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Contact Centre Performance Measurement Is Often Flawed, Says Detica

7 May 2003
With the playing field level once again for businesses with contact centres, the next real competitive advantage will belong to companies whose contact centres can deliver high levels of service at lower cost. As many organisations struggle to balance the two, having the right measurements is key, according to Peter Holland, Head of Customer Operations Practice at specialist technology consultancy, Detica.
With the playing field level once again for businesses with contact centres, the next real competitive advantage will belong to companies whose contact centres can deliver high levels of service at lower cost. As many organisations struggle to balance the two, having the right measurements is key, according to Peter Holland, Head of Customer Operations Practice at specialist technology consultancy, Detica.
 
Current methods of measuring contact centre performance are deeply embedded in business culture. The following reported UK averages* are typical:
  • 68% calls answered in 10 seconds
  • 23 seconds average time to answer
  • Agents spend an average of 56% of their time on customer calls
Holland believes there is a fundamental problem here: "These measures focus on the responsiveness of the contact centre to the demand for service and also on some basic efficiency rates. What they don't do is give managers a good handle on the delivery of value to the customer and to the business. Nor do they measure all of the activities of the contact centre. The end result is that the platform for supporting management decisions is incomplete and sometimes even flawed."
When contact centre managers have poor information, Holland likens the achievement of contact centre objectives to the toss of a coin. Heads - they understaff, come in below cost but deliver low levels of customer service. Tails - they deliver high levels of customer service, but overstaff and overrun costs. This view emphasises the complex balancing act required to satisfy three stakeholder groups: customers, employees and the business.
He concludes: "To develop a more effective set of measures which help achieve all objectives, the operational model of the contact centre should be seen in terms of those activities that deliver value to the customer, to the business and enable operations. This measurement-based approach to improving performance can be implemented in a matter of weeks, and delivers performance improvements quickly, without significant investment in new technology. It forms the foundation to support other types of initiative as 'What Gets Measured, Gets Done'".
*source: Merchants Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report 2001

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