Call Center Metrics

Every company having a web site has a menu called Contact us. And most companies have special hotlines. As a rule these are tool free number which you can dial should you have any questions about products and services offered by a company. And as a rule a pleasant female and rarely male voice welcomes you. But sometimes, this is where pleasant things end. If you happen to talk to incompetent call center operator he or she can drive you nuts. We all have watched funny records of how angry customers calling their contact centers. These are exceptions from the rules. As a rule customers and call center operators are being polite. However, if a call center operator fails to fully inform you on the issue you are interested in, or failed to solve your problem you will think twice before making a final decision to stay with the company or buy precuts.

Call center has own key performance indicators (KPI) that show how well call center is performing. So, in order to see how your call center is doing, we recommend use of Balanced Scorecard system. This software evaluated different KPIs which altogether make a full picture of a call center performance.

Evaluate your call center performance with contact scorecard system

In order to evaluate customer support service dialing a number and talking to an operator is not enough. Balanced Scorecard system will help you find and evaluate most important factors that make you call center effective.

With a Balanced Scorecard system you will be able to find weak points in the work of a call center. Sometimes, it seems that everything is OK. You operators professionally solve customers’ problems and answer their questions, but still the revenue is decreasing.

Balanced Scorecard system can do magic. Don’t believe it? Imagine how your employees will be motivated if they will be aware of own weak points? And what if you introduce a special system of bonuses for those who manage to improve a set of KPIs?

So, when using Balanced Scorecard, which KPIs are most important?

Firstly, this is revenue per successful call and cost per call. Any call center should bring profits (or if this is customer support service it should not be unprofitable). These call center metrics are considered most important and representative.

Of course, you need to take care of customer satisfaction, time on hold, blockage rate and rate of abandoned calls. With a Balanced Scorecard system this will be quite easy to do.

Making a company grow can be done in more than just one way. A sale oriented call center has its own ways of making itself grow.

A sale oriented call center did not just come into existence out of nowhere. Certain circumstances that happened to certain individuals mainly caused the birth of call centers focused more on sales. If you think about the growing dependency of man these days to online support, tools, and highly digital nature of human processes you should be able to connect the dots quickly.

The digital age is also a factor that led to the creation of call centers focused on sales. About two to three decades back, consumers can be turned to customers by presenting goods in physical stores. We are calling it “physical” since there are stores that are not physical in nature, examples of these are online stores.

Going back, these consumers, upon seeing (and trying) your products, will either buy or move on to the other stores around. The factor that will determine if they stay and become customers lies in your strategy on how you made and presented your goods. In short, if these consumers find your goods appealing because of their quality or something else that caught their fancy, they will buy it. Anyway, that was how businesses grow back then. They grow by accumulating customers and making sure they keep them.

As the years went by, technology advanced. It affected almost everything in this world, including the businesses and how they are run and operated. The traditional way of obtaining customers is still the same; however, there are new ways to obtain them now. Today the technology allows businesses to get to customers even if these customers are just at home. Meaning, the customers need not go out to be able to be sold goods. The businesses went totally out of their way just to be able to reach customers at home and conduct business right there and then.

What was mentioned above has nothing to do with door-to-door selling. What was implied above is that with the advanced technology available to these businesses, it is rather easy to gain access to private information like phone numbers of prospective customers and additional information about them as well. Although this can easily qualify as an invasion of privacy, unscrupulous individuals running these types of businesses continue to do this anyway. They will get customers even if they cross sensitive borderlines.

On the defense of these “new breed” of businessmen, it can be argued that what they are after is the convenience and service they can provide for what they called customers. We can easily say that sometimes you will really need to spoon-feed certain services before the consumer realizes that they do need the service.

Overall, the reaction and views of the public will vary. They will regard this kind of approach in getting customers differently, depending on their personal experiences and initial insight of the concepts that make these kinds of companies work. And so new strategies are formulated, laid out, and then implemented. This time they have a refined method of doing things. Instead of randomly contacting households, they will filter willing and/or neutral homes and avoid calling people who value their privacy so much. From this point on, the concept of a sale oriented call center is fully materialized and is still in continuous evolution.

Help desk oriented CRM systems are effective for companies whose structure involves many teams working for different tasks but considered of the same level.

CRM is defined as customer relationship management. This is a modern software companies use to keep files and information they gathered from customers, both current and past customers. The different departments in a company can access this information since they are stored in the company’s private database. Help desk oriented CRM systems are a big help for modern companies since they make each department more independent. This is because the CRM system can be used for queries related to the company’s business or their customer’s information. They will no longer need to ask others for information; they can just go ahead and consult their CRM.

Other than holding customer information, CRM also improves the services delivered to customers. This is by using the information for sales and marketing strategies that will then be applied to current customers. In most cases, CRM is utilized for software-related business transactions. According to developers, this is not a good practice since they are limiting themselves to the software aspect of each transaction. In some cases, business transactions will require actual and physical procedures to complete. The lack of the physical component in the CRM virtually makes the CRM an incomplete solution to customer processes in some instances.

To maintain optimum usage of the CRM systems, further flexibility should be done. This flexibility that should be done is in your employees. Since your CRM systems are enough to handle the software side of things, developing the skills and knowledge of your employees can make up for the physical aspect your CRM systems lack. Years ago, employees are utilized as help desks themselves. They take an extra task of being able to answer common internal questions asked by co-workers. Now that a CRM can be designed in such a way that it can act as the help desk, it can now relieve those workers who have been acting in the past as help desks for the company. These employees can then be trained for functions needed to fulfill what a CRM is not able to do – to complete certain business transactions.

The interaction between man and technology allows a company to maximize their CRM. CRM is not only used as storage of gathered information from customers, it can also help analyze the best sales and marketing strategies to use in dealing business, and the employees can fill the gap not covered by the company’s CRM. This kind of business setup is more holistic compared to having your company’s CRM system functioning only for the software-related transactions.

And the fact that you have turned your ordinary CRM systems into help desk oriented CRM systems, you enjoy a wider use of these systems, and you get more out of it compared to other companies, even if the other companies have invested as much as you did for these CRM systems. And eventually, this will only lead to satisfied customers. It is going to be one good thing leading to the other. Now, that best describes being able to do business better.

Help desk key performance indicators are important factors to use when you want to measure the performance of call centers. These indicators quantify the necessary aspects for accurate measurement.

In the industry of call centers, it is very important to employ help desk key performance indicators. This is because these indicators are developed to evaluate how far along a certain call center is in achieving its corporate goals and objectives. To do this, key performance indicators or KPIs are then needed, to determine the performance of the help desk, and that of the call center as a whole.

The key to optimizing the manpower and resources of call centers lies on effective performance management measures. What are these performance management measures? These are actually quantifiable aspects used to effectively measure the performance of each and every member of the workforce. Performance management measures actually include constant monitoring of agent performance, formulation of objectives, proper training of agents, recognition of agents who have been excelling in terms of performance, and evaluation of agent performance. To do this efficiently, KPIs are also used for this endeavor.

KPIs are essential parts of performance management. In ensuring effective performance management of the help desk, you just cannot do without KPIs. In fact, these KPIs are very helpful in assisting agents and representatives as to what calls should be prioritized and how to process the calls that are being handled. However, you have to note that these KPIs should not be defined before the corporate goals and objectives of the call center are defined. This is because the KPIs exist to smoothen out the process of achieving these goals and objectives. This is the main purpose behind the existence of KPIs, after all. These key performance indicators assist in measuring the current performance of the help desk, in relation to the goals and objectives originally set. Thus, you cannot expect two or three help desks to be utilizing the same set of KPIs. This would mean that the call centers have the same goals and objectives that they want to achieve, and this is just not possible.

However, once these KPIs have been implemented, it is important for all members of the workforce to be made aware of them. After all, these are the quantifiable factors that would be used to measure the performance of everyone on the workforce, particularly the help desk. Also, making your workforce aware of these KPIs can motivate them to perform better as well. Priorities can also be aligned according to corporate goals and objectives. Furthermore, since KPIs have to be quantifiable in nature, this implies that certain software should be used to measure them accurately. Help desks should be ready to invest in such software for effective performance management.

It is actually wise to use a limited number of help desk key performance indicators. Less is more, as people would say. If you use many KPIs, measuring performance here would become too complicated. There would be too many extraneous factors that have influence on the whole measuring process. Thus, it is recommended to limit the number of KPIs to just five. Choose the KPIs that are relevant to the nature of the business itself. These KPIs should also be in accordance to the goals and objectives originally set. For the most part, these are the commonly used KPIs: first call resolution, call cost, agent efficiency, customer satisfaction, and overall call center performance.

To ensure the productivity of helpdesk in call centers, there are actually a lot of certain helpdesk management tips that you can consider.

The helpdesk actually exists to provide much needed assistance in the overall operations of call centers. When you are in the business of call centers, there are actually two sets of customers that you need to consider, which are the internal and the external customers. If only the budget would allow, then all needs brought about by these customers can be answered to right away. Unfortunately, such is not the case, so there should be some sort of balance to be set when it comes to helpdesk management.

The first of many helpdesk management tips is the auditing of the center’s current practices. It is important to do this before you do engage in certain changes for your processes, as needed. Each and every detail should be audited. However, you should pay attention to customer care and other support services offered by your helpdesk.

The second is to develop what is known as service level management. This is done by clearly outlining what the different services that your helpdesk offers. IT provisions should also be monitored, since there would inevitably be broader requirements when it comes to handling the business. Once this service level management is established, then things should flow more smoothly.

The third step is to reevaluate costs entailed. The total costs in providing these services should be pegged, first and foremost. After such a figure is established, then you should proceed to determine just how much each and every call received and made costs, as well as the costs each call entails in order for particular issues to be resolved. Identify which calls are easily resolved because these are actually the ones that are cheaper. These are the calls that do not generate that much income for your helpdesk. This does not mean it would be better to have calls on problems and issues that are harder to resolve, just because these generate more income. Rather, effective helpdesk management would do whatever it takes to provide self-help tips, so that clients would no longer have to contact customer service representatives just to solve trivial problems, say, resetting passwords for instance.

The fourth step is to make sure you have exactly the right mix when it comes to hiring the people for the job. Techies may have the needed expertise to handle difficult calls, but they just might not have the necessary customer service skills needed in handling the call itself. Similarly, customer-savvy representatives may be too lax when handling difficult calls. Thus, the perfect mix should be achieved here. It is actually better to get customer-savvy representatives than to get techies. This is because technical skills can be easily taught and learned, whereas interpersonal and communication skills are inherent.

Lastly, you should demand quality support from your suppliers. This is in accordance to your rights to high-end support, so do not worry about appearing demanding. Technical evaluations should be made from time to time, so that you can be sure that your call center would be as efficient as it should be. Returns of investment would then be made more smoothly if you keep in mind these helpdesk management tips.

There are certain helpdesk efficiency secrets that can be used in ensuring the overall performance of helpdesks all over the world. Customer satisfaction is the underlying concept in these secrets.

The advent of technology brings about so many advantages and benefits that are resting on the palms of our hands. But not everything brought about by such technologies are positive. There are certain technical problems and issues that gizmos and gadgets just cannot do without. And this does not pertain to just gizmos and gadgets alone! There are so many services that warrant a call or two to helpdesks, just for technical support or assistance. Thus, in order for helpdesk agents to provide the quality service their customers are entitled to, then a certain level of efficiency should be achieved on their part as well. And this is where the importance of knowing certain helpdesk efficiency secrets sets in.

When you are discussing helpdesk efficiency, then you should keep in mind the underlying concept of customer satisfaction. This is the primary aim of all helpdesk agents. Now, there are certain things that can help any helpdesk agent in ensuring customer satisfaction. One of these is the establishment of a scorecard. This scorecard actually helps in quantifying aspects that determine helpdesk performance. Here lies the concepts that have been used for some time now, and these are the number of calls answered, as well as the length of the calls that have been answered. The basic premise here is the more calls the agent receives, then the more people he is able to help. To be able to entertain more calls, then the handling time for each call should also be as short as possible. This is the quantitative side in helpdesk performance.

There is also a qualitative side that you just cannot do without. The number and length of calls are not enough to ensure customer satisfaction. In fact, customers do not really care how long their calls would be, so as long as the issue or the problem is resolved. Thus, this should also be included in the equation, to ensure helpdesk efficiency.

For these to be strongly implemented, then the needs of your customers should be evaluated and outlined as clearly as possible. This way, you can easily determine the benchmarks needed in the whole process. The ability to foresee the needs of your customers is vital here. As helpdesk agents, you should know the features of the products you are handling inside and out, so that you will have a glimpse of the possible glitches and complaints your customers might have. You also have to remember that not all of your customers have the technical knowledge that is needed in operating your products efficiently. As helpdesk agents, you have to be patient when handling these matters. Remember that your job is to satisfy each and every customer. Keep this in mind, especially during the times when handling calls becomes difficult.

Lastly, the proficiency and productivity of helpdesk agents should be plotted on the scorecard as well. You have to make sure that the helpdesk agents you hire are as productive as they come. This way, customer satisfaction is easier to achieve. Thus, you should monitor the performance of each of your agents. You should check the call abandon rates of your agents for this aspect. Call abandon here actually means that the agent himself did not bother to take a call that has been routed to his line. This is a strong indication of irresponsibility. Thus, helpdesk agents with high call abandon rates should be constantly monitored.

Measuring Helpdesk performance can ensure customer satisfaction, which is the primary goal in the business. With a properly established system, monitoring customer satisfaction would be easier as well.

The world of technology brings us many, many benefits that all of us can enjoy. However, with such benefits, there are also a number of technical issues that one just cannot do without. This is because, as high-tech as these gadgets may be, there will indeed come a time when you would need technical support for whatever glitches the features may have.

And with this comes the importance of Helpdesk. Simply put, Helpdesk refers to the mediators that make the features of fads and gadgets easier for their users. Customer satisfaction is the underlying concept Helpdesks aim for. Because of this, it is of such importance to measure Helpdesk performance as well.

Since the basic aim of Helpdesks is providing customer satisfaction, then one of their aims should also be to be as effective at their jobs as possible. For this purpose, a scorecard should then be developed to quantify Helpdesk performance. Ever since the concept of Helpdesk surfaced, there have been two aspects used for this: the number of answers called, and the length of these calls.

The less time Helpdesk agents spend resolving the issue for each caller, the better. The concept here is not just, “The more, the merrier”, but “The more, the better.” If a Helpdesk agent would spend less time for each call, then he or she would be able to handle more calls. Thus, it is very important to keep track of the number of calls answered and the length of these calls.

However, Helpdesk performance should not be measured by just using quantity as basis. Quality should be measured as well. With just quantity as basis, there would be a quota to hit for every Helpdesk agent, of course. It would be very easy to lose track of the concept of customer satisfaction here, especially if you would focus your attention on just getting as many calls as possible. Quality should still be meshed in the equation.

By including customer satisfaction in your scorecard, determining the benchmarks in the evaluation of the needs of customers would be so much easier. It is very important to be able to foresee the needs of your customers, especially when it comes to the features and such of your products. You have to bear in mind that not all customers would have the technical knowledge that you have about the products. Of course, there are those customers who are techie in nature.

These are the people who make the job of Helpdesks easier. Still, there are those who are not familiar with the technology products come with. These are the people who would need guidance from the beginning to the end of the call. This takes patience and effort on the part of Helpdesk agents.

The proficiency of Helpdesk agents should also be included on the scorecard. One way to do this is to monitor the call abandon rates of the agents. High call abandon rates would strongly imply that the agent is not entertaining the customers that have rung his or her line. The figures for this aspect are one effective way of measuring Helpdesk performance. Agents with high call abandon rates can indeed be pegged as inefficient at the job. Monitoring Helpdesk performance this way can help any business deal with such employees accordingly.