Call center benchmarking as a performance enhancer
In call center benchmarking, the management of call centers evaluate various aspects of their business processes in relation to some standard practices in the customer service industry. It is an important tool for strategic management, to improve and attain higher levels of performance. Benchmarking is used to set and improve attainable performance levels.
Call center benchmarking makes use of various parameters. To judge the level of customer satisfaction, a call center makes use of the following benchmarks:
- Average speed of answer: How quickly were the customers queries answered?
- Average time in queue: The time a customer spends waiting on phone before speaking to an agent.
- Average number of transfers: The number of times a customer's call is transferred before he gets to speak with an agent with the required skill set.
- Average time on hold: The time an agent puts a customer on hold to research on certain topics or searches the database.
- Percentage of first call resolution: A call is considered a first call resolution if a customer does not call the center again regarding the same problem for a specified number of days (usually 7- 10 days).
Call center benchmarking is also used to judge performance levels of agents. Some of the benchmarks used are caller satisfaction, Average handling time of a call, the number of calls an agent makes per shift, adherence to schedule, attendance and occupancy.
In the past call center benchmarking was not taken very seriously and was pursued in a rather unscientific manner. Individual call center managers would visit other call centers and discuss and compare methodologies and their associated advantages and disadvantages. Today statistical benchmarking is carried out by consulting firms and research organizations. In this performance data is gathered from numerous customer service centers, and then experts in various fields analyze and interpolate scientifically and statistically the best practices in all the processes that the call center handles. Managers refer this data and reports to adjudge how their firm is performing in terms of best practices. Performance targets are fixed accordingly and an action plan formulated by the management.
