Call center outsourcing in USA offers complete control over call center metrics. Keeping every call center KPI in mind, the work is performed exactly as per unique requirements of businesses. It is easy to keep track of the entire process by going through the reports that highlight each and every important call center metrics. CSAT, FCR, quality score, call abandonment rate, escalation rate etc. are updated regularly to give clients a clear idea of how the project is going. Vcare is one of the finest call center outsourcing in USA with some of the best managers and agents, who leave no stones unturned when it comes to solving issues faced by the customers.
If you are looking to outsource customer support for your firm, it is imperative to have a basic knowledge of call center metrics. This will help you in choosing the service provider that uses most optimum call center metrics in its processes to improve the level of customer satisfaction. Call center metrics can be generally defined as measurement criteria used for analyzing the level of customer support and agent performance in a call center outsourcing in usa. We have listed major call center metrics along with their importance in the process to ease up your outsource call center process.
- Customer satisfaction Score (CSAT)
This metric represents the amount of satisfaction received by customer after getting service from customer service department. It is often denoted in the form of percentage where ‘100’ represents complete satisfaction of customers whereas ‘0’ refers no satisfaction at all.
Why CSAT is important? (Use different colors for these headings)
It helps you analyze the points where improvement can be made in terms of customer support. Customer care departments can also use this metric to identify the impact on customer satisfaction related to changes in training modules.
- First Call Resolution (FCR)
It is a metric that tells how many issues of the customers were resolved when they made a contact with customer support department for the first time. It is often considered one of the primary metrics of contact centers.
Why FCR is important?
Other than giving delightful time to precious customers, FCR also provides benefits to the customer support department. It decreases the operational costs of the process and also reduces the burnout of agents to a substantial level.
- Call abandonment rate
It is the measure of number of customers who abandon the call before reaching the live agent. It is measured by dividing the number of abandoned calls by the number of calls received by customer support department.
Why is it important?
You can reduce rate of abandoned calls by decreasing the waiting time for the customers. This will make them more satisfied and loyal towards the firm especially the busy customers. It also helps in decreasing the costs associated with the process.
- Escalation rate
It is the measure of how many calls of the customer were sent to higher authority when frontline agents were unable to resolve them.
Why escalation rate is important?
It helps in telling the areas in which agents need better form of training so that they can resolve the customer issues easily. It also helps in identifying the average and below average performers of the team who are unable to resolve various types of customer complaints.
- Agent schedule adherence
It is a metric that tracks the duration during which the call center agents remain attached to their schedule. Usually, it is measured using workforce management tools of the call center outsourcing in usa.
Why is it necessary?
It helps in ensuring maximum productivity of call center agents which minimum wastage of their allotted time. It also helps in planning the training and feedback sessions for the agents more effectively.
- Customer effort score
It reflects how much effort has been made by the customer in order to get an issue resolved.
Why is should be used?
It is directly associated with loyalty of the customers towards the firm. The less the customers have to put efforts for resolving the issue, the more loyalty they show towards to the company.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
It is checked by the likelihood of recommendation of services or products of a company by existing customers to others. This metric helps in tracking the loyalty of customers towards the firm.
Why NPS should be implemented?
Call centers usually utilize this metric to track what kind of responses trigger the customers to become loyal towards the company. It also helps in training the employees so that they provide solutions in a manner that is sufficient to make the customers more loyal.
- Average Handling Time (AHT)
It is an average of total time related to interaction of customer with the agents. It consists of talk time, hold time along with tasks like follow-ups with the customer.
Why AHT is important?
It helps the call centers in predicting the requirements related to recruitment of customer support agents. It also helps in figuring out the weak areas associated with customer service due to which average handling time is more.
- Call Quality
This metric reflects the extent to which customer support representative was able to comprehend the issue of the customer.
Why use it?
It ensures that suitable measures are taken by the call center firms to avoid errors made by the agents. The firms can also ensure that data entered in the CRM by agents is free of errors if call quality is used properly.
10. Percentage of calls blocked
It is the total percentage of customers that were unable to reach the customer support department due to busy tone.
Why is it necessary?
Using this metric, the companies can work on optimizing the calls handled by the agents. The companies can also design efficient IVR menus that decrease the load on call center agents. Also, the companies can recruit the suitable number of agents on the basis of this metric.
Things to Consider Apart from Call Center Metrics
Although call center metrics do have their place in a call center outsourcing decision, there are other important things that you should also consider. Have a look:
Scalability to meet your present and future needs
One thing that is often ignored but later comes back to haunt a company is the scalability capabilities of a call center outsourcing vendor. When you go through a business expansion, the pressure on the call center resources increases without any notice. At that time, you cannot afford to have a vendor that cannot scale its operations accordingly. If large number of calls are bombarded on a limited number of employees, then it will create chaos amongst the ranks. All the call center metrics will go for a toss and so will the faith of your customers. In their efforts to expedite calls, agents will shrug their responsibilities, which will lead to aggravated callers. Therefore, you should outsource call center to a company that runs multiple call center processes, and has the ability to transfer experienced agents to your process at just about anytime you want.
Security of customer data
As hackers’ threat rises, the pressure on call center managers has increased. Not only are they exposed to the guile of unethical hackers, they also have to prevent information leak via internal data breaches. There is a greater emphasis on following DPA (Data Protection Act), which is why; you need veteran agents who know how to verify customers. Also, you need a CRM that has tier-wise data access rights, so that information is available only on need-to-know basis. For someone who is not familiar with all these essential requirements, running a call center would be nothing less than walking through a minefield. Hence, you should find a call center outsourcing vendor that has a great record of keeping customer information safe.
An experienced training department
New agents need to be trained well so they can perform their tasks to the best of their abilities. Dedicated trainers – with a zeal to make every agent the best – are very rare. And, the ones who are there, they are already part of reputed call center organizations where they are valued. Also, nowadays, the shift to modern-day training tech like eLearning is producing great results in the call center industry. So, try to find a vendor that has the technology and the right personnel to train your present and future agents. If you can do that, you can guarantee long-term consistency in your call center outsourcing process.
A management that you can count on
Managers are the ones who get you out of trouble when things become difficult or go wrong. Whether it is a major customer issue or management of workforce, seasoned administrators (TLs, Floor Managers etc.) can be priceless assets for managing complex issues. Therefore, check the credentials of the managers in the vendor company before you make the final decision to outsource call center.
Conclusion
While outsourcing the call center process, make sure to go through the metrics of the vendor to ensure that finest form of services are available to your end customers. Several call center outsourcing in usa, also have their unique metrics which are used to identify satisfaction level or agent performance. You can also analyze them to finalize the vendor for your project. Therefore, prioritize their scaling, security and management capabilities before choosing a busines partner for your call center operation.