Top Call Center KPIs to Watch and Measure

In many call centers a lot of activities revolve around numbers and targets, especially when it comes to improving the effectiveness of the team’s activities. What’s good to know for supervisors is that call centers can fully rely on a number of solid KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are easy to calculate, track, and report on. Read this short guide to get a quick list of some of the most essential KPIs that call center managers typically keep an eye on.

Customer experience

Customer experience is perhaps the most important call center KPI there is, especially for inbound-focused scenarios.

Why? It’s simple: if a customer is happy with the customer service they receive from your company, chances are they will purchase again or even recommend your brand to their acquaintances.

Considering this, it’s no surprise that more and more companies are prioritizing customer experience-related metrics.

How to measure it?

The easiest way to measure customer experience is simply by asking your customers about it. For example, use customer surveys to compile customer feedback.

Call quality

Put simply, there is nothing more frustrating than when you’re trying to explain an issue to a customer service agent with a phone line that keeps dropping in and out. You can be sure that such situations will not only make your customers lose their patience but also harm your company’s reputation.

Indeed, low call quality results in inefficient communication and a negative impact on customer experience, so you better ensure that the communication channels between your customers and agents is crystal-clear at all times.

How to measure it?

There are several ways your call center can mitigate call quality issues. For example, it might be a good idea to implement end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) to ensure voice quality is high-level throughout. Furthermore, make sure to systematically check latency, as this is often what causes delays.

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 shows whether or not a customer’s need is properly addressed by the customer service team during the first contact. FCR is the main indicator of customer satisfaction, so make sure you think of it as a key priority.

How to measure it?

Any issues that require a callback or are escalated during the first contact do not count as a first call resolution.  Luckily there are quite a number of ways to increase first call resolution, including systematic training, increasing agent knowledge bases and reliable call center software solutions.

Cost per call

In the call center business, money talks. Running a call center is extremely costly, so it’s no surprise that reducing costs in a way that doesn’t affect customer experience is always on a call center manager’s mind.

Cost per call is another essential call center KPI that allows call centers to calculate the total cost involved in handling calls during a specific period of time. As well as being an essential KPI, keeping cost per call low is a major priority for any call center manager.

How to measure it?

Now that you know that cost per call is an important call center KPI it’s time to check out our previous article and find out how you too can calculate (and reduce) your cost per call. Also be sure to check the list of outbound call KPIs to pay attention to.

So, there you have it: customer experience, call quality, first call resolution, cost per call and service level. By focusing on these call center KPIs, your call center will be able to keep track of some of the most important things that contribute to the successful operation of a call center.