implementation and maintenance. Moreover, all categories and indicators are interrelated. Thus, implementation of financial goals is impossible without implementation of relevant goals in the other categories.

The principle behind BSC is very simple. Key performance indicators are selected for the abovementioned 4 categories. Evaluation of KPI will offers top managers information that indicates efficiency of strategic goals implementation. For example, a call center wants to decrease cost per call, baseline and target are set. Then call center employees use new call handling methods and try to improve performance. In course of time, performance changes and relevant figures are indicated on a dashboard. These are signals to top managers who should make decisions on possible changes in operational management.

Besides, call center BSC can tell much about future developments. For example, customer satisfaction with call center and support service can offer valuable info on sales growth since satisfied customers are eager to buy from the same company again.

When it comes to evaluation of company or business unit performance it is very important to use the right metrics. This can be compared to use of the right ruler when measuring length. If you have got the ruler showing the wrong measures you will get the wrong figures now matter how hard you try and what measurement methods you employ. The same concerns performance evaluation. If you measure only such KPIs as average office space required for one employee or employee short term sickness rate you will surely fail in evaluation of business efficiency. Sure, these secondary KPIs can help optimize performance and even reduce costs but they do not directly influence implementation of strategic goals. Choice of the wrong indicators is quite a common mistake among companies that decided to implement Balanced Scorecard in an individual department. What are the most suitable departments for BSC implementation? These are call centers, HR and IT departments. This article will talk on implementation of Balanced Scorecard in a call center.

Call center metrics

To begin with, we need to define Balanced Scorecard. This is a revolutionary performance evaluation and strategic management tool developed by business gurus Norton and Kaplan who were the first to introduce non-financial indicators to the set of measures for business performance evaluation. Balanced Scorecard help design strategy maps that demonstrate cause and effect ties between the indicators and BSC categories (financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth).

A call center has own specifics. This business unit directly contacts customers, and company revenues directly depend on performance of a call center. How is that possible? It is quite simple! If a customer is satisfied with quality of support offered by a call center operator, he or she will certainly buy from the same company as soon as he or she needs a particular product. Sales call centers also generate income by offering products and services to existing and potential customers.

Most important call center KPIs

Thus, successful implementation of Balanced Scorecard in a call center will certainly improve its performance and consequently customer satisfaction that in its turn results in growth of sales and revenue. It is extremely important to use the right metrics. Never forget about the most important indicators like cost and revenue per call, number of first resolution calls, abandoned calls rate, customer satisfaction rate, employee satisfaction (satisfied employees usually have satisfied customers) and a number of others.

Use of Balanced Scorecard is highly recommended for major businesses. Of course, there is sense in BSC use in small businesses, although one has to be very cautious in this case since small business cannot afford huge investments in BSC. When it comes to implementation of Balanced Scorecard in big companies, top management and business owners (or whoever makes a decision to implement BSC) have to take into account numerous factors in order to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls. Every business and industry is individual and thus should solve various problems. Sure thing, advantages of Balanced Scorecard also differ from industry to industry. This article will talk about pros of BSC in call centers and customer support services.

Some of major call center KPIs

Cost saving. After Balanced Scorecard is successfully implemented in a call center or a customer support service, managers will be able to track expenses related to communication with customers, maintenance costs, salaries etc. BSC will demonstrate how efficiently money is being spent. For example, such indicators as average cost per call or office maintenance cost per square meter will help tom managers analyze expenses and think of the ways to cut costs whenever possible. Ratio of cost call and revenue per successful call (in case a call center sells products or services) vividly demonstrates efficiency of a call center and possible ways to improve performance. This takes us to the second point.

Pros of call center BSC

Performance improvement. Without any doubt, BSC helps improve performance of a call center in terms of current operations and implementation of strategic goals. Balanced Scorecard will offer top management all information about current performance. As such, managers will be able to amend and correct the way a call center functions based on information received from Balanced Scorecard. For example, if a top manager notices that sales offers per call is going down which decreases overall sales volume, he or she will definitely ask call center operators to pay a special attention to this indicator. Besides, BSC makes it possible to focus on the most important indicators having an exceptional importance.

Employees motivation. It needs mentioning that BSC never works in a call center (as well as any other business unit) only in case it is accepted by everyone. A call center operator will only use BSC if he understands personal benefits for himself/herself. Thus, top management should create comprehensive motivation and compensation systems for personnel which will definitely improve performance.

Call centers are specific business units in the companies. At the same time, some companies prefer to outsource and use services of external call centers. Both options are equally good as long as call center operators are competent enough to answer customers’ questions. For example, a call center specializing in ISP or Web Hosting will not be helpful for producer of laptops. Sure, before launch of a new call center project, operators undergo special training. However, the best way to optimize call center performance is to use Balanced Scorecard system. This article will explain why.

Some of major call center kpis

First and foremost, in order to implement Balanced Scorecard it is necessary to adopt a strategy. What strategy can be adopted for a call center? It depends on what kind call center it is. There are two basic types: sales call centers (those that receive orders by phone or call customer to offer new products) and support services used for post sale support. In the first case increase of accepted orders should make a nice goal, while a customer support service should concentrate on customer satisfaction. For example, such indicator as first resolution calls rate (one and done calls) vividly demonstrate whether or not customer support service is doing a great job. Thus, the decision to implement BSC in a call center is a nice opportunity to think about strategy, review or adopt it, if necessary.

Implementation of Balanced scorecard will harmonize work of a call center, as an internal or external business unit. Strategies and goals adopted for a call center must comply with the company strategy otherwise there is no point in functioning of a call center. For example, if a call center management makes a decision to improve cost per call, this should be related to company strategy. In other words, one should clearly see how this decision contributes to implementation of strategic goals. In order to see such cause and effect ties a comprehensive strategy map must be designed. Ideally, it should answer the question: “How do we implement strategic goals that we have set?”

The 4 perspectives of Balanced Scorecard

BSC use is associated with numerous benefits, but at the same time there are common mistakes and pitfalls. One of the most common mistakes is use of BSC only by several people in a call center. In such a way, BSC becomes a top secret document that is of no use to ordinary operators who actually do the job.

Very often we judge the company or service provider exclusively by quality of their call center. Indeed, we expect to listen to any answers to our questions and we want our problems to be solved by call center operators. That’s why every time we have a question or problem related to the purchase product and service we are looking for a toll free phone number and make a call. Naturally, we want to hear a pleasant voice and talk to a qualified specialist. Unfortunately, some call centers has nothing to offer but a pleasant voice and politeness.

Three key tasks of any call center

A call center is a company’s face. We never know who rules the company that has produced your laptop, cell phone or a TV. Moreover, we don’t care much. We are interested in quality products, and we greatly appreciate post sale service. Complete answers to our questions are part of post sale servers. That’s why every successful company should optimize work of a call center. This is the best way to attract new customers and retain those who have already made purchases with the company.

Balanced scorecard is used in different business areas, and call center is perhaps one of the best places for BSC to be used. Call center operators directly contact customers and that’s why their efficiency and professionalism directly influences such an indicator as customer satisfaction. It is not a secret that customer satisfaction is related to growth in revenue and increase of company capital.

Call centers increase number of regular customers

Before using balanced scorecard in a call center, it is really important to create a special working group that will start implementation process. Call center chief manager as well as company top management must understand that it is impossible to implement balanced scorecard without changes in organization and involvement of company personnel. Of in order to develop an effective set of key performance indicators it is necessary to listen to opinions of call center operators. Of the talk to customers every day, and they know what customers actually need and what problems call center has to solve.

Of course, ordinary call center operators do not have knowledge of strategic management. Leave that to top managers and strategic planners. But an ordinary call center operator can make suggestions as to the right choice of KPIs, these indicators directly influence their work, or in other words, their work is measured with these indicators.

Balanced Scorecard is quite a tricky tool. Indeed, it can become a saver for any company. Equally, it can do so much harm, that company top management will never say anything good about Balanced Scorecard. It is really astonishing, but BSC never guarantees success, no matter what some BSC fans would say. If organization is not ready to transform and change, Balanced Scorecard will never help.

BSC is a helpful perofrmance evaluation tool for call centers

In case of a call canter (application of BSC in a call center, to be exact), Balanced Scorecard has numerous advantages. With a perfectly functioning call center it is really easy to attract new customers, as well as keep existing customers satisfied. If company’s call center is efficiently working, it is really possible to boost sales and generate increased revenue.

So, let’s review key advantages of BSC use in a call center.

1. Tracking key performance indicators to optimize call center performance. A special BSC team would develop a series of key performance indicators which will represent company critical success factors which will make it possible to measure call center progress on the way to implement strategic goals.

2. Working out call center strategy. If company call center is just handling calls it doesn’t mean that it works the way it should work. Every call center must have strategic goals. Moreover, these goals have to comply with the company strategy. One of such goals may be increase of customer satisfaction, sales growth, decrease of average call duration etc.

3. Correct mistakes and changing strategy. Balanced Scorecard makes it possible to introduce amendments to the strategy and operational management if necessary. If evaluation of key performance indicators showed certain problems, company top management develops a series of counter actions. This is a very common practice among companies using balanced scorecard. Both external and internal environment is changing rapidly, so company must react to these changes. Balanced Scorecard gives company management at very clear and transparent picture all goals and measures, as well as cause and effect ties between them, so that top managers can introduce relevant changes.

4. Focus on most important things. Very often call centers place an excessive focus on number of calls handled or average call duration. These indicators of very important indeed, but there are things that matters most of all, like customer satisfaction, and returning customer rate.

Some important call center KPIs

When applying Balanced Scorecard in a call center it is really important to make all necessary preparations and get the entire call center personnel involved in this process.

In order to be successful in business it is not enough just to produce quality products. The competition is very high, and customers have so many choices when shopping for a particular product or service. Even having a customer making purchase with the company does not guarantee regular profits. Indeed, these days, customers want to get answers to any questions regarding the product or service they have purchased. That’s why, every well reputed company usually has support line, customer support service or a call center. Some call centers sell products while others serve customers.

How call center turns customers into regular customers

Imagine that you have purchased a laptop and something goes wrong with that (maybe you’re doing something wrong). What is your reaction and what will you do? Of course, you look for the phone number of customer support service of the company that produced this laptop. Naturally, you expect to hear answers to your questions and have your problems resolved. If you have a positive communication experience with a call center operator you will probably become loyal to this company and buy more products in future from the same company. In such a way, you will turn into a regular customer. As a result, both parties are satisfied, as a customer gets the kind of product he or she likes, and the company gets regular profits.

Satisfied employees usually have satisfied customers

This hypothetical example vividly demonstrates how the call center operator can generate revenue for the company. But if a call center is focused only on handling calls but not problem solving this doesn’t contribute to customer satisfaction. That’s why work of a call center should be organized in an efficient way. For this reason it is highly recommended to evaluate performance of a call center using Balanced Scorecard System.

Indeed, BSC is known as the most effective strategic management tool. A call center, at least a successful one, should have strategy. It is not just about picking up the phone and answering calls. Strategy is all important for any business unit. It is even more important to make sure that the call center strategy complies with company strategy. For example, if the company wants to have more returning customers then a call center should hire and educate professional operators who are competent in all issues related to products and services. In the company top management decided to increase sales rate then a call center should focus on offering of new products and services to existing and potential customers.

Imagine that your company sells high quality products or services, has an excellent IT and human resource department, your products are well known in the market, but there is one problem – you cannot handle all calls from customers or your customer support service lacks professional call center operators. In course of time people will refuse to buy your products and services of not because they don’t like them but because they know you will not offer any support to them. As a result, sales growth will slow down and gradually decrease. So, despite having professional managerial staff and the best strategy, you won’t be able to achieve positive sales results.

Call center tracks customers from intention to buy to purchase and post sale service

Call center is an important business unit in any company that offers products and services to potential customers. Once a customer has purchased a product he may have some questions or problems with it, and a call center operator seems to be the only person who can resolve such problems. Very often customers form their judgment and image of the company based on their communication experience with call center tech specialists.

If you’re calling your web-hosting company or Internet Service provider and you failed to get answers to your questions you will probably think about changing your web-host or ISP. The same concerns producers of laptops, cell phones etc.

That’s why it is extremely important to measure efficiency of a call center. Moreover, it is imperative to align call center goals and measures with the company strategy. In other words, and ordinary call center operator should look at a strategy map and understand how improvements and his performance will contribute to implementation of strategic goals. If everyone in a call center has a clear understanding of the company strategy, the personnel will be motivated to use balanced scorecard.

This is how callcenter works

One of the most common mistakes in balance scorecard implementation in call centers and customer support services is the focus on number of calls handled by a single operator. Of the problem is that a call center operator may handle 200 calls a day but solve only 10 problems. The goal of customer support service is to solve customer problems but not just answer phone and say “Yes, we understand your problem and we’re looking for solutions.”

That’s why, it is imperative to choose the right indicators that will measure progress in implementation of call centers strategic goals. To achieve that BSC team leaders should attract ordinary personnel to strategy development.

A call center plays an important rule in the work of any company that sells products or services. It is but the work of a call center or a customer support service that real and potential customers for their judgment about the company. What do you usually do when you have questions or concerns about purchased products or services? Of course, you call customer support service with the hope to get your questions answered and problems solved. Call centers may have different goals and purposes in different companies. Some businesses use call centers to sell products and services while others employ the phone operators to provide customers with ongoing support and guidance. If you called customer support service and your questions were not answered you would probably think that it was not worth to deal with such a company. The thus, you are a lost customer for such a business. Of the innards of economy it is very unwise to lose customers because of poor quality services.

A call center, as in any aspect and elemental business structure, needs to be measured and evaluated. Business up performance measurement is used to help company reach strategic goals. In this sense, balanced scorecard is a number one tool that communicates operational management with the company strategic vision. Of the balanced scorecard evaluates key performance indicators, also known as KPI. Call center has own set of KPIs that represents its performance.

Call center metrics has own specific character as the process of calling involves two parties: the caller and the operator. The caller has to be satisfied with his call while the operator needs to do everything to resolve problems as soon as possible.

Major call center kpi

So, what are major KPIs for call center?

1. Revenue per successful call. If the call center has commercial goals it needs to sell as much as possible. By increasing this KPI top management of the company increases revenue.
2. Cost per call. Logically, the less money a company spends to answer one call, the more efficiently it works. However, here one should be reasonable, and excessive economy and saving may result in poor quality service.
3. Conversion rate. This is % of call that ended up with successful sales.
4. Average call handling time. The less time an operator needs to answer one call, the better for the company and callers.
5. First resolutions calls rate. This is % of calls during which the problems were solved at once (customer do not have to call again).

How a call center contributes to success of the company

What is most important in business? Of course, any business must have an effective business model. How can you see if your business is effective? Sure, you need to run it. But it may happens that in course of time business models that were effective a year ago prove to be absolutely useless in new reality. In order to implement a new strategy one needs to know what did not work in the previous plan.

This is called evaluation of business performance. In order to get a full picture of business performance, certain indicators need to be analyzed. These indicators give answers to question: “How well is business/company doing.” Every business has own set of key performance indicators (KPI). Of course, many of them have much in common, while some have a very specific character attributed to certain business types.

Every company needs to take care of relations with its customer. Even if a customer does not buy from your company, you need to stay in touch with him. Customer relationship management (crm) is a very popular strategy of marketing products and working with customers. A loyal customer is the best customer a company can have.

Evaluate crm ratios to improve business performance

What is the main communication means between a business and a customer? Of course, this is contact center. If you have questions about quality of a product you never call company’s CEO. As a rule you dial a long toll free number and talk to a call center operator. Your judgment about the company is formed by how you talk to a call center representative. It means that a call center should work perfectly, or be striving to work perfectly.

Before implementing any strategy (including crm) a manager needs to know what goes wrong in current business. It is impossible to expand a call center if it is working inefficiently at the moment. Small problems will turn into big ones.

CRM ratios and call center metrics

Balanced Scorecard is the tool which will help you evaluate economic performance of a call center to find weak and strong points. Armed with figures and graphs you can easily see the trends and plan work of a call center for some time ahead.

Besides, Balanced Scorecard system will make your operators more self-confident as they will be aware of own mistakes and weak point. This will results in better personnel performance and thus, better performance of the entire call center.