Here are some of the metrics that you should know before outsourcing your inbound call handling services.

In order to monitor the productivity of your agents, you need to set guidelines in your operations. This is an integral part for any company outsourcing their inbound call handling services.

However, it might be hard for a start-up company to identify which criteria they should focus on. Measuring all of the data will lead to confusion as to what exactly is your goal in outsourcing.

With this in mind, here are the top 10 key performance indicator (KPI) for you call center operation:

1. Percentage of Calls Blocked

It is important to identify how many customers are usually routed to a busy tone whenever they’re calling your business. Not monitoring this KPI will result in a horrible customer satisfaction rate for your business. 

There are two possible reason why some numbers route to busy tone:

• There are not enough agents to fill the call queues and some callers are automatically routed to either busy tone or voicemail.
• Your software cannot accommodate a large volume of phone calls and it might occasionally malfunction.

One way to resolve this matter is to add more agents in your operation. However it is not practical since you’re trying to reduce the cost of manpower.

With this in mind, installing an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in your hotline will make the call waiting less confusing for your customers.

You can put a voice prompt saying how many minutes they have to wait during peak hours. That way, they can calculate how many minutes they should stay on the line before abandoning the call.

2. Average Time in Queue

Another important KPI to measure is how long a customer waits before someone can answer their phone call. This is a great indicator on how well your team provides the service that your customers deserve.

To calculate this KPI, simply divide your total time callers wait in call queues by the total number of calls answered by agents.

30% of customers are only willing to wait for someone to answer the call between 1 to 5 minutes. So, if you have an average time in queue of more than 5 minutes then you should do something to reduce it.

One solution to alleviate this situation is to have a better average handling time. Having a faster conversation with your customer means you can immediately attend to another caller.

3. Average Handling Time

Average handling time or AHT is the duration of your conversation with your customer by the time you answer the call. Different industries have various average handling times depending on what service they’re offering.

Generally speaking, 33% of consumers don’t mind being on the phone longer than usual if it means that agents can resolve their issue right away. 

It means AHT can be a secondary factor as long as you can provide excellent customer service. However, not monitoring your AHT can lead to a series of complications for your business.

As stated, you should be aware of the customers’ average in the queue which is connected with your AHT. Furthermore, your agents might have a tendency to relax and hold customers longer if you’re not checking their AHT.

At the end of the day, you still have to moderate this KPI to gauge the productivity of your employees.

4. Abandonment Rate

This KPI is also interconnected with your average time in queue. Those who can’t wait for someone to answer their call just hang up and look for another company.

It is important to measure the number of abandoned calls as it is a loss of potential sales for your company. Every customer is important especially for a start-up business.

If you found out that your abandonment rate is beyond acceptable, then you should do some improvements with your system.

You can try to call back those abandoned calls during off hours. You can still save at least 10% – 20% of those customers. They appreciate proactive businesses that call them if they can’t reach your number.

5. First Call Resolution

FCR is the number of issues you solve during the customer’s initial attempt to contact your business. It can significantly improve your customer satisfaction rate since you have a very reliable contact support system.

The acceptable FCR ranges between 70% to 75%. It means only 25% to 30% of your calls should be repeat calls about the same issue.

To achieve this high standard, you should collect all the data of your customers. You have to understand their issue towards your service or product. So you can create possible solutions beforehand.

Try to list the FAQs too and include it on your agents’ training so they can familiarize themselves about the common issues.

6. Occupancy Rate

Some called this the agents’ productivity rate. It involves the number of hours that agents were having a conversation with a customer. In short, this is their phone time.

Companies usually measure this KPI to implement strict compliance against call avoidance, excessive holding time, etc. You don’t want your agents just sitting around doing nothing while there’s tons of calls in the queue.

The most acceptable rate for agents is at least 75%. Meaning if they are on a 10-hour shift then they must be on the phone for 7.5 hours.

You just have to be careful on how you manage this KPI. Having too much expectation about your phone time will lead to agents’ exhaustion and high attrition rate.

Try to see the difficulty of your operation and estimate how much time an agent needs to review one order. It will help you gain more customer service satisfaction if you won’t rush your agent to call immediately without looking at the situation further.

7. Average After Call Work Time

Speaking of reviewing an order, the average after call work time refers to the time agents need to put a notation or do something about the caller’s inquiry. This is where they resolve, or forward the concern to any concerning party.

So, is it necessary to have a 25% average after call work time if you’re expecting a 75% occupancy rate? No, as you still need to consider several factors. There might be some times that calls are not as many as during peak hours.

On top of that, you need to give your agents some breathing room from every after call to prepare themselves to engage with another customer.

It will help them compose themselves especially if they went from a very stressful customer situation. They might bring their stress onto the next caller. Which might result in very poor call handling.

8. Peak Hour Traffic

Measuring the hours where there is an enormous call volume will help you strategize the schedule of your agents. You can put most of your agents on times when there are a lot of phone calls.

It will help your business to answer all necessary phone calls during peak hours. You will reduce any call abandonment nor long call queues.

Besides that, monitoring peak hour will also help you in planning any marketing strategy you have in the future. It will determine what time most of the customers are available to perform a cold calling service.

9. Turnover Rate

Monitoring the turnover rate for your company is critical as you spend more when you hire new agents than keeping tenured employees. You have to allot time in recruitment and training as well.

It might take you two weeks to a month for training and mock calls. Besides that, an agent can only get fully familiarized about your business after 6 months of doing it.

It means you’re risking your business whenever you’re hiring new agents. It will also cost you at least $5000 for the overall recruitment process.

10. Customer Satisfaction Rate

A lot of positive things can happen when you have an excellent customer satisfaction rate. It is the most important KPI that you should measure in your call center operations.

For starters, 94% of customers will recommend a company where they experienced a “very good” inbound call handling services. Of course, their friends and colleagues will trust their recommendation rather than your ads online.

Customer retention is also higher if you have a great CSAT. Furthermore, it is easier and more affordable to maintain an existing customer than discovering new prospect buyers.

How to Identify the Right Inbound Contact Center KPI for Your Business?

When figuring out what KPI you should measure, you must consider your initial goal in outsourcing.

For example, if you need to manage your call volume then you need to measure your AHT and Peak Hour Traffic. Of course you can still monitor other KPIs if you already achieved your main goal.

There are a lot of BPO companies that offer assistance in setting up your KPI. It is important especially if you’re just new in the outsourcing industry.

All you need to do now is to find the right call center partner for your business.

Inbound Customer Support Services Destination for SMEs

The Philippines is still the undisputed option when it comes to inbound call handling services. After all, they are the “Call Center Capital of the World”.

Here are some of the attributes that makes the Philippines the perfect choice for your inbound call center service:

• Excellent English Proficiency
• Neutral Accent
• Government Support
• Several Tax Exemptions for Outsourcing Company
• Flexible Call Center Agents
• Outstanding Work Ethics
• Affordable Pricing with a Great Service Quality

There’s still a lot of factors that make the Philippines the haven for the call center industry. All in all, it all boils down if the BPO company you found is perfect for a start-up business like yours.

Call Center Support Company in the Philippines

If you are looking to hire a call center agent, you need to consider where you should get them. There are some freelance agents who can offer you a much more affordable service. 

However, there might be a sacrifice on the quality because their work is usually unsupervised. 

Besides that, there is an accountability issue when you hire a freelance agent. They can just disappear and you can’t do much about it unless you have another contact for them.

This is where the BPO companies have an advantage. Call center company is responsible for giving you an agent to work for your business. 

They also have another agent to work for you if the assigned representative didn’t show.

If you want to outsource your inbound call handling services then contact InboundCallCenter Philippines. We will base the call center pricing on the service that you want to avail. 

Here are some of the service we offer:

• After-hours call center services
• Blended Call Center
• Inbound Sales Services
• Inquiry Handling Service
• Shared Team Services

On top of that, we don’t have a minimum requirement for the number of agents. We believe that SMEs should have their own outsourcing team to help them grow further.
Contact us today to get a free 60-minute call center consultation.