Over the years companies have realised the importance of outsourcing and with the increasing expectations and demands of consumers, they are preferring to contract out their various business activities to other much more capable institutes. Doing so helps a business in various ways. Right from reducing costs to providing quality services to customers, an outsourced center is able to assist you in multiple ways. Today, this piece of writing will help you look at outsourcing the inbound customer services from a more quantitative angle.
Companies all across the globe are working hard to come up with various metrics which can prove out to be helpful while formalising their Service Level Agreement (SLA). There are a host of different kinds of performance indicators, each special in its own little ways. While some aid senior management in evaluating the efficiency levels of operations and functions, others assist them in overseeing the workload and identifying the problems being faced by staff members. Companies are using such metrics in a combination, which is suitable to their business, to get a clear picture of theirinbound call center services. It is vital for companies to understand that for customers quality of service is paramount and there is hardly anything which they place on a higher stature than that. If customer service is such an important attribute then companies must put in serious efforts to measure these and improve, if they lack. In order to identify the loopholes, it is first important to find out various metrics which will be helpful in the entire process. A list of various indicators ismentioned below which can be helpful in ensuring the effectiveness of inbound call center services, specifically pertaining to creating pleasant customer experiences.
1) Service level:
This is one of the most conventional methods of determining the satisfaction levels of customers. This is a speed-to-answer measure and helps a company in assessing its accessibility for customers. An inbound customer service supplier will manage staff numbers and workloads in order to meet the service level goal. It helps in measuring the quantum of incoming calls which are answered by a call center agent in a specified amount of time. It is assumed that if companies are able to provide quick solutions to customers, in a timely manner, then they will be able to provide a more satisfying experience to customers.
2) Abandon rate:
Abandon rate is an important factor in assessing whether or not the service levels have been satisfactorily met. This rate gives an estimate of the total number of calls, which were initiated from customers’ end, to a reliable inbound call center services provider but the call gets abandoned before customer talks to an agent. Call abandons can arise due to various kinds of reasons both organisational, like longer wait time, or individual, like intolerant caller. A higher abandon rate isn’t a very pleasant sign. There are various steps which can be undertaken to curb this like staffing more people, better forecasting, scheduling for peak hours, etc.
3)First Call Resolution (FCR):
One of the most popular metrics which majority of the inbound call center services providers swear by! This basically gives an estimate of the total number of times a customer had to call in order to get the issue resolved. This metric is related to the quality of service and helps a call center see the picture from customer’s point of view. A high FCR might give be hinting towards the incapability of agents to resolve customer queries at once. But apart from organisational factors, there can be other individual factors also which can lead to repeat calls. By training agents and identifying repeat contact reasons, organisations can ensure faster resolution of its customers’ issues.
4) Blockage:
This is yet another accessibility metric which measures the overall percentage of customers who weren’t able to get through to an agent at a given point of time due to a lack of network facilities, or a bad signal, resulting in callers getting a busy signal. A blockage goal is important to include as it helps in meeting the set service level expectations by blocking all the excess calls. This has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and therefore, is a vital tool.
Metrics are used by various institutions across the world. Aforementioned tools provide a clarity on the functioning of inbound call center services and whether or not they are able to meet customer expectations.