Call Center Metrics

Evaluation of a call center performance may have several goals. First and foremost, this is, of course, evaluation of business performance with the aim of improving quality of rendered services. On the other hand, performance evaluation is necessary for strategic management purposes. It is not quite reasonable for call center managers to set up new plans if they are totally unaware of current performance. Sure, past financial information is quite important in strategic planning as it reflects efficiency of adopted decisions. Use of Balanced Scorecard in a call center makes it possible to make forecasts as to future performance. A call center BSC employs quite a simple principle – evaluation of previously chosen key performance indicators with the aim of using obtained info (evaluation results) in strategic planning, response actions and changes in the organization.

Attributes of an effective call center

Examples of effective call center KPI

One of the most important stages of BSC implementation is without any doubts development of applicable call center metrics, i.e. key performance indicators chosen by call center managers and those employees and specialists responsible for Balanced Scorecard implementation in a particular call center. Sure thing, it is necessary then to adopt the right evaluation methods and analyze information obtained as a result of KPI evaluation.

4 call center BSC perspectives

One of the most important and common KPIs in a call center BSC is cost per call/contact. The thing is that most call centers do not earn money (except for sales call centers that sell products and services). Thus, to handle one call, company spends a certain amount of money (salary to call center operators, office maintenance costs, telecommunication costs etc). Naturally, these expenses have to be compensated by increased sales and revenue growth. This is why call centers need to improve performance in order to improve customer satisfaction.

When existing and potential customers are making calls they have different questions and problems, as well as face different situations, for example abandoned and blocked calls. Through measurement of relevant indicators it becomes possible to measure efficiency of both call center operators and functionality of used equipment, as well as approaches to handling calls, answering questions and solving customers’ problems.

For instance, such KPI as abandoned call rate is directly linked to several call factors. A customer hangs up under several conditions: he/he is either tired of waiting for response (time on hold), his/her problem is not solved, or the offered solution seems unacceptable.

Having all relevant figures in a dashboard, call center managers will have very important info at their disposal.

These days it is not enough just to enter the market with a new product. To attract new customers and retain existing ones (competition is very intense and thus customers have a wide choice of producers and manufacturers) it is necessary to establish a direct contact with them. Sure, CEOs and chief managers cannot talk to all customers in person. This is what call centers have been created for. Call center operators directly contact company existing and potential customers, solve their problems and answer questions. It is possible to say that the best experts in customer relations are not top managers but ordinary call center operators. For this reason, evaluation of a call center is a key task if a company pursues strategic goals.

Call center KPIs

As every business unit or department in a company, a call center has its structure and goals. It is imperative that call center goals do not conflict with company strategy. Besides, if the entire company works at implementation of company strategy, a call center should not lag behind. One of the most widely used performance evaluation and strategic management tools is without doubt Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Implementation of a call center BSC has lost of benefits which we will review in this post.

The process of call center communication

First of all, a company spends money to maintain a call center. BSC has its financial category that includes financial indicators such as cost per call, call center expenses vs total expenses, revenue per call, losses due to abandoned calls etc. In other words, implementation of a call center BSC is a perfect way to optimize call center expenses and save costs whenever possible.

Secondly, call center BSC helps optimize relations with customers. Thus, it will be possible to find out the most common problems with company products and services. Some call centers are focused mostly on number of calls they can handle and use this criterion to evaluate performance and efficiency. Although such KPI is rather important and enables to save costs there is another indicator that directly measures professionalism of call center operators – number of problems solved. This KPI also influences such measure as customer satisfaction which is extremely important in a call center BSC. High level of customer satisfaction as a rule results in improved sales growth and an increased number of new customers and high rate of customer retention. Besides, implementation of a call center BSC will help align call center and company strategies.

Any call center should use key performance indicators as they play an important role in the measurement of this organization. A number of important metrics are used to calculate for the call centers. Nowadays advanced technology makes it possible to get good data and find out how to improve the work of such places.

Key performance indicators must include the fact about the performance rate and there should be an ability to track it. When setting goals for performance, do not forget that it is necessary to have a good amount accountability to chase these goals. It is also advisable to note all performance problems for further diagnosing and improvement.

What is an effective call center?

To measure and improve any call center you will need about five KPIs. Any call center metrics should be concentrated on the quality than quantity. The first thing that you should take into account is the cost of each call. Next goes customer satisfaction. Only then, you will get the resolution rate from the first contact.

After this you have the last of all the performance on an average and the utilization of agents from the call center. You can derive almost 80 percent of performance and measurement from these metrics. The vast evidence that a number of call centers have shown from the use of these metrics proves the effectiveness of this method. The mentioned above five metrics are all you need to improve the work of your call center.

How BSC benefits a call center

Good quality should prevail over quantity and thus the main goal of any call center should reaching good quality at the lowest cost possible. The most important factor in this case would be looking at labor, since about 70% of costs go towards it. A call center’s overall performance can be determined with the help of one metric.

If the metrics are wrong, the results of the organization can be interpreted in a wrong way. Wrong conclusions can be also made, if only one metric is looked at and the rest are ignored. Only complete indicators can help to track overall performance.

It is really important to use metrics which can give the desired results, as some metrics may be not useful and may not play a role in evaluation. Establish adequate targets and performance goals is very important as this will help avoid too many metrics.

The cost of the call and customer satisfaction are two main factors that will be more than enough to evaluate any call center’s performance.

Many business owners ask one and the same question: “Why use Balanced Scorecard?” Indeed, why? There are many similar performance evaluation and management control systems that have been used for ages. Well, this is partially true. At the same time it would be wrong to call Balanced Scorecard just another system of managerial control. BSC has another purpose which is more global and work in the long term. Balanced Scorecard is an effective strategic management tool. It means that with BSC you will not only be well informed in everything that happens to a company both in the external and internal environment but also whether or not the company is on the right track to implement strategic goals. Of course, in order to be successfully using BSC a company requires realistic and comprehensive strategy. Top managers of call centers should seriously consider possibility of implementing Balanced Scorecard to optimize and improve call center performance, as well as bring a call center strategy (if any) in compliance with company strategic goals, mission and values. So, what are benefits of BSC implementation in call centers, helpdesks and customer support services?

Benefits of call center BSC

Benefit 1 – Expenses optimization. One of the major KPIs in a call center BSC is cost per call. Various companies use different ways to calculate it, but generally it includes telecommunication costs, office maintenance costs, call center operator salary and other expenses. By monitoring changes in cost per call, tom management of a call center can make relevant decisions and cut expenses whenever necessary. This especially concerns those call centers that only provide customers with support but do not sell anything. Sales call centers can make a ratio of cost per call and revenue per successful call.

How call center performance contributes to implementation of company goals

Benefit 2 – Improvement of employee performance. BSC should initiate changes in a call center. Employees must be properly motivated to improve own performance and work with BSC. For example, by controlling first resolution calls it is possible to monitor total performance of a call center. A first resolution call is sometimes called one and done call. It means that a customer needs just one call to have his question answered and problems solved.

Benefit 3 – Improvement of organization climate. BSC unites employees in their desire to benefit the company. Besides, satisfied employees as a rule have satisfied customers. High customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of a customer support service, while in sales call centers customer loyalty improves sales rates.

Efficiency of a company call center greatly affects generated revenue, in not immediate then for sure in the long term. Indeed, post purchase service is extremely important if a company wants to retain customers and create a positive image in order to attract new ones. If you purchase a laptop and have some problems with it you can dial a call center number where qualified specialists will help you (sure we are not talking about some defects but rather about general questions related to the purchased product). If you received qualified support you will surely turn loyal to the producer and in future you are more likely to purchase the same brand product. This is how companies create a perfect business image and enlarge customer base.

What is an efficient call center?

That is why optimization of call center work and strategic planning in this area is very important, especially if the company is undergoing changes. Such changes may be cause by implementation of Balanced Scorecard system which proved to be one of the best strategic management tools ever.

At a first glance, call center functions are not numerous. Indeed, what do call center operators usually do? They answer customers’ calls. Such calls as a rule concern products that have been already purchased, i.e. the company has already made profits. That is why there are companies who do not invest in call center and consider them just a waste of money.

Major call center KPIs

However, implementation of Balanced Scorecard in a call center will make it possible to reach certain strategic goals. Evaluation of a call center performance will make it possible to locate weak points in the work of a call center. Besides, implementation of Balanced Scorecard in a call center will enable ordinary employees better understand company strategy and their own role in implementation of strategic goals. If every call center operator is aware of how his performance affects company progress, he or she will have additional motivation to work better.

BSC implementation is a call center should definitely start with formation of a working group that will be in charge of strategy development and choice of key performance indicators. At that, it is very important that the group consists both of call center managers and external advisors with practical experience of BSC implementation.

As to call center KPIs, there are ready to use sets of call center key performance indicators. Of course, the choice depends on company strategy, current problems, long and short term goals etc.