In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics are revolutionizing call centers, understanding and tracking call center analytics has become increasingly vital. These analytics serve as a bridge, linking customer interactions with valuable insights that can significantly enhance the quality of customer service and operational efficiency.
As we delve deeper, it becomes clear that analytics are not just data points but powerful tools for optimizing customer service operations, boosting agent performance, and elevating the overall customer experience.
In this blog, we will outline twelve crucial metrics and data points that organizations should be closely monitoring to stay competitive and deliver exceptional customer service.
Average Handle Time
Average handle time (sometimes referred to as average call length) is the average amount of time your agents are spending on each call. It can be difficult to identify a standard, ideal length of time for customer calls because this metric can vary greatly by industry and product or service. However, it is generally better to have shorter handle times because that means your customers’ inquiries are resolved more quickly.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a measure that indicates whether customers are happy with the service they received from your call center. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric that measures how likely a customer is to recommend a product or service to others. While CSAT and NPS seem similar, there are some key differences.
CSAT measures one singular interaction and gathers customer satisfaction typically right after the interaction is complete, usually through a survey. CSAT is typically calculated by asking customers how satisfied they were with the interaction or product on a scale of 1-10 after each individual interaction.
NPS, however, is more of a long-term metric, related to a wide variety of customer interactions over time. It includes how the customer feels about your overall service and brand and is a strong indicator of customer loyalty. NPS is typically calculated by asking how likely a customer is to recommend your business from 1-10. From there, you subtract the percentage of detractors (those who rated they were likely to recommend your business a 6 or below) from the percentage of promoters (those who gave a 9 or 10) and that gives you an NPS score.
Both are important to track in order to gather information about your customer service department. Not only do they measure how happy or satisfied your customers are with your product or service, but these metrics can also be used to enhance service quality, foster customer loyalty and stay ahead competitively.
Customer Sentiment
Customer sentiment is another metric that relates to customer service. Sentiment analysis measures your customers’ emotions, tone and overall feelings toward your business through machine–learning and artificial intelligence. Instead of relying on post-interaction surveys, customer sentiment is captured during the call using the voice, text, and tone of the customer to measure how satisfied and happy they really are with your product or service and how they feel about your brand.
While customer surveys are a useful tool to measure CSAT and NPS, they can be incorrect or skewed. Consumers tend to leave reviews or take surveys when they have had an exceptionally poor or great experience, which leaves the majority of consumer interactions not accounted for. With a sentiment analysis tool, every interaction is measured to give your organization the most complete and accurate information about how customers feel about their experience with your brand.
Agent Turnover Rate
Agent turnover rate is the percentage of employees that leave your organization during a given time period. Agent turnover rate is an important metric to analyze because it directly impacts costs, service quality, employee morale and overall customer satisfaction. A high turnover rate means that your organization is constantly needing to hire new agents, which is costly. New agents require recruitment, training, and equipment which add to the onboarding costs.
Frequent turnover also impacts the quality of service. Consistent, experienced agents are better equipped to handle complex issues and provide a higher level of service.
Employee morale is also affected by a high agent turnover rate. When employees are constantly leaving, it leaves remaining employees with a higher workload leading to a potentially high-stress work environment.
To keep customer satisfaction high, agent turnover must be taken seriously and kept to a minimum if possible. Frequent staff changes can be discerning for customers who may want to interact with knowledgeable agents.
First Call Resolution
First call resolution, sometimes referred to as one call close rate, measures how often a customer’s query is resolved the first time they reach out to your contact center team. When customers are able to get their questions or concerns answered the first time they contact you, they are likely to be left more satisfied than having to call in multiple times to get help.
First call resolution rate is also a sign that your agents are knowledgeable about your products and services and are capable of finding the right answer at the right time to help your customers before a call potentially escalates.
Average Speed of Answer
Average speed of answer is another important metric to track. Average speed of answer is the total time taken by the agent to find the specific answer the customer needs. A low average speed of answer is a sign of an experienced and knowledgeable agent. An agent who is extremely familiar with your products or services will be able to answer a customer’s question quickly and confidently, therefore cutting down the average speed of answer time.
Average Hold Time
Average hold time measures exactly what it says it does: the average length of time a customer waits on hold before speaking with an agent. While this may seem like a straightforward metric to measure in your call center, it affects many other important call center analytics.
A high average hold time can greatly affect first call resolution rate. If a customer feels like they are waiting too long on hold, they may hang up before ever speaking to an agent, therefore requiring them to call back again later to get their question answered and reducing the first call resolution rate. This also can potentially impact both CSAT and NPS, as consumers are more apt to become dissatisfied and express frustration after extended hold times.
Hold times are also closely related to cost management. Customers on hold tie up resources without actively resolving their issues. By minimizing hold times, call centers can handle a larger volume of calls more efficiently, ultimately reducing costs associated with prolonged customer wait times.
New Agent Onboarding Rate
New agent onboarding rate measures how fast it takes a new agent to be completely productive in the organization. Onboarding a new hire requires paperwork, orientation, an introduction to company culture, mission and values, and adequate training for the new employee’s role and responsibilities.
While new agent onboarding rate may not seem like an important metric to analyze in your call center, it is an important piece of the puzzle. Training and onboarding on average can take anywhere from 3-6 months or longer for agents to reach a base level of proficiency. The faster an organization can onboard an employee, the quicker they become productive members of the team and contribute to team goals.
If your organization is struggling with new agent onboarding, a real-time, guided coaching solution can help. With an AI-powered conversation intelligence tool, new agents can respond like tenured agents in real-time to meet the demands of customers and prospects in a competitive environment.
Call Abandonment Rate
Call abandonment rate measures the number of abandoned calls a call center records in a period of time. An abandoned call is when a caller hangs up before they reach an agent. Calls can be abandoned for several reasons, such as a long hold time. Callers typically hang up while they are in the queue or while listening to an automated menu or interactive voice response (IVR).
Call abandonment rate is a key analytic that your call center should track because it can highlight areas for improvement in your call center. If customers abandon their calls before they reach an agent, it can mean that you may need to improve call routing, allocate resources differently, or improve the efficiency of your IVR.
Most importantly, call abandonment rate is closely tied to customer satisfaction. Customers who are abandoning their calls due to high wait times or inefficient IVR will lead to poor customer satisfaction and ultimately, retention.
Cost Per Call
Companies pay a specific price per call. This price is determined by the call center software they are using, as well as the length of each call. Longer calls cost more, as your agents are tied up tending to one customer in a single customer support call. Understanding your cost per call metric is essential to understanding the ROI on call center technology and the overall cost-effectiveness of your operations.
Script Adherence
Script adherence measures how well an agent adhered to certain regulatory scripts to maintain compliance. Compliance is an important part of a call center as there are many rules and regulations call center agents must adhere to remain compliant to avoid costly fines and penalties. Compliance and privacy laws can vary based on industry, an organization’s headquarter location or the state in which the customer lives.
An automated compliance solution can take all the heavy lifting of script adherence from your agents. Instead of having to remember a compliance checklist, Gryph for Compliance automatically blocks non-compliant calls from being dialed, freeing your enterprise from using massive amounts of time and legal resources to keep up with the countless regulations of an ever-changing compliance landscape.
Average Revenue Per Call
The average revenue per call calculates the average amount of revenue generated every time a consumer calls your business. Revenue can be generated when a consumer calls in through cross-sell and upsell opportunities. Calculating the average revenue per call can unlock trends and patterns and help organizations better understand how revenue fluctuates based on current offerings, campaigns, and market conditions and ultimately drive better, more strategic decisions.
Optimizing Call Center Analytics For Success
A combination of any or all of these call center analytics should be monitored daily for continued success in your contact center. To help alleviate the time and labor you’ll need to not only understand these call center analytics but implement them across your organization, consider a conversation intelligence platform to maximize productivity, performance, and revenue. Our real-time, AI-powered solutions enable better conversations so customer-facing teams can sell more, provide comprehensive support, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
If you are ready to implement these call center analytics in your organization, reach out to Gryphon today.