Call Center Metrics

One of the most common mistakes and BSC implementation is failure to set the right goals and objectives. At a first glance goal setting seems quite easy. “I want my company to earn a lot of money” or “I want to earn a million.” Well, if the goal is formulated in such a way there is very little probability that it will be reached. Goal setting is not only about deciding what you want but also about identification of implementation means. How will I earn this million? How will my company earned a lot of money? Do I have necessary tools and intellectual potential to implement these objectives? These are very important questions which need to be answered.

Balanced scorecard is sometimes mistakenly viewed a substitution for strategy. This is a very common myth. Balanced scorecard is just a tool which may be useless unless it is properly applied. So, why is goal setting is such an important thing?

If top management sets the wrong goals or goals that cannot be objectively achieved the entire scorecard will be built in an inappropriate way. The wrong goals will cause selection of the wrong measures and key performance indicators. Top management will have to react on changes in the internal and external environment and undertake counter measures. As a result, the company will simply go in the wrong direction.

Goal setting in call centers and customer support services is very important as these are customer oriented services. Earning a lot of money is a good goal, but at the same time company management should define the ways this money will be earned. So, it would be good to include such goals as “the improvement of customer satisfaction”, “increasing the number of first resolution calls”, “increasing the number of sales attempts per employee” etc.

In course of time employees in company management will see cause and effect ties between these indicators and financial goals. Customer satisfaction will result in growth of sales as satisfied customers are more likely to buy from the company. The increased number of first resolution calls will improve customer loyalty, and existing customers are more likely to convert into regular customers. Increasing the number of sales attempts per employee will increase sales volumes as a result to which the company benefits and employees will get increased bonuses.

Thus, as you can see, goal setting in implementation of balanced scorecard is not all about financial figures.

Read more on goal setting here

Optimizing an evaluation of the call center performance may be daunting task. We have already forgotten the times when customer support centers consisted of several technical specialists who try to answer all calls and solve all the problems, whenever possible. The times have changed now as customers became very demanding and sometimes even picky. When picking up the phone and dialing number of a customer support center one hopes not only to hear a pleasant voice and a polite language. One hopes to have his problems solved and questions answered.

Call centers have become inseparable parts of all pay companies that sell goods or services. Since customer support service has very few financial indicators (they do not earn money) it is quite difficult to evaluate performance of such a call center. This is where Balanced Scorecard System comes into play. Balanced scorecard was specifically designed to include financial and nonfinancial indicators in evaluation process. Moreover, BSC helps in communicate in operational management with strategic goals. Company strategic goals may be quite clear. This is gaining profits. But what about a call center or a help desk? Let’s review cases of two types of call centers: sales call centers and customer support service.

Major call center KPIs

If a call center has one key goal of performance sales then generate in revenue and gaining a larger market share would be the key strategic goals of such a call center. However, in order to achieve financial success one should pay attention to operational management and performance of a call center. Customer satisfaction, sales attempts, cost per sale, revenue per sale and a number of other indicators would represent performance of a sales call center. At that, financial indicators seem to be the most important here. But this is not entirely true. Customer satisfaction with the conversation would play a great role on decision-making by a customer.

Customer support service has one ultimate goal to resolve problems and answer questions as well as keep customers informed on general and technical issues related to products and services. It would be fair to say that customer satisfaction is the key indicator here. Also, one should pay attention to the number of one and done calls (also called first resolutions calls), abandoned calls rate, time on hold, average waiting time etc. And efficient and professional operator needs to make sure that all concerns and questions of customers to answer so that the customer has no need to make the repeated call.

What makes an effective call center?

Using software that enhances the quality of customer service is not enough. Helpdesk performance metrics are unit measurements that managers use to measure time and resource efficiency of helpdesk officers.

With the continuing and increasing use of helpdesks in many companies, such as call centers, media outlets, and service-oriented businesses, both in the areas of technical support and customer assistance, it is obvious that such companies should have uniform measurements to utilize in verifying the performance level of the companies, technical aspects, human resource, and the entire facility. There are seven common helpdesk performance metrics used in today’s business world.

The first metric is idle time. This measures the amount or proportion of time that a customer representative or helpdesk officer spends after a call or transaction. Usual causes for idleness are attending to personal needs or technical adjustments. There is actually nothing wrong with helpdesk officers being idle. However, there should be an adequate and appropriate proportion of time spent on actual calls and time spent with no calls.

Closely related to idle time is the waiting time or queue. This metric refers to the time the customer spends while waiting on the line or on hold. The unit of measuring this metric is usually in minutes. There are specialized software applications though that update the customer about how long he or she has been waiting on the line. This lessens the irritability or anxiety of customers and thus, decreasing the chances of agents gaining less evaluation scores. However, it is still imperative that agents decrease the wait time queue.

Average talking time is yet another indicator. Most companies impose a time limit on agents or helpdesk officers when attending to customer calls. The purpose of this is to become time efficient. This encourages the agents to solve the problem in as little time as possible. New officers may find it hard at first to observe the time limit. This, however, should not hinder the agents from delivering quality service to their callers. Managers often measure this metric in minutes.

The standard handling time combines both average talking time and idle time or wait time queue. This metric will show the entire time efficiency of the agent.

Managers measure the service level of the helpdesk officers by percentage. It is the proportion of time and calls that the agent handles in a specific timeframe. Again, this metric will need data from the other metrics like idle time or wait time queue. Companies often employ a kind of software that evenly distributes the number of calls to all agents. This ensures that nobody is answering the majority of calls.

It is also important to measure the volume of calls per hour. This data is important, especially in determining the quota of the personnel. Then again, quality should always be on top of quantity. Another likely metric is first call resolution. This measures how effective the agent is in solving the problem at the first call. A customer who calls back may mean that his or her previous transaction was not satisfactory. It eats up time and thereby hinders other transactions from getting through.

As the company grows, the demand for customer service also increases. Thus, ensuring the quality of the customer support is imperative by using and implementing the appropriate helpdesk performance metrics.