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Call center productivity measures your business's overall efficiency and evaluates how effectively agents, technologies, and processes come together to handle customer interactions. A truly productive call center tackles customer concerns with speed and accuracy–without increasing operating costs.

Managers must set clear goals, keep agents engaged, and choose the right KPIs to measure productivity accurately. Increasing call center productivity optimizes the customer experience, but can cause burnout if agents aren’t properly supported.

Read on to discover how to calculate call center productivity and which key performance metrics to monitor. We also discuss common causes for low agent productivity, how to prevent them, and strategies to optimize your call center workforce.

 

What is Call Center Productivity?

Call center productivity is a benchmark of how well a call center leverages its resources (agents, technologies, processes) to handle customer interactions and meet performance goals. Productivity reflects a call center’s proficiency. However, call center productivity is heavily impacted by agent engagement, existing workflows, customer satisfaction, and call volumes. Higher productivity yields better overall call center management to prevent wasted time, also known as call center shrinkage.

Call center productivity is evaluated according to several factors and metrics. These metrics can be applied to individual agents, departments, or a set time period. They include:

  • Outbound call volume
  • Amount of revenue generated, number of deals closed, number of appointments booked
  • Number of ticket resolutions or inbound calls handled
  • Agent performance and customer satisfaction scores
  • Company-specific KPIs and SLAs

Monitoring relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics offers specific insights into how to improve agent productivity. Call center KPIs–average handling time (AHT), agent utilization, first call resolution (FCR), etc–provide a look into overall performance and productivity.

 

Why is High Call Center Productivity Important?

High call center productivity is critical to maintaining a happy and healthy customer base. Negative customer experiences lead to missed opportunities, lost revenue, and customer complaints via social channels. Following poor customer experiences, 78% of customers say they are unlikely to give a business a second chance.[*] Ensure the first customer interactions make the right impression.

Call center productivity levels immediately influence the customer experience, operational costs, wait times, resource allocation, agent attrition rates, and more. Foster a robust work environment, build customer loyalty, and keep your business competitive by considering these core benefits to high call center productivity:

  • Boost Response Times: More productive agents lead to faster response times that improve customer satisfaction. Unreasonable hold times and long queues result in potential losses and poor customer reviews. 28% of customers hang up after waiting 5 or less minutes on hold, 5% immediately hang up when put on hold.[*] Optimized call routing via automatic call distribution can cut wasted time by directing customers to the right call center agents to avoid unnecessary transfers.
  • Cut Operation Costs: Optimal call center productivity levels reduce the overall cost per contact. Automated chatbots or voice bots can replace the need for live agents to help with common support or product requests, keeping more live call center agents free. Freeing up agents means managers won’t have to hire additional agents during peak call times. Bots take the pressure off agents, decreasing burnout and high turnover from handling too many interactions. Call center software can help managers better schedule their agents to cut down on overtime and secure coverage during peak business hours to cut overstaffing.
  • Engage Employees to Fortify Morale: Having access to worker performance allows you to build performance-based initiatives and encourage your employees to give their best. Highly engaged workforces have 21% higher profitability and 17% more productivity than disengaged ones.[*] When call center productivity tools make agents’ lives easier, they feel valued and are at a lower risk of burnout.
  • Improve the Customer Experience: Delivering a consistent, high-quality customer experience is key to building your business’ reputation.  Customer retention rates are built on great customer service, creating advocates for your brand to drive organic word-of-mouth referrals.

 

How to Measure Call Center Productivity?

The formula to measure call center productivity is:

(Total number of resolved calls / Total number of handled calls) X 100 = Call Center Productivity

Use the formula above to determine the percentage of resolved calls versus all the handled calls to assess your call center’s ability to resolve customer’s concerns. This formula takes into account both the quality and speed of a call center’s service.

 

Key Metrics for Measuring Call Center Productivity

Call Center Productivity can be measured through different key performance indicators (KPIs). Accurately measuring the following metrics will pinpoint problem areas and highlight where agents perform well:

  • First Call Resolution (FCR) rate: Determines the number of customers got resolution within their first call by dividing the number over resolved calls on first contact by total call volume. A high First Call Resolution Rate is a sign of productive employees and efficient call centers.
  • Cost Per Call: Shows how much your business is spending per call by taking total operating costs and labor expenses and dividing it over the number of calls. A low cost per call shows higher agent productivity, lower labor expenses, and stronger profits.
  • Average Handling Time (AHT): Tracks the total amount of time it takes an agent to completely respond to a customer issue, including follow-up calls, talk time, pre and post-call work. Calculate this by taking the total talk time and post-call work and dividing it by the total calls taken in a day.
  • Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Comprises customer ratings on a scale (usually 1 to 5) post-interaction with an agent. A high CSAT means your team is putting in the work to keep customers satisfied.
  • Abandonment Rate: See how many customers leave calls before speaking to an agent due to long hold times. High abandonment rates show agents missing incoming calls, causing negative customer experiences.
  • Occupancy Rate: Reveals how much time your agents are occupied with callers, take the total handle time over the total available time and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. Low occupancy rates might occur due to overstaffing, low call volume, or excess after-call work.

 

How to Improve Call Center Productivity Step-by-Step

Call center managers should take the following steps to properly measure and improve call center productivity levels:

 

Step 1: Define Clear Parameters and Key Performance Indicators

Set clear, realistic long and short-term goals and determine which KPIs will be used to measure progress. For some call centers, improving CSAT scores might take priority, in others, it could be reducing overall costs.

Establishing clear targets like First Call Resolution, Net Promoter Score, Average Speed of Answer (ASA), or Average Handle Time can help individuals, teams, and center-wide initiatives put a name to their goals.

 

Step 2: Leverage Real-Time Monitoring and Call Center Software

Call center software helps supervisors monitor key call center metrics in real-time and historically. Smart tools can help call centers forecast when call volume times peak and fall to automatically adjust agent schedules according to current call center activity. Reallocate agents as needed and keep them productive, but not burnt out, throughout the day. Enabling KPI alerts allows supervisors to get real-time notifications when performance dips below established standards.

 

Step 3: Regularly Keep Tabs on Productivity Metrics

Call center reporting tools can measure call center performance on a granular level, including individual agents, departments, and specified time periods. For example, higher First Call Resolution (FCR) rates reduce repetitive tedious interactions. Agent occupancy rates will let you know how much an agent can take on realistically per day. Omnichannel performance data can help you fill the gaps across all platforms (text, email, phone, chat, social media, etc.). Reporting can be automated via real-time dashboards and tools. Continually monitoring analytics can identify customer support trends, common bottlenecks, and areas of improvement.

 

Step 4: Coach Agents Using Performance Reviews

Regular performance reviews pinpoint where agents excel and where additional agent training is required. Data-driven coaching can resolve specific department challenges like high AHT or poor FCR. Implementing gamification or incentive programs will motivate agents to become high performers through recognition and potential bonuses. Likewise, personalized performance improvement plans (PIPs) can direct agents with clear timelines for progress and actionable insights.

 

Step 4: Monitor Customer Satisfaction Scores and Feedback 

NPS and CSAT scores show how satisfied customers are with your business, and how likely they are to recommend your company to their friends and family. They’re also a good indication of customer loyalty. Customer Effort Score (CES) will show how easy or difficult it was for customers to navigate through your call center to solve their issues. Whatever feedback you receive can be used to empower your workflows and processes and draw new scripts for your support team that better meet customer needs.

 

Step 5: Implement Call Center Automation Technology

Call center automation helps agents deliver a better overall customer experience while cutting down on tedious or repetitive tasks. Interactive voice response (IVR) systems can route customer calls to the correct departments and agents. Self-service options like chatbots cut the workload on agents and speed up customer resolution. CRM tools give agents access to customer history and help them resolve issues faster. AI-powered speech and text analytics build customer sentiment profiles and spot areas where optimization is needed.

 

Reasons for Low Productivity in Call Center Agents

Low productivity in call center agents does not happen overnight, and no single issue/reason is to blame. Multiple factors come into play, including:

 

Outdated Tools and Technology

Outdated technology can cause bottlenecks and make it difficult for agents to get the information they need swiftly. CRMs, ticketing software, and phone systems need to be well-integrated. Likewise, poor call routing can connect customers to the wrong agents, leading to repeat calls that waste everyone’s time and increase call abandonment.

 

Agent Burnout

High call volumes take their toll on workers, especially when encountered constantly. Repetitive calls can cause your agents to resort to missing work or quitting disrupting workflows, increasing operating costs, and degrading the customer experience. 47% of managers believe their biggest problem running call centers well is high agent turnover and absenteeism.[*] Retained staff may use shortcuts or provide low-quality work to meet daily requirements.

 

Lack of Training and Development Opportunities

Agents will struggle to take on customer issues confidently and effectively without thorough onboarding or consistent training. Quality employee training materials, ongoing in-call agent coaching, and agent performance monitoring with scoresheets help improve customer satisfaction and productivity.

 

Environmental Challenges and Distractions

Whether your call center agents are working in-office or remote, the environment can affect output. In-office workers who encounter frequent disruptions or noisy workplaces might find it difficult to get work done. Likewise, remote workers may face issues handling omnichannel platforms like emails, chats, and work portals.

 

Best Practices For Improved Call Center Productivity

Improving call center productivity can be daunting, but there are many different avenues to ensure employees remain happy and productive. Below are some actionable tips to improve overall call center productivity.

 

Leverage Workflow Automation

Automated tools like chatbots, IVR and CTI screen pops eliminate manual work and don’t require live agent intervention. Modern and well-integrated CRM tools empower agents to do their jobs faster and better by giving them instant access to customer data. Self-service tools like chatbots can help customers address commonplace troubleshooting to free up your agents for more specific requests. Effective call routing automatically matches your customers with the best available agent to reduce handle time.

 

Forecast Demand to Staff Efficiently

Workforce management software can give insights into call volumes and help you schedule the right number of agents to meet demand. Coverage during peak service times is a must, likewise, you can cut on agent downtime when operations are less busy. Scheduling tools ensure each shift contains agents from a variety of departments with different skill sets to ensure maximum support coverage.

 

Built a Focused and Positive Work Environment

Consider gamification by introducing performance-based incentives and rewards to keep agents motivated. Minimize distractions by setting up quiet work zones or by limiting disruptive video meetings. Team-building activities, conducted virtually or in-person, foster a supportive and collaborative environment.

 

Train and Coach Staff Comprehensively

It all starts with onboarding, new agents need to be knowledgeable about company offerings, processes, and communications standards before they start working with customers. Features like call monitor, call whisper, in-call coaching, call barge, and transcription help supervisors monitor and improve agent performance. Custom agent scoresheets can automatically assign agents specific training modules based on scores. AI-powered speech and text analytics analyze conversations to uncover customer sentiment and intent to highlight trends and help agents address issues.

Keeping call center productivity high is the key to maintaining an effective and optimized contact center operation. It is a net positive when empowering a happier and stable workforce, improving customer satisfaction and increasing profits. Likewise, it can reduce overspending and assure your call center provides quality service that keeps customers coming back.

 

FAQs

Yes, call center productivity can be improved with gamification. It creates a competitive and engaging environment where leaderboards, rewards, and metrics cause employees to meet expectations and perform stronger.