Changes in technology and consumer expectations will influence how successful call centers operate in 2023 and beyond. You can stay ahead of emerging trends by refining your call center reporting strategy and making adjustments to metrics as needed. Of course, you’ll get the best results when you focus on the call center metrics that matter most to today’s consumers. Consider these call center reporting tactics to stay on top of performance and customer satisfaction benchmarks in the coming year.
Categorize Your Call Center Agents to Improve KPIs
You can expect agents to perform at different levels. Most will likely improve with experience and training, but some agents will always stand out as your top performers while others remain near the rear of the pack.You probably have a good idea of which employees perform best and worst, but do you have data that shows specifically how they perform in different situations?
Correctly filtering your call center reporting metrics could reveal that your star agent actually struggles during certain types of calls. The employee who takes the longest to complete calls might have strengths that make them excellent candidates in other areas of your call center.
Call center and contact center technology, like Brightmetrics™, let you take an in-depth look at how well your center is performing overall. It also helps you take a thorough analysis into agent activity, how well agents are performing against customer service standards and compared with each other.
Detailed scorecards let you sort and categorize team members. For example, you might want to know which agents have the lowest Average Transfer Rate. Once you identify your top performers in that category, you can review their work to determine why they excel. Paying attention to how these individuals work can help develop future training programs that make new employees more effective.
Do some of your top performers struggle with post-call tasks? You can make that topic more critical in future programs. Review your KPIs to identify potential barriers to success. The more data you collect about individual and team performance, the more insight you have into creating a more successful training program.
You don’t always need managers to sit down with call center employees to discuss performance metrics. Give employees access to their personalized performance report, or scorecard, so they can see their own data about where they excel and underperform. Many call center agents will self-manage their performance goals and strive for higher levels of success.
Up Level Team Evaluations to Prevent Burnout
Ongoing evaluations keep you ahead of changes within your staff. Even your best employee can experience burnout. If that happens, you will probably notice their KPIs slip as they lose focus and neglect responsibilities.
Training probably won’t help a top performer experiencing burnout. Spotting the problem early, however, gives you a chance to intervene before the loss of focus affects their performance and your customer experience. You may want to refer them to human resources so they can talk about any professional or personal barriers to success. Perhaps they need to take some time off from work. Maybe they would benefit from talking to a counselor.
Regularly reviewing your call center performance benchmarks will also help you spot employees who plateau in their jobs. You want people to keep learning new skills so they can assume more responsibilities. If you notice that someone’s KPIs have remained the same for several weeks or months, you might want to check in with them. Find out what you can do to help them feel more motivated and continue moving their career forward. A little effort could turn a mediocre call agent into a top performer.
Customer Satisfaction Across All Channels
Customers have abundant communication channels, so many don’t solely rely on voice calls. While a recent survey shows that 42% of customers still prefer using voice, 38% say they prefer digital channels, and 20% say they prefer email.
Digital communication channels include:
- Instant messaging
- Social media messaging
- Live chat
- In-app messaging
A surprising number of consumers even prefer getting customer support via text messaging. With so many more communication options, call centers need to focus on providing the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
Your customer satisfaction score (CSAT) likely depends on several factors, such as how quickly your agents answer calls and whether they can resolve issues efficiently. If someone sits on the phone for 15 minutes waiting for an agent to answer, they might decide to hang up and send a social media message instead. They might not get a response sooner, but they can go about their day while waiting for an answer.
Of course, some questions need answers from well-trained agents. If someone needs help to resolve a technical issue, they need detailed instructions for their unique situation. Other forms of communication probably won’t satisfy their needs. In many cases, though, consumers know that they have options. They will not hesitate to use computers as soon as they experience any frustration from your call center.
If your company takes an omnichannel approach to customer service, personalize your CSAT surveys for each option. Customers on the phone with your call center probably care a lot about wait times. Those using your website’s chatbot might care more about whether it asks useful questions. Tailor your questionnaire to each so you can improve all interactions with your brand.
Lead With Smart Reporting
Analyzing your call center or contact center reporting strategy and metrics for 2023 requires investigation, planning, and testing. Use in depth analytics, like Brightmetrics, to better understand your agents’ daily activity and better serve your customers. As customer expectations change, use smart reporting practices to better communicate with your teams and make data-driven performance decisions.
Learn More About Brightmetrics
Changing technology can give your call center new ways to succeed. Chat with us to learn more about our analytics and reporting services that will enable your team to surpass their goals in 2023 and beyond.
