Call Center BI Solutions: Understanding High and Low Metrics

So much rides on the impression a customer is left with after their experience with a contact center, be it sales, reviews or a healthy long-term relationship. To underline this fact, Microsoft recently uncovered that 61% of people broke ties with a business after an awful service experience.

And service expectations continue to rise – 59% of respondents want much more out of their experience.

That means organizations need finely-tuned, customizable data – contact center BI solutions – at their fingertips to make quick, important decisions, coordinate agents to deliver the best service experience possible.

But what does the best service experience look like?

Today we’ll spotlight the exact agent key performance indicators (KPIs) and software solutions managers use to create leading contact centers.

Agent KPIs That Help Make a Customer’s Day

Measuring and tracking agent KPIs is one of the most effective ways managers drive high-performing, high-quality contact centers.

But how do managers gather these KPIs?  Call Center BI solutions have something to do with it.

The truth is, there are many KPIs to watch closely. Some tell a heroic – or tragic – service story.

Agent Productivity Levels

Managers who track agent productivity levels can tell the difference between their productivity rock stars from those who still need lessons.

Did you spot an agent who consistently completes all their work – handling inbound calls quickly, filling out pertinent customer information, following up with customers, in half the time? It’s time to discover their secrets and share them with the whole agent staff!

As for agents who are struggling to complete their work before their shift is over? They might need additional training on how to serve customers more efficiently and learn how to use the call center software best. They could also need help handling a personal issue.

Agent productivity levels determine how often they’re available to assist as many customers as possible.

Use BI to measure when particular agents are most productive, objectively.

Average Handle Time (AHT)

Any veteran call center manager knows the importance of AHT. While a low AHT can lead to happier customers, Their problems are likely solved efficiently with limited hold and talk time, a high AHT isn’t automatically a bad thing.

Sometimes agents who have a high AHT are customer service heroes. But the only way to find out is by utilizing BI reports.

Agents who invest their time in creating an extraordinary service experience may take longer, but customers are more likely to give them high NPS (Net Promoter Scores). NPS is a vital feedback tool for any manager. And low AHT might not always translate into an excellent NPS.

Look into those AHTs and compare them to their results. If customers are dazzled, experiment with the agent in finding what steps can be shortened or omitted without sacrificing the sizzle of great service.

Tip: Meeting contact center goals can be rough. Sometimes you’ll discover that a top agent with long handle times is the only one properly handling the call – and doing it as quickly as possible. Overly difficult metrics frequently impact service and reputation for a whole department and can lead to shortcuts that produce misleading gains in call volume SLAs.

First Call Resolution (FCR)

FCR is a hallmark KPI that every manager needs to analyze.

Customers want their problems addressed now. Agents who solve issues nearly instantly without needing to transfer the call are a customer’s favorite person.

Another way to spot your gems in the rough is to look for agents with high AHT that do well in FCR. These aren’t your shortcut takers, and they are dedicated to your reputation and service. These agents will know how to please customers and may just need some insight into where to gain efficiency in simpler problems – or even how to more quickly resolve those nasty-long calls.

Of course, BI powerhouse features like Workforce Optimization (WFO) provide a more robust data background to FCR scores, pinpointing what best practices are wowing customers, and what’s rubbing them the wrong way. TCN’s WFO tools capture every mouse click and spoken word while breaking them down through voice analysis and simple tagging.

How to Measure a Call Center’s Back End – Collections

Most of the time, managers discuss KPIs that mainly affect agents who serve inbound callers.

But how do managers measure how well agents in collections are doing?

And how can contact center BI solutions help?

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)

DSO is s an essential collections’ KPIs and measures how many days it takes for a customer to make full payment after they initiated the sale.

Managers need to give their collections department realistic targets, but the lower the DSO, the better.

If the call center is struggling with a high DSO, it’s time to train current agents on how to procure outstanding debts or bring in new agents to get the job done.

A professional, high-end organization cannot afford to chase down money owed to it endlessly.

Also, the shorter your DSO per customer, the more cash you’ll have on hand to invest back into the business. Building your DSO with contact center BI means tracking PTP, payments, sale date and date of payment.

Collector Effectiveness Index (CEI)

CEI measures an organization’s progress in collecting outstanding debts from a particular customer. If a customer has paid $1,000 of their $2,000 invoice, the company’s CEI for that customer is 50%.

It is similar to how DSO is measured, but it offers managers another way to view outstanding customer debts, especially if their tracking expenses over a more extended time frame.

Keep your CEI up by closely monitoring payments against your outstanding debt list.

Percentage of Outbound Calls Resulting in Promise to Pay (PTP)

Managers measuring the common inbound contact center KPIs are always focused on efficiency and effectiveness.

The same should be true of collections.

Another way companies track collections is through PTP.  Closely related to RPC (Right Party Contact) rate, which measures how often collections reach the actual debtor, PTP tracks the percentage of debtors who promise to pay at the end of the call.

PTP gets companies one step closer to receiving its rightful money, so a 100% rate is highly desirable.

BI to the Rescue in Collecting Outstanding Debt

As we’ve discussed, contact center BI solutions provide detailed, unparalleled information and practical tools that are a must for any successful and competitive contact center.

BI tools can help speed up the collections process by quickly detecting inefficiencies and errors.

Is a collections agent scaring away debtors and potentially crossing the regulatory/legal line? BI reports highlight the issue.

Devising win-win solutions is a must for collections agents in these scenarios.

Overwhelmed by Too Many KPIs and Don’t Know How They Work Together? We’ve Got You Covered

While contact center BI solutions make a manager’s job much easier, providing access to a treasure trove of information, it can still be overwhelming.

Even though these awe-inspiring tools can vastly improve any call center’s operation, they’re confusing without the right education.

Don’t let call center data lead to harmful mistakes.

Instead, grab our free “Big Data Call Center” guide, and learn how to manage big data and use it to create a personalized customer experience.

Download this free but valuable information today!