10 Factors To Consider In Order To Define The Key Metrics Of Call Centers

Numbers drives the business world. The measurement of results is especially important in the customer service sector. Given the need to quantify performance and performance in call centers, metrics play a key role in both the design and evaluation of contact centers. CCW Digital, in its ‘Performance & Metrics’ report, reveals 10 factors to consider in order defining the key metrics of call centers.

For today’s organizations, the most common measurement omissions include channel preference (not measured at 63%), personalization (51%) and customer effort (51%).

On the one hand, it is understandable why these three factors are absent from many performance measurement strategies. According to the report, “channel preference” is not a conventional “result”, while personalization and effort can be difficult to track.

On the other hand, these three factors are especially important in the current environments of the contact centers, since they represent the “omnichannel revolution” and the “customer centricity era”. Therefore, meeting the preferences of each customer’s channel represents a crucial business imperative. If organizations cannot engage customers in the channels they want to participate in, they run the risk of paralyzing their ability to satisfy those customers. In addition, they limit the trip’s optimization of the customer’s experience.

10 Factors To Consider In Order To Define The Key Metrics Of Call Centers 

1.- Since we live in the middle of the “omnichannel revolution”, call centers should measure the preferences of the customer’s contact channels. Despite this, currently, 63% of organizations are not measuring these preferences.

2.- Many contact centers lack the idea of measuring personalization and effort: less than 50% of organizations have metrics for these important elements in the customer experience.

3.- The customer satisfaction rating (CSAT), the quality of the resolution of the queries and the satisfaction of the agent are key metrics for the call centers in 2018.

4.- Approximately three quarters of organizations believe that different contact channels should have their own key performance indicators (KPIs).

5.- Organizations do not believe they have problems when it comes to peer collaboration, supervisor level leadership or monitoring. On the other hand, they consider that the integration of the system, the knowledge bases and the voice of the client’s strategy are the main priorities to improve the performance of the call centers.

6.- The reduction of customer effort is the number one priority in the customer experience for 2018, and contact centers believe that customer feedback, agent training and digital commitment are the keys to achieving this goal.

7.- The need to repeat information, difficult self-service and inaccurate or inconsistent information are the main sources of customer frustration. On the other hand, the main sources of agent frustration are disconnected, slow and difficult technologies.

8.- Almost two thirds of organizations will take advantage of automation to improve internal processes.

9.- There are 5 steps to increase the customer-oriented metrics with artificial intelligence: identifying the needs, establishing the objectives, initiating the technology, preparing for the impact and taking advantage of the additional opportunities.

10.- The big call centers see the omnichannel, the analysis, the optimization of the labor force and automation as weapons instead of charges. Automated authentication can increase security, reduce customer effort, increase personalization, and lower contact center costs.

While customer satisfaction represents a priority metric for 75% of organizations, customer loyalty represents a priority for 52% of them. Customer loyalty is an extension of the most valuable and widest customer satisfaction. It reveals to what extent customers will make repeated purchases and refrain from switching to the competition. By not treating metrics as a priority, 48% of companies are, at least partially, discarding this importance.

In conclusion, according to the CCW Digital report, intermediate measurements will play a key role in the diagnosis of performance, the identification of challenges and the discovery of opportunities. They will reveal that the results of the “why” are where they are now and what steps a company can take to achieve improvements in customer service in the future.