Top 15 Call Center Metrics (KPIs) To Track in 2024 For Better CX

Are your customers happy?
Is your service better than that of your competitors?
Is your tech and employee base equipped to provide the highest quality of service?

The answers to these important questions keep changing over time. By analyzing call center metrics, contact center managers can find answers to such questions and more.

Measuring Call center metrics is paramount to understanding how the call center is performing and where improvements need to be made. They also help managers understand each support agent’s strengths and weaknesses and areas where they may need additional training.

So, here are 15 essential call center metrics that evaluate the quality of a customer’s support call experience. We have organized the various statistics into four sections, namely:

• Customer experience metrics
• Agent performance metrics
• Cost and revenue metrics
• Outbound metrics

Now, let’s look at these call center metrics and KPIs to help you increase your customer experience levels.

15 Call Center Metrics to track in 2024

1. Customer experience metrics

Customer experience (CX) metrics measure the overall experience customers have when interacting with your business. The CX metric can be divided into two categories:

• Quantitative metrics, like the ones mentioned below, help to quantify customer sentiments and find lacunas in the customer service strategy.
• Qualitative metrics contain more open-ended questions and dive deeper to understand customer behavior.

Use these four quantitative KPIs to analyze and make the most of the survey forms.

A. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score

The Customer Satisfaction score (CSAT) is a traditional and the most straightforward way of measuring the overall customer experience with products or services. High CSAT scores indicate happy customers, while low scores suggest areas that require attention in call center operations. 

CSAT score is predominantly a customer service metric but also offers great insights about CX since support interactions also contribute to customer satisfaction.

B. Formula

A CSAT Score of 78% is considered to be good for call centers. But, if a company is yielding lower scores, here are two tips to improve them.

C. Better training program

The call center industry has a notoriously high agent churn rate of 38%, and a loss of experienced knowledge workers significantly affects the on-call customer experience. Establishing an extensive and modular training program will help the new hires get up to speed and fill in for the resigning agents. 

D. Offer self-service portals 

Self-service portals allow customers to address their own issues before making the call to the customer support department. Create a knowledge base with FAQ pages, online discussion forums, detailed walkthroughs, chatbots, and how-to blogs. 

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

The NPS is used to measure customer loyalty, and satisfaction by extension, based on a single question: “How likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?” 

Upon receiving the survey, the customer needs to score the service on a scale of 0 to 10. Customers choosing between 0-6 are called detractors, while a score of 7-8 terms them as passive. Promoters are the people who score between 9-10. 

The NPS surveys are very effective at highlighting the customer support strategy’s problems. However, it fails to pinpoint the cause without the necessary follow-up questions. Consequently, most NPS surveys ask another question after the initial survey to understand the reason behind the customer’s score.  

A. Formula

The benchmark NPS score varies depending on the business sector. For example, the average NPS score for insurance companies is more than 70, while the same score for B2B service companies is around the 50s. 

Let’s look at the NPS scores of different industries. 

• Checking and savings- 64
• Credit cards- 56
• Payments- 54
• Wealth management- 55 
• Life insurance- 66
• Home and auto insurance- 70
• Airlines- 63
• Utilities- 41
• Auto- 79
• Mobile- 64
• Internet- 30
• Video- 48
• Retail- 56
• Groceries- 68 

Here are two tips to improve NPS:

B. Close the feedback loop

The Net Promoter System emphasizes closing the feedback loop with customers through methods like interviews and follow-up emails. Begin by addressing detractors (0-6 rating) promptly, with a manager or employee reaching out to address their concerns, demonstrating care and commitment to resolving issues, and nurturing customer relationships.

C. Conduct root cause analysis

During NPS analysis, identifying patterns between promoter and detractor feedback is common. If one department consistently has more detractors while another excels, conduct a detailed root-cause analysis. Determine if it’s the department, the product line, or another factor driving the low scores.

3. Customer Effort Score (CES)

Businesses use customer effort score (CES) to quantify the ease with which customers complete a specific interaction or task. These tasks range from resolving common issues and looking for information to completing a purchase. In simpler terms, it assesses the overall simplicity of the customer experience.

A low CES indicates that customers find it easier to interact with the company, leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.

A. Formula

The formula for the CES score will vary depending on the method you use. The three methods to calculate CES score are:

• 1-10 scale 

Users are asked direct questions like “How easy was issue resolution?” with a scale of 1 to 10, where scores above 7 signify a positive rating. This scale looks and works the same as the NPS survey.

• Likert scale

This employs a 5- or 7-point template where users express agreement from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree.”

• Emoji scale

Utilizes three emojis (happy, neutral, sad) to measure satisfaction. The average score is computed from the percentage of happy and sad emoji responses.

Surprisingly, according to a recent poll, less than 18% of the call centers use the CES score even though it is a better indicator of customer loyalty than NPS. However, for those centers that do use this metric, a score of 4 to 5 is considered to be good. 

Here are two tips to improve your CES score:

B. Equip support agents with necessary tools

Empower agents for seamless customer service with a robust tech toolkit. For example, use a knowledge management system to help employees quickly locate information using semantic and contextual searches.

C. Practice solution-oriented training 

Regularly review interactions to identify opportunities for reducing customer effort. Consider call listening for coaching phone support agents or using recorded calls for training. If agents are uncomfortable sharing calls, offer one-on-one coaching.

4. First Call/Contact Resolution (FCR)

First Call/Contact Resolution (FCR) measures the ability of the customer support team to close the customer’s queries in the initial response or contact. It is defined as resolving issues in a single interaction, be it a phone call, email, or live chat. Monitoring this metric provides insights into your support team’s alignment with customer expectations.

While self-service options, such as chatbots and knowledge bases, empower customers, complex problems necessitate agent assistance. In such instances, customers expect prompt and efficient resolution.

A. Formula

While the industry average varies depending on the business sector, an FCR rate of 74% is considered to be good.

Here are two tips to increase your FCR:

B. Comprehensive agent training programs

Comprehensive agent training programs prepare the support staff to offer quick and easy resolution to customer queries. The training regime should include improving the agent’s effective communication skills, product knowledge, and teaching them how to use knowledge management software. 

C. Establishing an efficient knowledge base

A robust knowledge base of FAQs, decision trees, picture guides, articles, and how-to blogs with efficient semantic search features helps support agents resolve customer queries without any unnecessary call transfers to other departments. 

D. Agent Performance Metrics

Agent performance metrics contribute greatly to overall CX metrics because agents directly impact customer interactions, and their proficiency directly influences the quality of the customer experience.

5. Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT measures the average duration it takes for a call center agent to handle customer interaction, from initiation to conclusion. It also includes any after-call work. 

Decreasing average handle time improves the ROI of call centers as longer calls are quite expensive. However, the decrease in AHT shouldn’t come at the expense of customer experiences. For instance, agents must say their parting pleasantries before hanging up the call, even if it means slightly increasing the AHT. 

A. Formula

Again, AHT isn’t a uniform metric and can increase or decrease depending on the complexity of the problem. An average AHT lies anywhere around 1 to 3 minutes depending on the industry. 

While high AHT is not always bad, there are ways to decrease it to optimize the overall operation costs.

C. Use scripts

A well-crafted script helps the agent offer more consistent and concise support, removing unnecessary fluff from the conversation.

D. Coach agents with live data

Guide agents using data and context to improve handling interactions, focusing on soft skills. For instance, when agents face many escalations, provide rapid coaching sessions on empathy and de-escalation. Contextual feedback helps identify and address operational issues hindering issue resolution.

6. Average Call Transfer Rate

The average call transfer rate measures the average number of  times the call is transferred between agents and departments, like sales, development, product management, and many more. 

While call transfer is a normal procedure for dealing with complex problems, customers can get irked by multiple transfers and longer wait times. Excessive transfers can lead to customer frustration, increased handling time, and reduced satisfaction.

A. Formula

On average, a call is transferred 2.6 times before the query is answered. Follow these tips to decrease the ACTR to less than 1.

B. Call Routing

Implementing skill-based call routing ensures that the customer is connected with the proper agent to decrease the transfer rates.

C. Outlining escalation procedures

Establish proper escalation procedures to help the agent instantly transfer the call when they encounter an irresolvable situation. For complex problems, the caller is automatically re-routed to a senior agent. And, for technical problems, they are routed to the support team of the relevant department.

7. Active Waiting Calls

Active waiting calls refer to the number of calls where customers are put on hold or in a queue while waiting for a live agent to assist them.

Longer wait times frustrate customers leading to reduced satisfaction and potentially abandoned calls. Call centers, on the other hand, may face increased operational costs and strained resources.

A. Formula

The contact center industry follows the 80/20 rule. The rule dictates that 80% of the calls are answered within 20 seconds. For companies that find it hard to follow the rules, here are a few tips to help you. 

B. Implement Call Queuing Strategies

Intelligent call queuing systems prioritize calls based on factors like customer urgency, issue complexity, or agent availability. It helps reduce wait times and improve efficiency.

C. Offer Self-Service Options

Self-service options such as automated information systems or call-back requests encourage customers to resolve simple issues without waiting for an agent. A strong knowledge base management system can also help customers resolve their queries before contacting the customer support line. 

8. Agent Effort Score (AES)

AES directly measures the agent’s willingness to go the extra mile to help the customers. High agent effort can signify dedicated problem-solving, leading to a better customer experience. However, excessive effort might indicate complex issues or inefficiencies in processes. 

A. Formula

Usually, the agents are responsible for ranking their interactions on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult. 

Call centers can employ these measures to ensure interactions go as smoothly as possible:

B. Agent Training

Detailed training and resources prepare the agents to efficiently handle customer inquiries and issues. The agents are given thorough product walkthroughs and soft skills training to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to provide quick resolutions.

C. Process Optimization

Streamlines internal processes to minimize the effort required by agents to access information and resolve customer problems. An advanced knowledge management system offers decision trees to reduce agent errors.

9. Average Talk Time (ATT)

Often confused with total resolution time (TRT), ATT is the time elapsed between the agent answering the phone to hanging up. On the other hand, TRT starts when the customer enters the queue and ends when the issue is resolved. 

Average talk time helps managers gauge the support team’s ability to deal with different service scenarios while being concise with their responses. 

A. Formula

For most contact centers, the ATT is 191 seconds. Lowering this is possible by following these steps. 

B. Follow scripts

As mentioned earlier, tight conversation scripts prevent the agents from going off-track and help resolve complaints faster.

C. Use CRM tools

Integrated CRM tools also help the agent access the customer’s information to better understand their problems without much input from the caller’s end. 

10. Total Resolution Time (TRT)

TRT measures the entire duration it takes for a call center to resolve a customer issue, from the moment the customer initiates contact until the problem is completely resolved.

Lengthy resolution times cause customer frustration, reduced satisfaction, and increased operational costs for call centers.

A. Formula

TRT is an essential part of the average resolution time (ART), and a good ART is around 5 minutes. Some ways to keep it to 5 minutes is: 

B. Effective Training

Managers conduct a skill gap analysis to find the weaknesses in their support teams or individual agents. Then, agents are provided with crisis training, de-escalation methods, and walkthroughs of different customer scenarios.

C. Monitoring and Feedback

Continuously monitor the time it takes to resolve customer issues and gather feedback from customers. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and provide agents with constructive feedback and coaching.

11. Service Level Agreements (SLA) Adherence

Service Level Agreements (SLA) adherence measures the extent to which a call center meets the predefined service level agreements or response time targets for customer interactions.

Adhering to SLAs ensures that customers receive timely and efficient service, leading to improved customer trust. 

A. Formula

The SLAs vary depending on the requirements of the company. Irrespective of the SLAs, the adherence can be improved by these steps:

B. Resource Allocation

Properly allocate and manage call center resources, including agents and technology, to meet SLAs effectively. Ensure staffing levels align with call volume and peak times.

C. Performance Monitoring 

Continuously monitors call center performance against SLAs. Use real-time data to make adjustments and prioritize urgent customer inquiries.

D. Cost and Revenue Metrics

Cost and revenue metrics are used by contact center managers to gauge the profitability of the business. 

12. Cost Per Call

The average expense incurred by a call center for each customer interaction, which encompasses agent salaries, technology, and operational costs is measured by cost per call. 

Lowering this metric can lead to cost savings for the call center. However, excessively reducing costs without maintaining service quality can negatively affect the customer experience.

A. Formula

The average cost per call ranges between $2.70 and $5.60 per call. The expenses can be reduced by using cloud calling technologies amongst other things. 

B. Technology Optimization

Efficient call center technology, such as automated call routing and self-service options, reduces agent workload and handles more inquiries with fewer resources

C. Workforce Management

Carefully manages call center staffing to align with call volume patterns. Adjust agent schedules to meet peak call times and avoid overstaffing during lulls in demand.

13. Call-to-Ticket Ratio

Call-to-ticket ratio evaluates the efficiency of call centers by measuring the number of customer support tickets generated compared to the number of successful orders or issue resolutions.

A high ratio indicates that the call center is struggling to resolve issues or process orders efficiently, potentially leading to customer dissatisfaction. A low ratio suggests efficient operations and a smoother customer experience.

A. Formula

The call-to-ticket ratio should be as low as possible to ensure a smooth workflow. Businesses can improve it by:

B. Customer Education

Use newsletters, detailed walkthroughs, and decision trees to educate the customers to fix their problems with the help of customer support to reduce the number of new tickets. 

C. Efficient ticketing system

Efficient and automated ticketing systems make it easier for managers to handle and generate tickets.

14. Customer Retention Rate (CRR)

CRR measures the percentage of customers a business has successfully retained over a specific period. A higher customer satisfaction rate is directly correlated to the CRR.

A. Formula

Customer Retention Rate (%) = ((Number of Customers at the End of a Period – Number of New Customers Acquired During the Period) / Number of Customers at the Start of the Period) x 100

The average customer retention rate across industries ranges from 70-80% and here’s how to ensure this rate: 

B. Multichannel customer service

Clients can contact the support team through text, calls, emails, and live chats. Increased accessibility improves customer satisfaction and increases CRR. 

C. Implementing a follow-up strategy

Experienced call centers use a follow-up strategy, such as sending them additional survey emails, to get direct feedback from the customer about their experience with support helpline.

D. Outbound Metrics

utbound metrics help the call center establish how well its outreach program is working. 

15. Rate of Successful Callbacks

The rate of successful callbacks measures the percentage of callbacks initiated by a call center that result in successful connections with customers. The callback feature allows the customer to request the contact center to call them back when the line is free. 

One of the major benefits of callbacks is that it reduces wait times. The workload also decreases on the contact center agents as they can call them back during downtime and discuss the customer’s issue in detail. In-depth discussions enable the agents to solve the issue during the first call itself, thus increasing FCR.

A. Formula

Follow the steps mentioned below to ensure a higher successful callback rate:

B. Efficient Scheduling

Implement an effective callback scheduling system that considers both customer availability and agent availability. A callback scheduling system streamlines customer-agent interactions by allowing customers to request callbacks at their convenience, improving service quality, and reducing wait times for a more efficient and customer-friendly experience.

C. Follow-Up Procedures

Establish clear follow-up procedures, such as scheduling, agent preparation, prompt execution, and issue resolution, to monitor the outcomes of callbacks. Ensure that customer issues are fully resolved and that there is a mechanism to gather feedback on the callback experience.

Improve Your Contact Center Metrics with Knowmax

How AI-powered Knowledge Management Improves your Contact Center Metrics/

Knowmax’s AI-powered Knowledge Management Improves the Workflow of Contact Centers 

The contact center industry is increasingly struggling with high agent attrition rate, which adds to customer support costs. Knowmax’s AI-powered knowledge management serves as a single source of truth that helps reduce the time to proficiency for new hires and helps retain seasoned support agents, all of which reduces training costs. 

Here’s how Knowmax improves the workflow of contact centers:

Centralized Knowledge Repository

Centralized storage of all how-to blogs, articles, visual guides, video walkthroughs, decision trees, and FAQs delivers an omnichannel customer experience. In other words, customers are encouraged to self-resolve their problems before contacting the support staff, decreasing the burden on the call agents.

CRM integration

Seamless integration with various CRM software, like Freshdesk, eliminates all friction and empowers the agents to deal with multiple concurrent chats.

Elastic search feature

Agents spend less time searching for solutions to complex problems while on call. This eventually reduces the average call handling time. 

Content Interlinking

Content interlinking allows the agents to search for solutions using contextual search terms. Again, it reduces total call resolution time and improves customer satisfaction rate. The content interlinking feature also creates decision trees that distill complex SOPs into simple visual guides. 

Conclusion

It can be tricky to manage call centers due to high attrition rates. Continuously analyzing the metrics and implementing the best practices will keep your customers satisfied and employees happy. 

Analyzing customer experience metrics helps the call centers fine-tune their support strategy. Alternatively, dissecting agent metrics offers actionable insights to improve employee performance without overburdening them. Lastly, scrutinizing cost and outbound metrics ensures that these contact centers turn a profit even with the presence of smart chatbots.