Call Center Metrics

Metrics should be used to employ performance based call center management. With metrics, measuring the performance of call centers is made easier.

It is not easy managing a call center at all. A lot of people assume that it is easy to manage a call center, but it is not at all. This is because there are so many factors to consider here. However, it is very important to find effective ways and means to manage your call center, to ensure and facilitate its growth and success. So, how do you see your call center? How is its performance? If you have difficulty answering this question, then you should consider employing performance based call center management. This way, you can keep track of the performance of your call center representatives, to ensure quality service and growth for the establishment itself.

But how exactly can you keep track of the performance of every call center representative comprising your workforce? The answer to this is call center metrics. It is so hard to quantify the performance of every call center representative because there are so many factors to consider here. For instance, just how productive are the representatives at the job? Do they really satisfy the needs of the customers they handle? Do they give quality solutions to the problems presented by the customers? Are they able to come up with these solutions fast? And what about the average handling time? How long does the average phone call last for each representative? Attendance is also another factor to consider here. These are just some of the factors to consider when it comes to developing call center metrics. Surely there are more factors that have not been mentioned yet.

One important thing to remember about developing call center metrics is that less is actually better. Yes, there are many factors to consider; this is a point that has long been established already. However, when a large number of metrics are used to evaluate performance, then there is more room for extraneous factors. These extraneous factors just might make it all the more difficult to get down to the bottom of measuring performance. In fact, it is actually recommended to use just five metrics for your call center balanced scorecard. Most call centers nowadays use more than twenty-five metrics for their scorecard. Imagine how many extraneous factors can tamper with the real information that you should be measuring here! As much as possible, just limit your metrics to five. Choose the ones that are relevant to call center performance at its very core. The five metrics that are strongly recommended include Customer Satisfaction, Call Cost, First Call Resolution, Agent Efficiency or Utilization, and Overall Call Center Performance.

More often than not, you would find that one of the five metrics mentioned would actually be related to other metrics on the list as well. For instance, the metric Customer Satisfaction is actually influenced by a number of factors, which include the other recommended five metrics as well. When you want to quantify customer satisfaction, you would have to look at First Call Resolution, Call Quality, Speed of Answer, and the like. This is another reason why it is better to use only a few metrics when you want to employ performance based call center management. Different call centers in the industry might use different sets of metrics. This is understandable because the metrics here should be in line with corporate goals and objectives. Since these differ, then you can expect the metrics to differ as well.

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.