Starting and running a call center is a challenging task. It’s crucial to achieve certain metrics in order to be successful, however, it can be difficult to know which metrics are the most valuable to your organization. In this article, we list the most important call center performance metrics and explain why they’re critical to your success. Here we go!
Service Level
The service level is a critical metric for any call center. It measures how quickly your agents answer incoming calls. The two most common service level goals are to answer 80% of calls within 20 seconds or 70% of the calls within 30 seconds. If your service level falls below these standards, it means that your customers are waiting too long to speak with an agent, which can lead to frustration and a poor customer experience.
Average Handling Time (AHT)
Average Handling Time is another essential metric for call centers. Not only does it measure the amount of time your call center agents spend on each call, but it measures the time they spend in call-related activities such as preview, hold-time and post-call wrap. The standard AHT is between 8-10 minutes. If AHT is too high, it could mean that agents are taking too long to resolve customer issues, leading to longer wait times and lower customer satisfaction.
First Call Resolution (FCR)
First Call Resolution (or One Call Resolution) measures the percentage of customer issues that get resolved on the first call. A high FCR rate is critical to customer satisfaction, loyalty and profitability. Aim for an FCR rate of 85% or higher. If your FCR rate is low, it could indicate that your agents need additional training or that your processes need improvement to increase agent productivity.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Customer Satisfaction is perhaps the most important metric for any call center. It measures how happy your customers are with the service they receive. There are several ways to measure customer satisfaction, but the two most common are standard CSAT Surveys or Net Promoter Score (NPS). Low CSAT scores can indicate issues with the service provided by your agents, processes or the product itself.
Workforce Management
Managing your workforce is crucial to ensure that you have enough agents available to answer incoming calls without burdening your own resources. Here are some critical metrics to track:
- Staffing levels: Ensure that you have enough agents available to answer calls during peak periods. If you don’t have enough agents, consider partnering with a call center provider like Slingshot to scale your business.
- Volume history: Understanding historical call volume patterns is crucial to successful workforce management.
Agent Utilization & Absenteeism
Make sure that you don’t have too many agents waiting for calls to come in. Utilization rates between 70-80% are considered optimal. It’s also crucial to forecast and plan for absenteeism to ensure that you have the right amount of coverage to handle incoming calls. You may want to consider offering incentives to reduce absenteeism.
Quality Assurance (QA)
Quality assurance is critical to ensure that your agents are providing excellent customer service. Here are some key metrics to track:
- Task completion: Ensure that your agents complete their tasks correctly in a customer-centric manner.
- Tone and active listening: Agents should speak in a friendly tone and demonstrate active listening to understand the customer’s needs.
- Greeting and closing: Agents should greet customers warmly and close the call appropriately, asking if there’s anything else they can do to help.
- Information sharing: Agents should share all necessary information with customers about their purchases to ensure they have a positive experience.
Tracking the right metrics can help improve customer satisfaction, resolve issues quickly and manage your workforce effectively. Taking from this list, we’ve compiled a more concise checklist and agent scorecard with the industry standard goals and data points to help point your business in the right direction.
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It’s also crucial to remember that If you don’t have enough agents to answer each call, none of these metrics matter. You don’t have to hire more agents for the busy season; partner with Slingshot and get the right level of coverage to scale your business.
