Critical Metrics For Inbound Call Center Performance

Your inbound call center plays a vital role in your overall customer service. This is relatively straightforward - by offering personalized, real-time support, you’re setting the scene for boosting long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

The challenge here is determining whether you are offering efficient customer service and if there are any potential areas of improvement. 

You can start by measuring some key performance indicators that reveal which areas of your call center are working well and which areas require some attention.

If you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered - here are the critical metrics for inbound call center performance you should start tracking.

1. Service level

Service level is a metric that reveals the percentage of calls you answered within a specific time. You can easily calculate it by dividing the number of calls you took with the total number of calls your call center received in a given time and then multiplying the result by 100. 

For instance, if you answered 90 out of 105 calls in 20 minutes, you have a service level rounding out to about 86%. 

What does this represent?

In simple terms, a higher percentage indicates greater efficiency. 

If your service level is too low, you can hire more agents, implement technology that allows the agents to answer calls quicker, or revise your current call scripts.

2. Average call duration

Next up on our list of the most noteworthy metrics for inbound call center performance is average call duration. As the name suggests, this KPI tracks the average time the agent and callers spend communicating and is a good indicator of agent productivity. 

A high average call duration may be a sign that a particular agent is causing a bottleneck by taking too much time handling one interaction. This takes time away from other callers who require urgent attention.

To address the issue, you must improve the efficiency of the agent by investing in training or using relevant technology. 

3. Average handling time

The average handling time is a metric combining the average call duration with the time the agent takes after the call to close the transaction. It’s very common for agents to enter data into a CRM after they hang up, which could be a source of bottlenecks. 

By tracking average handling time, you’ll gain a better understanding of the agent’s ability to handle your current volume of inbound calls. If they’re not efficient, you can use the same solutions mentioned above to improve their scores. 

4. First contact resolution

This is one of the metrics for inbound call center performance you’ve likely heard about before. It measures the number of requests resolved during the first conversation with the customer. 

Since the issue is resolved, there’s no need for a follow-up, which saves the customer’s and company’s time. 

First contact resolution is one of the best indicators of your service quality as it determines how efficient you are at satisfying customers. The best way to improve in this area is to implement additional training measures or update your company’s knowledge base. 

5. Call abandonment rate

The abandonment rate reveals the percentage of callers (out of the total number) who give up and disconnect while waiting to be connected to the agent. 

Normally, callers abandon the call when waiting times are too long, so if the underlying problem is left unresolved, it can spell trouble for the future of the company. After all, abandonment is a sign of general dissatisfaction with your service and will likely lead to a customer switching to your competition. 

There are many strategies for minimizing the abandonment rate. While providing estimated waiting times or offering callback options during busy hours can certainly help minimize frustration and by extension, the abandonment rate, your goal should be solving the underlying problem.

Try hard to reduce waiting times by increasing first contact resolution to free up agents to take more calls, or (if the budget allows) hire more staff to be able to handle larger volumes of callers. 

6. Average hold time

This is the average amount of times the agent asks the customer to hold during the conversation. As such, it often happens when the agent can’t provide an immediate response to the query, like when the agent asks the customer to wait while they’re browsing the knowledge base or asking for help from other agents. 

Average hold time can be an indicator of the quality of your processes as the agents don’t have quick access to relevant information. To deliver a more efficient service, you can invest in better tools or implement solutions that help streamline the agent’s day-to-day processes.

7. Agent occupancy rate

The last of the metrics for inbound call center performance, this KPI reveals the total amount of time your agents spend occupied with a customer (hold times included).

Naturally, this has significant implications for your general customer experience, but it’s also greatly important because it concerns the well-being of your agents.

What do we mean by that?

Agents who spend excessive time not working may lack motivation, whereas agents with higher occupancy rates may suffer from increased stress and burnout. Both instances can have a direct impact on your efficiency, which is why you should work on balancing occupancy rates between agents. The best way to do so is by improving the current call flows in your call center.

Benchmarks of success

By closely evaluating these metrics for inbound call center performance, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how your call center is performing on a day-to-day basis. This allows you to rectify any hiccups your call center is experiencing, regardless of whether they are caused by your current technology, staff, or processes. 

Once you decipher all the data, you’ll have to come up with a clear plan of action to address any glaring issues. 

Although acquiring new technology or investing in training will require careful budgeting and smart allocation of human resources, considering that you’ll boost your customer satisfaction, the effort on this front is more than worth it in the long run.