2018 Talkdesk Contact Center KPI Benchmarking Report

TALKDESK EBOOK2018 TalkdeskContact Center KPIBenchmarking Report

Table of ContentsIntroduction03I. Contact Center KPI Best Practices04II. Top Four Contact Center Metrics06III. Average Abandonment Rate08IV. Average Time in Queue10V. Average Speed to Answer12VI. Service Level15Conclusion17Additional Resources17

IntroductionTalkdesk enables contact center supervisors to have greater visibility andinsight into performance than ever before. Armed with real-time andhistorical metrics, supervisors and agents alike can now take data-drivensteps to improve their customer service quality. But in a vacuum, thosecontact center metrics don’t mean much. If you’ve never measured thisinformation before, how do you get started?We surveyed our top customers to understand both what they measure aswell as how they benchmark their contact center’s performance. Keyperformance indicators (KPIs) vary from business to business, but someKPIs are more broadly applicable than others. The following reportidentifies four of the most common inbound contact center KPIs,establishes relevant benchmarks for each based on aggregate Talkdeskcustomer data and offers guidance on how these KPIs can be leveraged toimprove business outcomes.03

I.Contact CenterKPI Best PracticesContact center KPIs are metrics that track goals or objectives of the contactcenter or company as a whole. Despite being the backbone of scorecards anddashboards and the topic of many executive meetings, some contact centerdecision-makers fail to understand how KPI tracking translates into an efficientand ultimately profitable contact center.First and foremost, optimal KPIs should be consistent with the objectives of thecontact center and company as a whole. To accomplish this, it is imperative thatall key stakeholders are aligned on what is being measured and why. It’s also bestto select a few key metrics that are relevant and actionable for your organizationrather than measure 20 KPIs and leave stakeholders uncertain about what isreally important. Keep in mind that just because you can measure somethingdoesn’t mean it should be a KPI for your organization.As with any goal or metric, a contact center KPI should be both quantifiable andspecific. The data required to calculate the KPI should be reliable and accessiblefor measurement, ideally on a real-time basis. This will allow for early diagnosis ofissues so that reparative action can be taken. Remember, if the data for the KPIcalculations are inexact or inconsistently measured, then the value of that KPIdisappears. The collection of KPI metrics is itself an exercise in developing goodhabits. Additionally, KPIs should never be evaluated in isolation. The contactcenter is a dynamic environment and making decisions based on a single KPIwithout taking into consideration the other factors at play can have unintendedresults.04

Each KPI should have a predetermined quantitative range or target sothat contact center admins and managers can quickly assess performanceand make data-driven decisions. Every business is unique, so the bestbenchmark is always your own organization. You should strive forconstant improvement, while recognizing the diminishing returns ofpursuing perfection.When initially selecting contact center KPI targets however, you mightnot have the benefit of historical data to guide you. Additionally, it can bedangerous to operate your business in a vacuum without being aware ofhow your peers are performing. For these reasons, it’s useful tounderstand industry best practices and benchmarks to ensure yourorganization is delivering best-in-class customer service quality.05

II.Top Four ContactCenter MetricsBased on Talkdesk customer best practices, four of the most common andimpactful metrics tracked to ensure inbound contact center success in 2017were:1. Average Abandonment Rate2. Average Time in Queue3. Average Speed to Answer4. Service Level06

Inbound Contact CenterKPIs by IndustryIndustryAverageAbandonmentRateAverage Timein Queue (secs)Average Speedto Answer (secs)Totals9.07%17.288.97Software & inancial ServicesRetail & ConsumerProductsOther11.62%9.02%7.46%Consumer Services7.21%13.328.94Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals& avel, Recreation Leisure7.17%45.3810.73Computers& Electronics5.03%40.4010.34Now that you see the benchmark numbers for 2017, let’s spend sometime defining each metric and its importance to the business beforediscussing industry standards.07

III.AverageAbandonment RateAbandonment Rate is the number of calls that are terminated between the IVRand the moment an agent answers divided by the total number of inbound calls acontact center receives. Note that this metric does not include callers whoseneeds are satisfied in the IVR (for example, if they are calling for business hoursand those hours are listed in the IVR those callers would not be categorized asabandoned). In today’s environment of rising customer expectations aroundreal-time, personalized service, it’s imperative that you are successfullyconnecting with as many inbound customers as possible.Short abandons however, or calls that are disconnected before a predeterminednumber of seconds, should be filtered out so as not to skew your contact center’sabandonment rate and impair your ability to make sound management decisions.For all Talkdesk users in 2017, we saw an average abandonment rate of 9.07%.Measuring abandonment rate is only half the battle. You need to understand whatthis means to your business and how to respond, especially if this KPI is outside ofyour predefined target range.08

High Abandonment Rates could indicate: IVR is too long and/or complicated IVR prompts are unclear to customers Routing is improperly set up, driving up wait time for certain segments of callers Staffing is inadequate, causing callers to wait an unacceptable amount of timein the queueLow Abandonment Rates could indicate: IVR is effective Agents answer calls quickly Routing is optimized Team is properly staffed or even overstaffedIf you suspect your IVR is the issue, consider running a focus group andobserve users navigating your IVR. It may sound like overkill, but think ofyour customer service as a product you are offering. Your product teamlikely runs usability sessions with customers to better understand how todesign the product – why shouldn’t you do the same with your customerservice offering?09

IV.Average Time in QueueAverage time in queue is exactly that – the average amount of time callers spendon hold in the waiting queue before they are connected to an agent. Whencustomers experience lengthy wait times, they will likely abandon calls and maynever call back. This is a missed opportunity to connect with your customer toensure they are happy, promote your brand and potentially upsell.Average time in queue is one KPI in particular where it’s especially useful tobenchmark against yourself, because defining an acceptable caller waiting timedepends on a number of factors. For example, high wait times are unacceptablefor businesses that deliver on-demand services, such as food delivery. However,for callers with less urgent issues, such as claiming a prize, waiting times canincrease. For Talkdesk users in 2017, we saw an average time in queue of 17.28seconds. Once you have determined your average time in queue during a specifictimeframe, talk to your team to understand what that means for your contactcenter.17.28 seconds10

High Average Time in Queue could indicate: Suboptimal staffing levels during peak business periods High agent absenteeism/poor schedule adherence Lack of customer-centric features such as skills-based routing and queuecallbackLow Average Time in Queue could indicate: Predictable call durations Correct staffing patterns High level of schedule adherence Well-configured Talkdesk settings Excellent routing structureIf the Average Time in Queue is too long, there are steps you can take inconfiguring your contact center software to optimize performance withyour given staff levels. For example, create specialized queues for uniqueteams and provide high-value callers with a VIP phone number so theycan skip the queue. You can also leverage sophisticated features such asqueue callback and queue to voicemail to provide callers with options toconnect with an agent without enduring a long wait.11

V.Average Speed to AnswerThe average speed to answer is the average time the agent took to answerinbound calls. This includes time while the agent’s phone rings, but does notinclude the time the caller spent in the IVR or waiting queue. This KPI isassociated with efficiency and accessibility and is a contributor to customersatisfaction.In Talkdesk, this metric is easily accessible within the Agent tab, as well as theScheduled tab in the “Agents” and “Calls” reports. The average speed to answerfor Talkdesk users was 8.97 seconds in 2017.Once you have determined your average speed to answer, find out what thatnumber means by looking at the information below.8.97 seconds12

High Average Speed to Answer could indicate: Insufficient staff training Inaccurate call volume projections Excessive After Call Work time Poor call forecastingLow Average Speed to Answer could indicate: Sufficient staff training Accurate call volume projections Appropriate amount of after call work time Adequate call forecastingThere are numerous ways having a high average speed to answer canadversely impact your business, some which are not immediately evident.Customer satisfaction suffers, but with that often comes reduced agentsatisfaction as stress increases. Contact center costs can increase as well,as frustrated callers typically increase handle time and are more likely todemand escalations to management.13

To reduce the average speed to answer, utilize after call work schedulingso that agents have a short window of time to complete work associatedwith the previous call before receiving additional calls. Using Talkdesk, youcan also automate many of the common after call work tasks, whichincreases productivity. You can also train agents on the importance ofhaving a low average speed to answer and provide them with a dashboardthat empowers them to make data-driven decisions to keep this KPIwithin an acceptable range. Finally, it falls on the shoulders of thesupervisor to ensure agent scheduling is optimized and call forecasting isas accurate as possible.14

VI.Service LevelService level measures the accessibility of a company to their customers. This KPIindicates a company’s ability to plan for call volume fluctuations and executetheir staffing strategy. It is directly tied to customer service quality and inboundcontact center performance, thus is often the cornerstone of an inbound contactcenter manager’s metrics toolkit.Service level is defined by Talkdesk as the percentage of calls answered within apredefined amount of time. It can be measured over any period of time (i.e. 30minutes, one hour, one day or one week) and for each agent, team, department orthe company as a whole.The service level timer starts as soon as the call starts ringing an agent or entersthe waiting queue, after your welcome greeting or IVR messages. Calls answeredwithin your designated threshold will be considered as meeting service level. Forexample, Talkdesk’s default threshold is 20 seconds. If an agent answers all callswithin the 20 second threshold, the service level will be 100%.Service level is only calculated for inbound calls during business hours andconsiders total calls as the denominator and calls that are answered andabandoned as the numerator. There are no industry standards for service levelbecause acceptable thresholds vary. This number is best compared to your owncompany’s performance over time. Here is the equation for calculating yourservice level:Service Level calls answered within threshold calls abandoned within thresholdtotal calls answered total calls abandonedx 10015