TALKDESK EBOOK Everything You Need to Know About Call Center KPIs July 2017
Table of Contents Introduction 03 I. An Overview of Call Center Key Performance Indicators 04 II. 12 Call Center KPIs to Track for Success 13 III. 10 Steps to Select Optimal KPIs to Monitor Call Center Performance 25 IV. Characteristics of an Optimal Call Center KPI 34 V. 7 Tools to Consistently Measure Call Center KPIs 44
03 Introduction Your call center creates a lot of data. Every call is telling you a little bit about how your customers use your products, their satisfaction with the company, how well your agents perform on the phone, the revenue generated from these conversations and so much more. It s easy to get lost in the sea of noise that comes with call center information, but there s a way to isolate the important metrics and use them to track specific aspects of your conversations and the effect they are having on the relationship between your company and its customers. In this ebook, we ll discuss the different call center KPIs your company can track, how to record them correctly and how that data translates into a bigger customer-centric picture. In the first section, we discuss the importance of tracking call center KPIs and what specific numbers you should be using to measure performance.
04 I. An Overview of Call Center Key Performance Indicators Developing a comprehensive understanding of call center key performance indicators (KPIs), how to identify KPIs to measure as well as how to accurately measure them and act on the data is imperative to successfully managing a call center. It s an added bonus if your call center software helps you monitor and measure these KPIs in real time. This section will help you do just that. It provides a definition of call center KPIs, gives examples of the most commonly measured KPIs in the call center, lists steps to measure these KPIs and suggests tools to help optimize the acquisition of KPI data.
05 I.I Call Center Key Performance Indicators Defined The first step to making data-driven decisions in the call center is to develop a comprehensive understanding of what a call center KPI is, as well as how they are used in the call center. Call center KPIs are quantitative metrics that are used to evaluate constructs that are crucial to the success of the call center. They typically assess the performance of the agent, team, department and/or the call center as a whole. They can be used to determine trends and make data-driven decisions that will increase efficiency, optimize customer satisfaction, increase revenue and reduce costs. They can also be used in benchmarking efforts to measure progress towards goals and to compare the call center s performance with an industry standard. Taken together, call center KPIs are metrics that provide information about how a call center is performing and can be used as a foundation to make strategic decisions that will help to drive results. Now that you have a good understanding of call center KPIs, let s walk through an example of how you can measure certain KPIs to access your call center s performance in one key domain customer satisfaction.
06 I.II Top 10 KPIs that Impact Customer Satisfaction Knowing which call center KPIs to measure consistently can be challenging, especially for more novice call center managers. This list is a great place to start. Below are the top 10 KPIs that impact customer satisfaction within the call center compiled from a study conducted with 512 call centers: I. First call resolution The percentage of calls in which the agent resolves the caller s issue without having to escalate, transfer or return the call. II. Percentage of calls blocked The percentage of callers that received a busy tone when they call. III. Average time in queue The average amount of time callers wait in call queues before an agent responds. IV. Average after call work time The average amount of time an agent spends completing work related to the call after they finish the call. V. Service level The percentage of calls answered within a specified number of seconds.
07 VI. Average abandonment rate The percentage of callers who hang up before reaching an agent. VII. Agent turnover rate The percentage of agents who leave the call center. VIII. Average speed of answer The average amount of time it takes for the call to be answered by an agent or the Automatic Call Distributor (ACD). IX. Average handle time The average amount of time an agent spends speaking with the caller, including hold time. X. Schedule adherence A measure of an agent s degree of compliance with their assigned schedule. If you are looking for a starting point for evaluating your call center s impact on customer satisfaction, the 10 aforementioned KPIs are a great option. Consistently measuring them over time will allow you to make data-driven decisions which will help to increase customer satisfaction.
08 I.III Steps to Selecting Optimal KPIs Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of call center KPIs as well as commonly measured KPIs in the call center, it is time to select KPIs that will allow for an accurate assessment of your call center s performance. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you do just that. I. Identify KPIs that are in line with your business objectives and corporate strategy. II. Identify and define the KPIs that will be measured. III. Decide which data points will contribute to the KPI calculation and how the data will be acquired. IV. Define each KPI s purpose and make sure that the purpose is clear to your entire team. V. Ensure that the KPIs are measuring different domains to gain a more comprehensive view of the performance of your call center.
09 VI. Set a specific, quantitative target, a range or both for each KPI. VII. Define concrete steps that are required to meet each target. VIII. Develop a specific action plan if the KPI falls outside of the target or range. IX. Continually review KPIs, interpret the data in a meaningful way and consider causes for any trends or outliers. X. Optimize the definition of the KPI, refine the data points included in the KPI calculation and select new KPIs to measure in an effort to constantly improve your approach to measuring your call center s performance. In order to effectively engage in call center benchmarking, evaluation and decision-making, managers must follow the steps outlined above to select the most relevant call center KPIs and make more informed decisions based on the acquired data.
10 I.IV Tools to Consistently Measure KPIs The final step to optimizing your approach to measuring KPIs and acting on the data is to leverage the right tools. Below is information about tools to help you consistently measure call center KPIs so that you and your team can make strategic decisions that will have a significant impact on your call center s performance. I. Call center software with integrated reporting The first, and arguably the most important, tool in your team s toolbelt should be call center software with integrated real-time and historical reporting. This will provide your team with the data they need exactly when and how they need it. II. Real-time metrics dashboard for agents Agents should be provided with a real-time metrics dashboard so they are able to see KPIs like how many callers are in the queue, their colleagues agent status, longest wait time and average abandonment time. III. Real-time metrics dashboard for managers Managers should have access to KPIs that are most helpful to them in making data-driven decisions. For example, their metrics dashboard should display service level, number of calls in queue, average abandonment time, longest wait time, etc., in real time.
11 IV. Call monitoring dashboard Call center managers and supervisors should have access to call monitoring capabilities to analyze interaction quality and obtain data for measuring first call resolution. V. Historical reporting The entire team can engage in data-driven decision making when they have access to dashboards that display call center metrics such as call volume, service level, handle time, abandonment time, wait time, etc. from any time period. VI. Workforce management software Managers should leverage workforce management software to help them measure agent attrition and agent absenteeism. VII. Backoffice tools Managers should have access to back-office tools to help them measure KPIs such as first call resolution, cost per call, customer satisfaction and interaction quality. Consistently measuring call center KPIs is essential to gaining an at-a-glance overview of the call center s performance and making informed decisions based on the results. Arm your team with the aforementioned tools so they can access the data they need to succeed.
12 I.V 5. Conclusions Call center managers seeking to propel their call center ahead of the competition, wow their callers with an awesome customer experience, increase revenue and reduce costs should make an effort to identify relevant call center KPIs, measure them consistently and act on the results. Doing so will allow them to make more informed decisions that will have a measurable impact on their call center s performance. With that overview of call center KPIs, it s time to start diving more in depth into specific topics of the conversation. First, we ll take a look at the most common call center KPIs, what they measure and how these metrics can be used to gain a more clear picture your call center s performance.
13 II. 12 Call Center KPIs to Track for Success Analyzing call center key performance indicators (KPIs) is imperative when assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of a call center. While it is clear to most call center managers and decision-makers that they need to analyze call center KPIs, what is often not so clear is which KPIs to measure and track over time. This list should help with just that. It describes the top 12 call center KPIs to track for success.
14 II.I Percentage of Calls Blocked A call center KPI that has a large impact on customer satisfaction is the percentage of calls blocked. This is the percentage of inbound callers that received the busy tone when they call and is often caused by one of the following: There are no available agents and no call queues configured (or the call queues are full) so callers hear a busy tone when they call or are routed directly to voicemail The call center software can not adequately handle the call volume As even one blocked call can be a missed opportunity to connect with a customer or prospect, this is a call center KPI that should never be ignored.
15 II.II Average Time in Queue No one wants to wait in a queue for a long period of time. Thus, in order to ensure your callers wait time is within an acceptable range and customer satisfaction is as well you must keep track of average time in queue. This KPI is the total time callers wait in call queues divided by the total number of calls answered by agents. It is a great indicator of whether or not your team is providing callers with the service they deserve.
16 II.III Average Abandonment Rate Call abandonment, or the percentage of callers who hang up before reaching an agent, is a common occurrence in the call center and has a detrimental impact on customer retention. It is therefore imperative that customer-centric call centers keep track of this KPI and make sure that it remains below a target threshold.
17 II.IV Service Level Service level is the percentage of calls answered within a specified number of seconds. This call center KPI is typically displayed in realtime to agents and managers in their call center software metrics dashboard so they can make data-driven decisions that will have an impact on keeping this KPI within an acceptable range.
18 II.V Average Speed of Answer The average speed of answer is the average time it takes for calls to be answered in the call center during a specific time frame. This includes time spent waiting in a queue and while the agent s phone rings however does not include the time it takes to navigate through the IVR. It is a call center KPI typically referenced by managers when assessing their team s efficiency and degree of accessibility to their callers.
19 II.VI Average Handle Time Average handle time is the elapsed time from when an agent answers a call until the agent disconnects. It is one of the most commonly analyzed KPIs in the call center industry because it is directly related to caller satisfaction. II.VII Average After Call Work Time In most call centers, an agent s work doesn't end when they finish a call. In fact, they often spend quite a bit of time updating databases, sending emails and informing teammates about the call. This time an agent spends completing a transaction after the caller has disengaged is called after call work time. Managers often seek to reduce after call work so that they can maximize the time their team spends interacting with customers while they are on the clock.
20 II.VIII First Call Resolution First call resolution is another KPI that is directly related to customer satisfaction and it is easy to see why. It is the percentage of calls that the agent completely addresses the caller s needs without having to transfer, escalate or return the call. Resolving an issue on first contact is so important, that many claim that first call resolution is the single most important KPI related to a customer s level of satisfaction with a company. It therefore should be at the top of any list of call center KPIs to track over time.
21 II.IX Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is a KPI that can be acquired from many different sources. Call centers typically arrive at a customer satisfaction score by conducting customer surveys as well as obtaining quality assurance measurements. Regardless of the methodology used to arrive at this KPI, it is one that should always be considered when analyzing call center effectiveness and efficiency.
22 II.X Occupancy Rate Occupancy rate measures the amount of time agents are on live calls as well as completing work associated with the calls. While most call center managers seek to optimize occupancy rates, they must also be cognizant of agent workload as well as agent stress when setting targets for this call center KPI.
23 II.XI Agent Absenteeism Agent absenteeism, or the number of days lost per year due to agents being absent as a percentage of the total number of contracted days, can have a major impact on call center scheduling and staffing as well as their bottom line. It is therefore a KPI that can be helpful in developing a budget as well as optimizing workforce management practices.
24 II.XII Agent Turnover Rate The final call center KPI that should be included in every call center manager s list of metrics to track over time is agent turnover rate. This is the percentage of agents who leave the call center to work elsewhere. Agent turnover rate significantly impacts customer satisfaction, call center scheduling and team morale, thus it should be included on a list of metrics to track over time. Measuring call center KPIs that are associated with customer satisfaction, agent effectiveness and call center efficiency should be the main objective of any manager seeking to optimize their call center s performance. And keeping track of the 12 aforementioned KPIs is a great place to start. Now that you know the call center KPI basics and which KPIs are commonly tracked, it s time for your team to decide which metrics are best for you to monitor. The next section will cover the right method for you to set your own standards for success.
25 III. 10 Steps to Select Optimal KPIs to Monitor Call Center Performance Choosing optimal key performance indicators (KPIs) is critical in assessing call center performance, maintaining a consistent level of service quality and comprehensively understanding your customer s experience. Monitoring optimal call center KPIs in real-time will allow for early diagnosis of issues so that reparative action can be taken. Selecting KPIs that are carelessly defined, not in line with corporate strategy or are not consistently monitored will lead to disorganization, poor customer service quality and a decrease in the image and value of your company. It is therefore imperative that ample time and consideration is dedicated to choosing KPIs that will allow for accurate assessment of call center performance. Doing so is essential to understanding and enhancing the customer s experience and will have an enormous impact on your bottom line. Below are 10 steps to show you how.
26 III.I Identify KPIs that reflect your business objectives and corporate strategy Chose KPIs that are in line with your business objectives and corporate strategy. They should be directly tied to your company s mission, values and goals. The indicators that have the largest impact on the desired goal must be considered first.
27 III.II Accurately define KPIs Identify and define exactly what will be measured. In order for the KPIs to be measured consistently, they must have a specific definition. Accurately defining the KPI will contribute to the validity of the measure. III.III Establish how the KPI will be calculated Decide what data points will contribute to the calculation and where the data comes from. This specificity will ensure that the KPI is assessed in a consistent manner. It is imperative to use excellent call center software that will analyze these metrics accurately with real-time and historical reporting. Measuring metrics consistently is essential to ensuring that they are useful.
28 III.IV Define each KPI s purpose Each KPI should be meaningful and serve a purpose. They can be used to engage employees, inform managers or trigger an action plan. Make sure that the purpose is clear to each employee who uses the KPI. III.V Ensure that the KPIs are measuring different domains Dividing KPIs into separate domains will ensure that you are gaining a more comprehensive view of the performance of your company. One strategy is to divide into operations, income, cost, and service-quality related indicators. Another is to divide into leadership/planning, process, people, and performance related indicators. Divide the KPIs into domains that are the most meaningful for your company.
29 III.VI Set performance targets for each KPI KPIs should have a specific, quantitative target, a set of ranges or both. Ranges are expressed as a percentage of a target value or as specific start and end values. Use KPIs to monitor progress and if a KPI falls out of range or misses a target, a trigger should be in place to alert that a specific action must take place.
30 III.VII Define execution steps for each target Define concrete steps that are required to meet each target. Ensure that the steps are feasible and can be continually measured and monitored. A considerable amount of resources should be allocated to training agents to achieve these steps.
31 III.VIII Develop an action plan if the KPI doesn t meet the target Define specific actions to be taken if the KPI falls outside of the target or range. Corrective actions must be concretely defined and consistently applied, especially if a problem is identified. III.IX Continually review KPIs KPIs constantly fluctuate, so accurately assessing them in real-time as well as in comprehensive historical reporting is critical to maintaining an efficient and effective call center. Interpret the data in a meaningful way and consider causes for any trends, outliers or inefficiencies. KPIs should also be available to agents in real-time so they are aware of the metrics and can respond accordingly.
32 III.IX Continually review KPIs KPIs constantly fluctuate, so accurately assessing them in real-time as well as in comprehensive historical reporting is critical to maintaining an efficient and effective call center. Interpret the data in a meaningful way and consider causes for any trends, outliers or inefficiencies. KPIs should also be available to agents in real-time so they are aware of the metrics and can respond accordingly.
33 III.X Refine KPIs when necessary Adjust the KPIs that are being measured, the definition of the KPI or the data points included in calculating the KPI in order to keep efforts aligned with desired performance results. Selecting appropriate call center KPIs and incorporating them into the right strategy will ensure that your call center is performing optimally. This process will increase agent effectiveness, customer satisfaction and system efficiency and, as a result, create positive brand awareness. Call centers are at the heart of the customer experience and call center KPIs will allow your team to keep their finger on the pulse of the customer. By tracking the right KPIs and pro-actively acting on them, your team will consistently achieve their goals and both your customers and company will benefit from their strategic and tactical initiatives. Now that you ve seen some of the most common KPIs and you understand which KPIs are commonly measured, it s time to start thinking about the KPIs that you will track in your call center. The next section will cover some characteristics of KPI selection to help you pick the optimal ones for your team.
34 IV. Characteristics of an Optimal Call Center KPI Call center key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics that track goals or objectives of the call center or company as a whole. Despite being the backbone of scorecards and dashboards and the topic of many executive meetings, some call center decision-makers fail to understand the characteristics of an optimal KPI. This can be a costly mistake as it can lead to confusion, inefficiencies and increased costs. This section will help to shed some light on the characteristics of an optimal call center KPI so that teams can ensure their KPIs are most helpful. In order to be optimal, KPIs should be:
35 IV.I Consistent with the call center s objectives KPIs should be in-line with both the short- and long-term goals of the call center and company as a whole. In addition, they should be tied to the overarching corporate strategy and provide information about progression towards goals.
36 IV.II Strategic value drivers Optimal call center KPIs should be focused on adding strategic value to the call center or company as a whole, rather than isolated business processes. As such, when KPI targets are met, the call center or company as a whole should take a step closer to achieving their financial and organizational goals.
37 IV.III Defined by key stakeholders In order to be most helpful to the entire team, KPIs should be defined by key stakeholders such as call center managers, CXOs, directors, supervisors, etc. Teams should hold strategic planning sessions to identify key value drivers, set goals for each team and select KPIs accordingly.
38 IV.IV Achievable An optimal KPI has a set target or range that is attainable with the resources allocated and within the budgeted time frame. IV.V Measurable In order to be optimal, a KPI must be able to be measured consistently over time with quantitative or qualitative data, or both. As such, call centers should leverage call center software that can acquire meaningful data and display KPIs to all relevant team-members both in real-time and historically.
39 IV.VI Specific The KPI, as well as all variables in its equation, should be clearly defined. It should also be explicit which data points will be included in the equation as well as how this data will be acquired. IV.VII Based on reliable, valid data The data acquired to calculate the KPI should be clean enough to yield valid information. This will help to ensure that team members have the metrics they need to make informed decisions.
40 IV.VIII Calculated accurately The calculation of each KPI should be conducted by a technical analyst or a team member with the appropriate credentials to optimize accuracy. IV.IX Interpretable All team members should know exactly which KPIs are being measured, how the KPIs are calculated, the KPI target or range of acceptable performance as well as the impact the results have on the team as a whole.
41 IV.X Measured frequently KPIs should be closely monitored to identify trends, track performance, fuel data-driven decision making and ensure that they engender the intended consequences. IV.XI Actionable An optimal KPI is actionable. As such, the data should be tied to performance evaluations, discussed during agent coaching sessions, used to make data-driven changes and/or linked to rewards programs.
42 IV.XII Relevant If key stakeholders and team members don t find the information yielded from the KPI relevant, the KPI should be replaced by one that is more meaningful to the team or processes should be optimized so that the KPI is more relevant. IV.XIII Able to provide context KPIs should provide some context as to how the team is performing relative to a previous time frame, to their competitors or the industry standard. As such, each KPI should have one of the following: Threshold upper and lower range of acceptable performance Target predefined value Benchmark based on industry-wide metrics
43 IV.XIV Reinforced with incentives In order to be most helpful, KPIs should be tied to incentives. Teams should restructure incentives and rewards programs when rolling out new KPIs and revamping old KPIs so that team members are adequately incentivized to monitor their KPIs and adjust their behavior accordingly. Call center KPIs that have all of the aforementioned characteristics will significantly help to align the team with corporate objectives, provide them with the information they need to perform optimally and allow them to make more informed decisions that will have a positive impact on the call center as a whole. It is therefore imperative that call center decision-makers take the steps necessary to ensure that every KPI is optimal. After all of this talk about KPIs, it important to have a standard way to actually measure the data. If your company decides to track average handle time, but you use tools that can t accurately track it, you will be stuck. It is therefore very important to have call center software that will allow you to reliably measure the metrics that matter most to you.
44 V. 7 Tools to Consistently Measure Call Center KPIs Consistently measuring call center key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential to ensuring that your team is making informed decisions based on hard data. And accomplishing this requires the right tools. Below are tools to help your team consistently measure call center KPIs so that they can make strategic decisions that will have an impact on your call center s performance.
45 V.I Robust call center software solution The most important tool in your team s toolbelt should be call center software that offers features that will help your team acquire the most relevant data. Your call center software should have features like Automatic Call Distributor (ACD), Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), call monitoring, call recording, built-in CRM and call queues. Leveraging a robust call center software solution with the features your team needs to excel is critical to consistently measuring call center KPIs over time and acting on this data.
46 V.II Real-time metrics dashboard for agents Another feature that your robust call center software solution should have is a real-time metrics dashboard for agents. Agents should be able to access KPIs such as the number of calls in the queue, their colleagues agent status, longest wait time and average abandonment time in real-time from the same interface they use to interact with callers. Arming them with this data will allow them to consistently access the KPIs that are important to them, so they can make more informed decisions.
47 V.III Real-time metrics dashboard for managers Agents are not the only call center employees that should have access to a real-time metrics dashboard managers and supervisors should as well. Managers and supervisors should have access to KPIs in real-time such as service level, number of calls in queue, average abandonment time, longest wait time, etc. This will provide them with the data they need to make strategic decisions that will have the most impact on the team and call center as a whole.
48 V.IV Call monitoring dashboard In addition to having access to metrics in real time, call center managers and supervisors should be able to monitor live calls from their call center software dashboard. This will allow them to analyze calls for interaction quality and obtain data for measuring first call resolution in real-time.
49 V.V Historical reporting dashboard The final call center software feature that is essential for consistently measuring KPIs is a historical reporting dashboard. Your entire team should have access to call center metrics such as call volume, service level, handle time, abandonment time, wait time, etc. from any time point. This will allow them to make more informed decisions based on comprehensive information.
50 V.VI Workforce management software In addition to a robust call center software solution, you should leverage a comprehensive workforce management software solution. This will help you consistently measure agent attrition and agent absenteeism so that you can staff and schedule the call center accordingly.
51 V.VII Backoffice tools The final tool in your team s KPI toolbelt should be backoffice systems that will help with data acquisition, storage and processing. Managers and supervisors should have access to tools such as databases and spreadsheets to help them measure and keep track of first call resolution, cost per call, customer satisfaction, interaction quality and any other relevant KPI. This will round out your KPI toolbelt so that you can be sure to keep track of all of the metrics that matter the most to your team. Consistently measuring call center KPIs is essential to gaining an overview of your call center s performance and making data-driven decisions based on the results. Thus, arm your team with the aforementioned tools and they will be able to access the data they need to make decisions that will help them succeed. If your company already has KPIs that you ve been tracking, hopefully this ebook gave you a better idea of the ways to use that data to make significant changes in your call center. If you haven t been tracking anything, then take inspiration from this resource and start measuring the metrics that matter most to your team. No matter how far along in the measuring process you are, you can always learn something new and use this resource to interpret the data differently. The function of the call center is to optimize customer interactions, so use that KPI data to make a difference for your customers.
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