20 Sep How KPIs Help Call Centers Win in the Business Game
There are 26 calls in the queue, 70 calls in progress and Dee’s target is for her 85 Reps to address their clients’ issues in 5 minutes or less and make 7-12 sales each by the end of the day. That is just a small piece of the KPIs that Dee has to manage every day. KPIs help call centers win in business, like scores in sports.
A scoreboard in a game let’s the players know where they stand and let’s the coach know how to best work the team. Similarly, measurable metrics keep Customer Service Reps heads in their game and help their Managers plan for the win.
KPIs or Key Performance Indicators are these call center items that can be tracked and scored, like touchdowns and dunks. Other aspects of Dee’s call center numbers can be measured. How can those measurements be translated into manageable units used to track goals?
How many players are on the team?
Knowing the number of agents available per call volume helps managers gauge expectations for other metrics including Average Speed of Answering (ASA) and total calls completed in a day. Therefore, if 85 agents were available Monday but only 76 agents were available Tuesday that must be taken into consideration when viewing the overall stats for each day for a clear comparison.
How many players are on the field?
The number of agents already assisting customers is important, because it helps gauge the potential wait time of remaining calls. The result is that customers in queue can be told their anticipated wait time. Average Wait Time (AWT) is a key point in customer-business communication and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). This applies to assessing heaviest call times, which enables managers to plan for high volume days.
How many players are on the bench?
Having agents ready to take calls is important to call flow. A manager can plan to have a certain number of agents ready to put into action based on the data which indicates high volume times and time per call.
Agents have different experience and skill levels indicated by their successful call completion rates, time per call and type of issue addressed stats. Managers are able to use this information to schedule a comprehensive team with varying abilities to cover the types of calls the data reveals will come in to the center.
How many goals has each player scored?
Managers can assess their agents’ performance via multiple metrics including:
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- The number of calls logged
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- Length of the average call
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- Length of post call work
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- Number of sales
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- Number of successfully completed calls
- Whether or not a customer’s inquiry has been clearly answered
Who is the team MVP?
When team members are aware of the stats of their highest performing members they are motivated to aim higher. Managers can utilize stats from those agents with the highest sales numbers, number of successfully completed calls and those with the shortest call and wait times to energize the rest of the team to perform better allowing the team, their managers and the company to shine.
What other factors affect the game?
Like coaches know that players aren’t responsible for rain on game day but are aware it affects game play, managers need to be aware of factors that may interrupt their and agents’ work. These include:
Technical fouls:
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- Internet going down
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- Software and/or system failure
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- Electrical or other interference
- Breaking News or other cause of volume spike
Managers need to expect the unexpected. Data collected on past issues like these reveal repeat problems for troubleshooting.
What if the CSR team could see their own KPIs on their current call in real time?
Customer service agents are supported when they know how the game is going. Managers benefit because real-time data allows agents to be self-mobilized to improve their performance. This reduces the demand on managers who already have massive amounts of data to parse.
