Key Metrics To Improve Contact Centre Productivity

If you’re looking to improve your contact centre productivity and performance, there are thousands of metrics you could track — but to get the best results, you need to narrow it down and focus on the ones that matter.

In this article, we explore some of the most important metrics to track, including first contact resolution (FCR), average handle time (AHT) and abandon call rate. Consistently tracking these metrics and analysing your contact centre data will enable you to identify and address inefficiencies, which ultimately leads to happier customers and a healthier bottom line.

 

How are contact centre productivity and efficiency measured?

 

First Call Resolution (FCR) is one of the most important metrics for measuring contact centre efficiency. It indicates the percentage of calls that are resolved on the first call, without the need for escalation or transfer to another agent.

A high FCR rate is a good indicator that agents are being productive and efficient in their work. However, it’s just as important to track all follow-up calls since it is a root cause of frustration for customers (and agents), and it can provide great insight into the origins of problems.

Finally, knowing how many times a customer has attempted to connect (regardless of which channel) is also critical to escalating customers to the right expert who can help.

 

What are some of the most important productivity metrics and KPIs to track?

 

Consistently tracking FCR can help you to identify areas where agents might need more training or where changes need to be made to your customer service processes.

In addition to FCR, other key metrics to track include the following:

 

Abandon call rate

 

The “abandon call rate” is a KPI that measures the number of customers who hang up while on hold. A high abandonment rate could indicate that your customers are getting frustrated with waiting times or that your IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system isn’t easy to use.

Having the data to understand where customers are getting confused allows you to test new approaches or route a customer to an agent who can help.

For example, Imagine a customer getting stuck in an IVR tree for over a minute, but then they are routed to an agent who greets them with “Hi. I’ve noticed you’ve been in our IVR for over a minute, is there something perhaps I can help you with?”.

 

 

Customer Satisfaction Score

 

The Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score provides a historical indication of how satisfied customers are with the quality of products, services or customer experience they receive.

Satisfied customers are more likely to be loyal, recommend you and return for future business, while unhappy customers won’t return and may even damage the company’s reputation.

 

Average speed of answer (ASA)

 

ASA measures the average amount of time it takes for an agent to answer a call. This metric is important because it affects both efficiency and customer satisfaction. Customers who have to wait too long for their call to be answered are likely to hang up, which leads to increased abandoned calls and dissatisfied customers.

On the other hand, if calls are answered too quickly, this can lead to agents not having enough time to properly deal with enquiries, which leads to frustrated customers and ultimately decreased efficiency. The key is to find the right balance between speed and quality.

 

Blocked calls

 

Blocked calls are those that cannot be placed through to an agent due to a lack of resources. Tracking this metric can indicate whether or not the contact centre can handle the current volume of incoming calls.

 

Queue time

 

Queue time is the amount of time a customer spends on hold waiting for an agent. This metric can be used to measure customer satisfaction, as longer wait times can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction.

 

Response time – a crucial contact centre productivity metric

 

The response time KPI measures how quickly agents respond to customer inquiries. This metric can be used to improve customer satisfaction, as quick response times are an indicator of good customer service.

 

Average handle time (AHT)

 

AHT is important because it gives you an idea of how much time your agents are spending on each call, and whether or not they are taking too long to resolve customer issues.

The ideal AHT will vary from industry to industry, but as a general rule of thumb, it should be as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of service.

 

 

How to improve contact centre productivity and operations metrics

 

There are several ways to improve contact centre productivity, depending on the specific metrics that need improvement. These can include measures such as:

• Providing agents with customer details before they connect with the customer
• Implementing new skills or procedures based on lessons learned from other agents
• Using IVR to deflect incoming customers to self-service
• Provide customers with the option to schedule a call-back
• Providing better tools and resources so agents have access to FAQs can pull in experts to their call with their customer
• Making changes to the call routing system so that customers are routed to the right agent based on the history of used services or the last agent they spoke to

Investing in quality employee training can also pay dividends when it comes to improving productivity within your contact centre workforce. Agents who are properly trained will be better equipped to handle customer enquiries quickly and efficiently, resulting in lower AHTs, higher FCRs and higher overall CSAT scores.

 

Benefits of Twilio Flex for tracking and improving contact centre productivity

 

Twilio Flex is a fully programmable, cloud-based contact centre solution that allows you to add remote agents, new channels, chatbots, and self-service as you scale. You can integrate all of your communication channels into a single platform, enabling you to compile incredibly powerful reports that you can use as the foundation for goal setting, performance measurement and service improvements.

Because all of your customer engagement data is centralised in one place for all channels, it’s easy to track KPIs and performance metrics on a per-customer basis. You can also create custom dashboards to visualise your data in whatever way makes the most sense for your business.

For example, you might want to track how many calls are being answered within 20 seconds, or what percentage of calls are being transferred to a supervisor.

Twilio Flex also offers robust reporting capabilities which are integrated into the platform or can be pointed to any database with an API. Flex Insights allows you to customise your reports and track the contact centre performance metrics that matter most to your business.

 

Kaptea is your Twilio consulting partner

 

As a Twilio-certified Gold Consulting Partner, you can rest assured that your Twilio Flex deployment will be streamlined, hassle-free and perfectly tailored to your organisation’s needs.

In the past 12 months alone we’ve sent over 7 million messages and supported over 240,000 contact centre conversations for our customers. During this time we have strengthened our expertise in the design and development of Twilio and integrating its APIs with other platforms.

With its flexible, customisable design and powerful tracking and reporting features, Twilio Flex is the perfect solution for businesses that want to take their customer engagement to the next level.

If you’re ready to start tracking the metrics you need to drive bottom-line results, then talk to a Twilio expert at Kaptea today!