KPIs Used in the Contact Center That Improve Customer Satisfaction

KPI stands for key performance indicator, which is essential metric used to measure efficiency. Depending on the industry, KPIs serve to assess work performance, optimize costs, or maintain the highest possible level of service — while minimizing financial input. KPIs provide objective, numerical feedback on the effectiveness of business initiatives. Key Performance Indicator helps a business move forward.

In the article below, we will present the most commonly used KPIs, including those applied in call centers, along with their definitions. We will also provide kpi examples across various industries and explain what to pay special attention to when selecting and implementing Key Performance Indicators for your organization to ensure they are truly effective.

Are KPIs Really Necessary?

It’s difficult to measure performance of a team without having numerical insights. KPIs help focus on what truly matters by providing feedback on actions taken and supporting informed, effective managerial decisions. They ensure objectivity when evaluating the outcomes of previously planned initiatives and are a critical quantifiable measure of performance. They measure the performance of various business functions.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Peter Drucker Implementing KPIs helps reduce information overload by narrowing down vast amounts of available data to just a few essential, actionable indicators. With well-chosen KPIs, we can clearly observe the benefits of effective leadership within a company — such as increased employee satisfaction, improved customer experience, fewer complaints, higher sales and profits, or an increase in newly acquired customers. They allow you to track progress effectively toward organizational goals and drive business growth. A good KPI is always actionable and relevant. KPIs provide targets for continuous improvement.

The Importance of KPI Metrics in Contact Center Outsourcing KPIs

Key Performance Indicators – in the context of contact centers, are essential metrics used to measure the current quality level of the services delivered and to monitor the quality of customer interactions. KPIs are used not only to measure the present state but, perhaps more importantly, to analyze, define strategies, and evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies. A well-chosen set of KPIs can provide valuable insights into areas that can be improved. Moreover, showcasing competitive KPIs can be a key factor in acquiring new clients. These performance metrics offer a comprehensive measure of performance over time.

Examples of KPIs

Key Performance Indicators for Measurement Most call center team managers understand the necessity of monitoring team performance. However, given the wide variety of available reports and the abundance of data, it’s not always clear how to interpret specific indicators or which ones deserve special attention. Choosing the right KPIs helps support the achievement of strategic and operational goals. The set of KPIs will vary depending on the specific business and its operations. Moreover, each department will have its own relevant indicators — for example, the KPIs for sales department will differ significantly from those for HR. In the case of contact centers, however, the following kpi examples are among the most commonly used: examples include those for various business units. This KPI guide provides examples and insights. These kpis and metrics are fundamental to achieving strategic business outcomes and strategic goals. You can get examples of common KPI examples here:

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

An SLA is an agreement in which a service provider commits to delivering services at a defined performance level, as agreed with the client. In the context of a call center, this typically refers to the percentage of calls answered within a specified time frame agreed upon with the client. For example: 75% of calls answered within 30 seconds or less. How to Measure It? Let’s say the agreed time to answer a customer call is no more than 20 seconds. If the hotline handles 1,000 calls in a day, and 800 of them are answered within 20 seconds, the SLA is calculated as follows: SLA = (800 / 1000) × 100% = 80%. This means the SLA for that day is 80%.

AHT (Average Handle Time)

AHT (Average Handling Time) refers to the average amount of time needed to handle a single customer interaction. This includes the total time required to prepare for the call, conduct the conversation, and complete any post-call tasks, such as logging the interaction or retrieving necessary information to resolve the issue. In other words, AHT represents the entire duration required to fully handle a customer inquiry from start to finish, including all steps needed to close the case in the system used by the organization. Once these actions are completed, the agent is considered ready to assist the next customer.

HR (Hit Rate)

Hit Rate is a percentage metric that shows the ratio of calls answered by customers to the number of closed records. Hit Rate can also be calculated for the entire team, allowing us to see what percentage of customers we attempted to contact gave us the opportunity to have a conversation and potentially make a sale. Here is the formula for calculating Hit Rate: HR = (number of calls answered by the customer / number of records closed by the agent) x 100%.

SR (Success Rate)

Success Rate is the number of calls successfully concluded (e.g., by having a contract signed by the customer) in relation to all calls answered by customers. Success Rate provides insight into the effectiveness of agents and helps identify the top performers in the team. Calculating Success Rate: SR = (number of successful calls / number of calls answered by the customer) x 100%.

TFA (Traffic Forecast Accuracy)

This metric describes the accuracy of previous forecasting, indicating the differences between what was assumed and what actually happened. It is used to estimate the number of incoming calls. TFA is a ratio showing the difference between assumptions and the actual results of the team. This kpi is a measure of performance over time.

CR (Contact Rate)

CR is a metric used in call centers to measure the number of successful calls in relation to closed records (i.e., those that are no longer being processed in a given campaign). CR is also used in e-commerce to refer to the Conversion Rate. This metric measures the percentage of conversions or sales relative to the number of people visiting a website. For example, if 100 people visited the website within a given time frame, and 10 of them made a purchase, the Conversion Rate would be 10%. Conversion Rate = (number of sales / number of website visitors) x 100%. This is an easy to measure kpi like revenue.

Average Speed of Answer (ASA) and Abandon Rate

ASA is the average time customers spend in the IVR system while waiting to be connected to an agent, after listening to the Interactive Voice Response. It is important to note that as the wait time increases, so does the abandonment rate, which is associated with a higher number of dissatisfied customers due to lack of service. Additionally, customers often call back, increasing the volume of incoming calls. This affects the forecasting of future call volumes. We plan for a higher number of work hours required to handle the calls, which increases operational costs. Therefore, it is crucial to properly manage scheduling and continuously monitor and control the number of people waiting in the queue. Abandon Rate is the percentage of calls abandoned by customers in the queue before being connected to an agent. The longer the wait time for the agent to answer, the higher the abandonment rate. These are examples of lagging KPIs, reflecting past performance.

Average Talk Time

This is the average duration of a conversation with a customer, from the moment the call is answered until it is concluded. If the average talk time of one consultant is significantly higher than the others, it can be assumed that there may be a need to work with that consultant on controlling the flow of the conversation with the customer, or check, for example, the time spent on hold during the call to verify the reasons for the differences. This kpi measures how employees work.

Time to First Response

This KPI is most commonly used when handling customer inquiries via email or live chat. Its purpose is to control the time needed to start addressing an issue from the moment it is submitted by the customer. As the volume of requests increases, this time may lengthen, but ultimately, the goal should be to minimize this time. The shorter the response time, the higher the customer satisfaction. An extended waiting time for a response may result in the customer attempting to contact through other channels, which leads to handling one issue across two, or sometimes three or more, communication channels, thus increasing service costs. This kpi would be a leading indicator of service quality.

Response Time

This is the time measured from the moment the customer sends a message (e.g., email) to when the first response is received from the support team. It differs from Time to First Response in that, in some cases, before providing a response to the customer, we may need to ask for help from a responsible person or transfer the inquiry to another department. This first stage is when the inquiry is taken up, but it is not yet the customer receiving an answer to their issue.

Resolution Time

This is the time taken to close the issue after the problem reported by the customer is completely resolved. Some cases require us to contact other departments, so even though the inquiry has been taken up and a response provided to the customer, additional time may be needed to obtain the necessary information or actions by responsible personnel (e.g., processing a refund or resolving a complaint). The average resolution time indicator shows how long it takes to resolve a customer’s issue, not just within the contact center but throughout the entire company. Additionally, we can measure First Contact Resolution, which is the percentage of cases resolved at the first contact without any additional steps required from either party. This is a crucial lagging KPI.

NPS (Net Promoter Score)

The Net Promoter Score is a tool used to measure customer loyalty. After interacting with customer service, customers are sent a satisfaction survey where they can rate their satisfaction with the service on a scale of 1 to 10. The survey may include questions about satisfaction with the way the issue was handled, resolution time, politeness of the consultant, waiting time for an agent, or overall contact satisfaction. This kpi is a leading indicator of customer satisfaction. It is assumed that customers rating the service 0-6 are detractors (dissatisfied with the service), 7-8 are passives (neither very satisfied nor dissatisfied), and 9-10 are promoters (most loyal customers). The feedback from loyal customers positively impacts the company’s image, providing an opportunity to gain new customers and increase sales. The higher the percentage of customers who rate between 9-10, the more likely the company’s image will improve. This Net Promoter score is vital for understanding long-term growth potential and market share.

KPI – additional examples that can be used to track team effectiveness

In addition to the strategic indicators presented, which help establish staffing needs, progress, and efficiency, many Contact Centers believe that KPIs should also include quality benchmarks for processes handled by supporting departments. Noteworthy KPIs include:

Agent turnover rate – a measure of employee retention over time; this is very important information, especially in this sector.
Number of clients who joined the newsletter.
Number of completed contact forms.
Number of clients acquired in a given time period.
Average purchase value, i.e., total sales income for a given time period divided by the number of sales.
Number of complaints compared to the number of items sold.
Forecasting accuracy – a comparison of the predicted volume to the actual result in order to determine the efficiency of the forecasting process.
Quality score – an evaluation made by analysts or management based on predefined criteria, resulting in an aggregate score for the entire Contact Center. These are kpi examples by department.

In which businesses, apart from Contact Centers, are Key Performance Indicators used?

Despite its English name, which is often associated with American companies, KPI is not exclusively for large corporations. On the contrary, KPIs are frequently used in every business, regardless of size, and even within individual teams. They are crucial for managing performance and assessing organizational performance.

Marketing e.g., for measuring marketing activities, the number of website visits due to a new ad, or the cost of customer acquisition.
HR e.g., for tracking the cost of hiring a new employee or the number of employees hired in a given time period.
Sales e.g., for detailed analysis of sales processes or net sales results. This includes tracking sales performance and metrics like revenue.
Logistics e.g., for tracking deliveries to customers.
Customer service e.g., for continuously improving service operations. This helps to improve performance.
E-commerce e.g., for measuring conversion rates, average purchase value, or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).

How to define KPI?

When planning the strategy for your company, you need to set indicators that are suitable for assessing the performance of your team. KPIs should primarily be simple, measurable, transparent, and based on specific structures tailored to the company’s strategy. It is important to constantly update and monitor Key Performance Indicators. Properly selected KPIs allow you to obtain key performance data, the observation of which helps take actions that improve the functioning of the company. This impacts the achievement of the set goal, which is most often increased sales revenue from a specific product, thus increasing sales value and total sales income, leading to the company making progress. Every organization can benefit from well-defined KPIs. This is where business intelligence and kpi dashboards come into play, providing a clear visualization of progress toward strategic objectives.

KPIs are used not only to track the effectiveness of previous planning or to monitor progress or decline in results. Good KPIs allow for quick decision-making and reacting to emerging problems. They allow for the correction of operational and strategic goals, help with planning and setting priorities, and support the achievement of business objectives. They also enable the measurement of seemingly difficult-to-measure actions, and when properly communicated to the team, they motivate employees while providing insight into the quality of their work. These are often considered leading KPIs.

How to implement KPI in your team?

To effectively implement KPIs in your team, the first step is to define your business priorities. What is important for us in running the business? Is it increasing sales or possibly preventing a decline in results for a given team? Or maybe improving the quality of customer service to increase customer satisfaction as reflected in the NPS survey? Or perhaps shortening the time required to complete specific processes? This step is crucial for a specific business. To choose KPIs effectively, it’s essential to understand your primary business objective. Once we answer the question of what is the priority in our work – we must think about how to express these values in numbers. KPIs must be planned using the SMART method, which is as follows:

S – specific

M – measurable

A – achievable

R – realistic

T – time-bound

You can decide on the choice of KPI based on this method that defines what business goals should be.

You might measure sales, but the goal is to optimize performance. If your goal is to increase product sales, you should also specify by how much and within what time frame this sales increase should occur. An example of a SMART goal might be increasing sales by 20% compared to the previous month over the next 30 days. The defined goal must be achievable. Having access to the necessary data determining the sales volume, you should then think about what steps will improve the processes in the company, making the goal achievable. This contributes to a stronger KPI strategy.

If your goal is to increase customer satisfaction with the service offered by your company, an indicator might be the customer satisfaction survey. The goal could be, for example, an increase in the average NPS score by 1 point within 2 weeks. Any actions aimed at improving service quality should be based on a detailed analysis of your performance data. This is one of the types of performance measures to consider.

It is important to remember that the goal of implementing KPIs is not to measure everything that can be measured in the organization. It is important to manage priorities and take the necessary steps to stop any undesirable situation and plan ways to prevent similar situations in the future. This approach avoids kpi overload and focuses on kpis that matter. A performance management software can help in this process.

Summary

Key Performance Indicators are the most important indicators in the company, indicating the level of achievement of previously set goals. They evaluate the effectiveness of planned business activities and allow for taking the necessary steps to improve team effectiveness, the quality of services provided, and ultimately increase company revenues. The effectiveness of KPI application depends primarily on how they are implemented. Properly selected KPIs allow us to outline goals with greater detail and ensure that the direction taken is correct or requires correction. They are not only informational but also facilitate quick decision-making. Therefore, when implementing KPI measurement, remember a few universal rules for implementing changes:

Don’t choose too many KPIs – start with the most important ones that impact e.g., company revenue or the number of customers.
Implement KPIs step by step – start with a few key ones, and once measuring is mastered, introduce additional KPIs.
Set KPIs based on the SMART method.
Ensure that KPIs are simple, transparent, and understandable to your employees work, and that they identify with them.
Continuously update and monitor them.

The selection of indicators depends primarily on the nature and priorities of the company, and it is up to the person in charge to decide what to include in the list. And what KPIs does your company use to measure progress in sales and post-sale customer service? If you’re looking for answers on how to properly implement KPIs in customer service, contact us! Together, we will check if outsourcing customer service with the process quality control will bring results for your business.

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