Popular Call Center Benchmarks You Should Keep an Eye On

These days our business environment is getting fiercer, with customers leaving businesses for the competition in the blink of an eye.

As such, companies have no other choice but to go the extra mile in order to retain their customers and stay ahead of the competition. And measuring competitive call center benchmarks is definitely part of the deal.

Before we dive in, let’s quickly define what call center benchmarking is. Call Center benchmarking is basically the practice of analyzing the competition while comparing your metrics to those who perform the best in the industry.

Indeed, if you want your call center to thrive, you need to know what your competition is doing. So, here are four popular call center benchmarks that will help you decide what metrics you should measure against your competition’s metrics.

Average Speed to Answer

As we already talked about in a previous article, it is essential for call centers to keep their customer wait times low in order to keep customers satisfied.

Average speed to answer includes the amount of time while the phone rings until the agent answers. Ideally, this number is as low as possible.

This metric helps call centers assess their efficiency and it also contributes to customer trust and overall satisfaction. As such, average speed to answer should definitely be a call center benchmark you constantly keep your eyes on and thrive to improve.

Abandonment Rate

Average abandonment rate indicates the number of callers that hang up before they are connected to an agent.

As we all know, these days customers want their problems solved today, and not tomorrow. As such, they are simply not willing to wait for a customer service agent to pick up the phone. In fact, recent findings show that most customers hang up after an average of two minutes on hold.

One thing is for sure, the longer customers are put on hold, the more frustration grows before an agent even handles the call. As such, abandonment rate of calls is another vital call center benchmark you should watch closely.

First Call Resolution

We have already talked about first call resolution in a different article, and for good reason: it is an absolutely essential KPI to watch out for in call centers. First call resolution is the main indicator of customer satisfaction, so make sure you think of it as a key call center benchmark.

First call resolution shows whether or not a customer’s need is properly addressed by the customer service team during the first contact.

Amongst other things, a proper first call resolution rate will definitely help you improve customer satisfaction and reduce operational costs.

Call Duration

In the business world, time is money, and this is why measuring average call duration is essential for any call center.

Average call duration is the amount of time your agents spend speaking to a customer on the phone. When it comes to call duration, finding the golden mean is key. Too long conversations might show that your processes are not efficient enough while too short calls might indicate that your agents were not able to provide all the information your customers expected.

Therefore, always make sure to keep a close eye on your average call duration, and provide training sessions for your agents if necessary.

By analyzing these metrics and comparing them to your competitors’ performance, you can not only master call center benchmarks practices but also apply necessary changes which will put your call center on the path to success.