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August 14, 2023
5 Minutes
In today’s fast-paced and interconnected world, businesses cannot afford to slow down. Companies must constantly adapt and upgrade with the industry to be profitable. Ergo, they are focused on call center productivity. It is what fuels your business. So let us figure out what call productivity is and how to calculate agent productivity in a call center. We’ve also got some tips for enhancing your business growth and profitability. Check out the downloadable call center agent performance review template from the page below.
Let us start by answering the question, “What is productivity in BPO?” Productivity is the amount of input used to achieve the desired results or output. So, to calculate productivity, we divide the total work output by the total work input. Thus, the formula is:
Productivity = Work Output / Work Input
In BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and call center, productivity means how much work is done using the given resources. Overall, it measures the efficiency of the workforce and BPO service provider.
Thus, the output is the number of queries your agents resolve, and the input is the time they spend handling the calls, doing the after-call work, etc.
When we say “work done” or “output produced”, we mean the number of calls taken, queries resolved, deals closed, customers satisfied, time taken per call, etc. Clearly, no single metric defines what call center productivity is.
Certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) add up to call center productivity. We have curated a list of these metrics to help you get a clear picture of agents’ performance.
One of the most crucial call center productivity metrics, the FCR rate, indicates the number of customer issues resolved on the first call. A high FCR means your employees are handling customers efficiently, and there is no need for repeat calls. This results in higher call center productivity.
Formula: By dividing the number of resolved calls on first contact by the total number of calls and multiplying the result by 100, you get your FCR rate.
This metric shows the satisfaction level of the customers. By rating you on a scale of 1 to 5, customers can tell you how satisfied they are with the experience. It would help if you had a high CSAT score for more productivity in the call center.
Formula: You get your CSAT score when you divide the number of positive responses by the total number of responses and multiply it by 100.
What are Inbound Call Centers?
The time spent resolving one customer query is the Average Handling Time or AHT. This is one of the essential call center Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and must remain low for better productivity.
However, a low AHT doesn’t always mean high productivity. Sometimes, agents don’t resolve the issues and hastily perform tasks to reduce their AHT. This may decrease the FCR rate and call center productivity.
This is when the agents keep the customers on hold while resolving the issue. It would help if you aimed for a low on-hold time for higher productivity of your call center service provider or in-house telecalling team.
Sometimes, a customer may hang up while waiting on hold or even before the agent receives the call. What happens when a call center agent misses a call? The chances that the customer will call again are narrow. This means a dissatisfied customer, a low CSAT score, or even a missed opportunity to close a sales deal. So, it would help if you kept your missed call rate as low as possible.
ASA (Average Speed of Answer ) is when a customer waits in the queue before an agent picks up the call. This metric should be low because it can irritate the customer and even make him drop the call. IT would badly impact your CSAT score and missed call rate.
This KPI shows the duration of time your agents handle customer calls. For example, if the occupancy rate is 80%, the agent spends 80% of their online time on calls.
Formula: Measure the occupancy rate by dividing the total call handling time by the full available time and multiplying by 100.
These were the primary call center performance goals examples among many more. Keeping a check on these call center key performance indicators is essential to understand what each employee brings. A manager can assess the efficiency and progress of his employee by looking at these metrics in the call center agent productivity report.
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Productivity and profitability go hand in hand. If you want to be a high-profit earning business or call center, measuring these KPIs and maintaining them at ideal scores is the key. So without further ado, let’s learn how to manage productivity in a call center and get you ready to boost productivity!
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Use knowledge base, FAQs, chatbots, predictive dialers, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, preset call center scripts etc., to avoid unnecessary calls. This will provide a smooth customer experience and free up your agents’ time for more urgent and essential calls.
Keep training and upskilling your team. It will enable and empower them to provide a better customer support service. Monitor their performance metrics and provide your support and guidance to the agents that need help.
Leverage the power of AI, automation, and call center software to streamline your operations. Use the right software and technology according to your requirements to manage calls efficiently.
Motivate your employees with incentives, rewards, and recognition. This will boost their satisfaction, increase confidence and encourage other employees to perform better. You can use these call center performance review examples to appreciate your employees.
Connect and engage with your customers by text, email, SMS, web chat and social media. A solid omnichannel outreach strategy will offload the burden from calls and maintain overall call center productivity.
Remember, Quality > Quantity
It is standard for businesses to want good numbers. However, delivering quality service is equally important. After all, there’s no point in handling tons of calls if the customers are not satisfied with you. To improve your call center productivity, you must prioritize the quality of your calls. To achieve maximum productivity, there must be a balance between the quantity and quality of calls.
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You must now be familiar with the meaning of call center productivity. We learned how to calculate productivity in a call center using various KPIs like FCR rate, AHT, and Missed call rate, among other metrics. We also discovered some tips and techniques on increasing productivity in a call center.
We are sure you can improve your call center key performance indicators and productivity!
A single metric cannot measure call center productivity. It depends on various KPIs like First Call Resolution Rate / First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR), Abandonment Rate, Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT Score), Percentage of Blocked Calls, Average Handling Time (AHT), Average Speed of Answer (ASA), etc
Some call center performance reviews to reward and motivate your agents are: Problem Solver for someone good at finding solutions, Empathy Extraordinaire for displaying an empathetic attitude towards customers, Speed Racer for an employee with a fast pace, Team Energizer for keeping the spirits high, etc.
Productivity is the amount of output produced using the given input. So, to calculate productivity, divide the total output by the total input. Thus, the formula for productivity in BPO is: Productivity = Output / Input
KPIs like First Call Resolution Rate / First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR), Occupancy Rate, Cost Per Call, Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT Score), Average Handling Time (AHT), Average Time in Queue, Average Speed of Answer (ASA), Percentage of Blocked Calls, etc. are used to measure productivity in a BPO call center.
There are many ways to improve productivity in a call center. Some of them include deploying self-service options like FAQs and live chats, training and monitoring and encouraging the agents, using the best tech stack, and having an excellent omnichannel outreach strategy.
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