Key metrics & KPIs you should know
As an operations leader, being aware of the key metrics and KPIs is fundamental for evaluating and improving contact center performance, ensuring customer satisfaction and making informed decisions that contribute to the overall success of your organization.
Customer experience metrics
Customer Effort Score (CES)
A metric gaining traction, CES is similar in presentation to an NPS survey, but instead of asking about promoting a brand, it asks how much effort a customer believed was necessary to achieve an objective or meet a need.
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
CSAT measures whether a customer is satisfied — on a three-point, five-point or seven-point scale — immediately after an interaction, whether that interaction is with a live agent, an automated channel or self-service content.
First Contact Resolution (FCR)
FCR is traditionally calculated by dividing the number of contacts resolved in the first interaction by the total number of contacts received, or by dividing the number of contacts resolved in the first interaction by the total number of first contacts received.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS measures how likely or unlikely a customer is to recommend an organization, its products or services on a 10-point scale. Responses that score 9 or 10 represent promotion and therefore advocacy, while scores from zero-to-six are considered brand detractors and could be at risk of churn.
Tracking customer experience metrics is key for assessing satisfaction and loyalty and pinpointing areas for improvement in service delivery.
Contact initiation KPIs
Average Call Abandonment Rate
This measures the percentage of callers that hang up while in a queue waiting to speak to an agent.
Average Time in Queue
This KPI tracks how long, on average, a customer has to wait before being connected to an available agent, whether on the phone or in any other live channel.
First Response Time (FRT)
FRT is used for calculating how long, on average, it takes for an agent to answer a call or reply to an online chat request.
Percentage of Calls Blocked
This measures how many customers don’t make it into a queue and instead receive a busy signal when calling a contact center. As such, it can also be used as a means of measuring contact center operations and overall performance.
Agent productivity metrics
Adherence to Schedule
The total time an agent is available divided by the total time an agent is scheduled to work.
Agent Utilization Rate
This is measures how many hours of a shift an agent is actively working.
Average After-call Work Time
This KPI tracks how long it takes for an agent to update systems or undertake other necessary processes following a contact before being available to converse with another customer.
Average Handle Time (AHT)
AHT measures the average amount of time an agent requires to conduct a conversation with a customer within a live channel. As well as measuring agent productivity, AHT can be segmented by contact type to identify if certain issues are harder to resolve and therefore require further training.
Average Speed of Answer (ASA)
ASA is calculated by dividing the total wait time for answered calls by the number of calls answered within a specific timeframe.
Calls Answered per Hour
This tracks the average number of calls or online chats handled per hour during a shift.
Occupancy Rate
This measures how long a team of agents spend on all contact-related work and calculates it as a percentage. Therefore, it’s also valuable for measuring overall operations.
Transfer Rate
This measures how many customers don’t make it into a queue and instead receive a busy signal when calling a contact center. As such, it can also be used as a means of measuring contact center operations and overall performance.
Contact center operations
Average Age of Query
This measures how long on average it takes to resolve a customer’s issue or answer a question when that issue isn’t resolved with the initial contact.
Average Contact Length
This tracks the average time spent to resolve an issue or at least handle a contact over a specific period of time.
Call Arrival Rate
Whether by the minute, hour, day or week, call arrival rate measures the number of calls or live channel contacts a contact center receives over a specific timeframe.
Calls Handled
Calls handled tracks how many calls were successfully answered rather than the total amount of contacts coming into live channels, within a specific timeframe. This KPI can be expanded to measure the performance of automated channels.
Cost per Contact
This is calculated by dividing the sum of all costs associated with the contact center by overall cost total number of live contacts.
Peak Hour Traffic
Peak hour traffic takes call arrival rate one step further by identifying the moments during a day when contacts spike — a crucial metric for getting staffing levels right.
Percentage of Calls Handled by Type
A valuable starting point to developing self-service content or improving agent-facing tools, this KPI measures the number of contacts against the type of contact or issue.
Employee experience metrics
Absenteeism
Monitoring absenteeism is crucial to understanding how many days are lost per quarter or per year due to agents being absent. If the absenteeism rate is high, then it might indicate an issue with management or working environment.
eNPS
This metric measures how likely on a 10-point scale an agent or other member of staff would recommend working for the organization.
Rate of Agent Turnover
This calculates how many agents, as a share of total agent workforce, quit their role with the organization. Again, if the rate is high, it could be due to deeper cultural problems.
