Why do you need to be tracking call centre metrics?

There are a few different reasons you would want to track the metrics, including:

To know if your call centre is profitable

There are certain costs you need to cover, including the building you need to hire, the computers and telephones the agents use, the licence fees of the software the agents use, and the agents’ salaries you need to pay. If you take these costs into consideration, you can measure if your call centre is profitable.

Comparing previous statistics

How is the call centre performing compared to yesterday, last week, last month, and last year this time? Are you making more sales than previously, or less? Are your customers more satisfied, or more unhappy compared to your history?

How are the agents performing?

Do you need to appoint more agents, or perhaps better agents? Would your current agents perform better if you give them training? You will always benefit by having properly trained call centre agents – read why here.

Who needs to see the metrics?

Managers need to be aware of the performance of the call centre because it helps them make certain decisions related to the reasons above. But metrics aren’t only for managers, it’s for agents too. If you have a visible board with statistics showing the performance of each agent, the agents will start competing with each other, each wanting to be the best. Some call centres work on the concept of gamification and give rewards to the best agent. The graph will show who the best agent is based on their performance.

It also motivates the agents to give their best, not only because they get rewarded, but because they can see that there are repercussions for their lazy co-workers.

The difference between outbound and inbound centres

Outbound call centres might want to focus on improving their amount of sales, compared to inbound call centres that would be focusing on increasing their customer satisfaction. We will discuss them in more detail in our following articles.