Effectively monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) is the key to running an effective contact center. But how is that done and what KPIs should your agency be tracking? In this article, we’ll be looking at exactly that, and exploring what KPIs are most critical for your agents, for your customers, and for your bottom line.
Then, over the coming weeks, we’ll take a deep dive into each of these contact center metrics and provide additional insights for improving them within your own organization.
Top KPIs For Your Agents
Your agents are the backbone of your operation, and there are certain KPIs to measure to ensure agent success. Of course, there’s a laundry list of potential indicators, but these three are frequently measured by top contact centers because they have the greatest business impact, and organizations can take actionable steps to improve them.
Retention Rate
It’s been said that people don’t quit jobs because of bad companies — they quit because of bad management. Monitoring your agent retention rate will help you identify shortcomings in training, communication, and overall job satisfaction.
Ramp Time
When a new agent comes on board how long does it take for them to get through training and start making their first calls? This metric is often influenced by both the agent and the training process implemented by the coaching staff. And while quick ramp time is crucial for business growth, it’s important to balance this with quality and compliance scores.
QA Scores
An agent may be a fast learner with low ramp time, but are their compliance marks being met on calls? If agents are consistently going off script or missing major points on calls, that should be monitored and should signal to management a need for additional coaching. Real-Time QA is an excellent resource for monitoring this KPI by automatically scoring 100% of calls as they happen and giving management the data they need to improve compliance metrics.
Top KPIs for For Your Customers
No matter what type of contact center you’re running, one principle is universal: you need customers in order to make money. Here are the KPIs you should be measuring to get the most out of your customers.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Customer satisfaction is so essential because happy customers are more likely to be repeat customers (i.e, drive revenue) and also recommend your business to people they know, widening your prospective customer net, or future growth. CSAT is frequently measured through the Net Promoter Score (NPS metric), which rates a customer’s willingness to recommend the business to a friend or relative on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being least likely and 10 being most likely).
Engagement Metrics
Measuring engagement will help you ensure that your agents are having professional and effective conversations. This can include the percentage of empathetic language used on calls and chats and proper etiquette. You will also want to monitor the amount of time agents are talking versus the time they allow customers to talk, and make sure it’s balanced.
“…The best sellers are the ones that are talking the absolute least.”
– Balto CEO, Marc Bernstein.
Manager Requests
If customers don’t feel like they are getting the answers they need, they request to elevate their query. On top of leading to lower customer satisfaction ratings, this costs your agency money in the form of manager time (higher dollars per minute spent) and overall call time, or AHT (more on that below).
One of the best solutions for call quality monitoring and improving these KPIs is Real-Time Coaching. It allows management to seamlessly provide feedback, answer questions, and help to deescalate tense situations without needing to place customers on hold or take over the call.
Top KPIs For Your Bottom Line
If there’s anything all business owners and management love talking about, it’s discovering metrics that help to improve the bottom line. By monitoring these KPIs, you’ll be able to have those discussions more often.
Conversion Rate
It’s a metric we all know and love, but so crucial to track. When your agents make calls, what percentage of those calls result in sales, booked appointments, or similar? Your conversion rate is the ultimate indicator of sales success and expected revenue. Ensure your scripts are finely tuned to maximize conversion rate and drive opportunity.
Manager Productivity
How much of your management staff’s time is spent on coaching or reviewing calls for QA opportunities? As some of your higher-paid employees, managers should be maximizing time on strategic endeavors rather than sifting through a sea of recorded calls. How you measure productivity is ultimately up to you, whether it’s time spent per day on management activities or coaching/QA units per day. Whatever the measure, make sure to be transparent about expectations and communicate them with your management team.
Average Handle Time (AHT)
To be the most efficient contact center organization, your agents need to be able to resolve customer issues in a timely fashion. Time is money after all, so any unnecessary time spent on one call cuts into time for another.
That’s not to say calls have to be short. In fact, there are many instances where calls really can’t be for compliance reasons or the complexity and nuance of the product (e.g., insurance). That said, knowing your AHT will allow you to optimize conversations and give you a measurable benchmark to streamline against.
Advanced KPI Tracking Through AI Integration
We’ve explored the importance of monitoring KPIs through various aspects of your business, but knowing what to measure is just half the battle. The other half is putting intuitive tools or people in place to make that possible. Without the use of modern artificial intelligence solutions, like Balto, this process involves hours of management time sifting through recorded calls for teachable moments.
If you would like to learn more about any of the Real-Time solutions discussed in this article or would like to learn more about how Balto can help you manage all these critical KPIs to boost your contact center’s performance and revenue, we encourage you to book a demo today.
