A KPI, or key performance indicator, is a metric that call centers use to determine if they're meeting business goals such as efficiency and delivering exceptional customer satisfaction. Contact centers have a multitude of possible KPIs - the challenge is picking the right ones to holistically measure the different aspects of the operation while not creating data overload.
Typical key performance indicators for contact centers
Contact center KPIs for agents
Customer satisfaction KPIs for call centers
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all possible call center KPIs, but it illustrates the possibilities and complexities of choosing the right set of KPIs. Contact centers should pick KPIs that support business objectives and then consistently manage to KPI targets.
Abandon Rate - measures how many contacts are being terminated by the customer before they are even connected with an agent at a contact center.
Average Speed of Answer - highly correlated to abandon rates, ASA measures how quickly customer calls are being connected to agents.
Service Level - another way to measure how quickly customers are being connected to agents, service level targets are expressed as a certain percentage of contacts answered within a certain amount of time (for example, 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds).
Average Handle Time - an efficiency metric that measures how much time, on average, agents are spending on each customer call. It's a key input for staffing models.
First Contact Resolution - the percent of contacts that were resolved on the initial contact, with no follow up required.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Scores - typically measured by post-contact surveys, customer satisfaction scores are a barometer of how customers feel about the service they received.
Quality Scores - contact evaluations by analysts or call center managers based on specific criteria, which produces an aggregate quality score for the contact center.
Customer Effort Score (CES) - a call center metric used to gauge the level of effort customers have to exert when interacting with a company, with lower scores indicating a more effortless experience and higher scores suggesting greater customer frustration or difficulty.
Agent Turnover Rate - measures how well call centers are retaining their agents, which is critical in an industry plagued by high turnover.
Forecasting Accuracy - compares actual to projected volume to determine the effectiveness of a contact center's forecasting process.
How NICE is Redefining Customer Experience
NICE CXone is the industry’s only interaction-centric platform where channels, data, applications, and knowledge converge to improve customer experience at scale.
It is the leading, most complete and unified CX Platform on the market, used by thousands of organizations of all sizes around the world to help them consistently deliver exceptional customer experiences. CXone is a cloud native, unified suite of applications designed to help you holistically run your call (or contact) center operations.
If you would like to know more about our platform or just have additional questions about our products or services, please submit the contact form. For general questions or customer support please visit our Contact us page.
