Legendary American author Seth Godin famously said, “A useful metric is both accurate and aligned with your goals. Don’t measure anything unless the data helps you make a better decision or change your actions.”

Businesses that leverage sophisticated contact center software have the power to do just that. They not only can keep an eye on a wide range of key metrics in real-time but also can do whatever is needed to change outcomes.

Here are some key metrics that high-quality contact center software can help businesses to enhance their customer experience (CX). 

1. First Contact Resolution (FCR)

As the name suggests, FCR measures the percentage of customer inquiries or issues resolved during the first interaction with the contact center. The higher the FCR rate, the higher is the customer satisfaction rate. 

A study by SQM Group found every follow-up call reduces customer satisfaction by 15 percent. Even though the industry standard for a good FCR rate is between 70 and 80 percent, call centers should target higher First Call Resolution to satisfy as many customers as possible.

2. Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT tracks the average amount of time a customer service agent spends to handle a customer’s problem or query. This metric includes the time spent on talking to the customer, finding the right solutions, and performing any post-call activities.

As per a study, three out of every five customers will hang up if an agent keeps them on hold for only one minute. AHT helps in finding gaps in your agents’ knowledge and inefficiencies in your processes. You must keep the on-hold time as low as you can.

3. Average Speed of Answer (ASA)

It refers to the average time an agent takes to answer a call from a customer. It’s calculated by dividing the total wait time for answered calls divided by the total number of answered calls. The international industry standard of ASA is 28 seconds. 

It’s often cited that eight out of every ten calls are answered within 20 seconds. Longer ASA can result in poor customer experience and satisfaction. If your virtual call center’s ASA is 30 seconds or more then find out the potential problems.

4. Abandon Call Rate (ACR)

Also, known as Abandonment Rate, it refers to the percentage of incoming calls where a customer terminates the call before speaking with an agent. It’s calculated by dividing the number of abandoned calls by the total number of incoming calls multiplied by 100. It’s used to measure call center’s efficiency and customer service quality. Even though the average ACR varies from industry to industry, the industry standard is between five and eight percent.

While an ACR of up to five percent is acceptable, a rate of above 10 percent is unsatisfactory. If the ACR in your call center is more than 10 percent, then look at the possible problems and try to reduce it as much as you can.

5. Call Completion Rate (CCR)

It refers to the total number of calls answered or completed out of the total number of calls attempted. It’s calculated by dividing the total number of answered calls by the total number of attempted calls multiplied by 100. 

The higher the CCR, the better is the customer service and customer satisfaction. You should target a minimum CCR of 75 percent. If it’s lower than that, find out the reason for such low CCR.

6. Customer Effort Score (CES)

It is a service metric that calculates how much effort a customer has to invest to communicate with your company and get their issues resolved or requests fulfilled. To measure the customer effort score, you need to conduct a customer satisfaction survey and ask the respondents to rate your service on a scale of one to ten.

After getting the individual customer effort scores, you can calculate the average customer effort score by totaling all customer effort scores and dividing it by total respondents.

7. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score

This metric shows how satisfied your customers are with your customer support services. You can calculate CSAT by conducting a customer satisfaction survey and ask the respondents to rate your service on a scale of one to ten.

CSAT measures customer satisfaction levels based on post-interaction surveys or feedback. It provides valuable insights into how customers perceive the service they received and helps identify areas for improvement.

All in All, 

Studying key metrics and taking the right actions can make a lot of difference to a contact center as well as businesses. Handpicking the right contact center software can help you generate these key metrics and more with just a click of a button.

Source: https://hodusoftpvt.blogspot.com/2024/04/measuring-success-key-metrics-to-track.html