The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Call Center Productivity

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When you manage a call center, maximizing productivity can feel like an endless juggling act. Calls flood in from every direction, and your team constantly works to keep up. This nonstop flow can lead to burnout, reduced performance, and unhappy customers.

But with a few strategic changes, you can create a more productive—and fulfilling—work environment for your team. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the most important metrics to track for measuring productivity in your call center and provide our top tips on how to boost efficiency and performance. 

How Do You Measure Call Center Productivity?

Determining how to measure productivity is the first step towards improving it. But it's hard to define productivity with a single metric. Should it be about the number of calls an agent takes in a day? Or the impact of the resolutions provided to customers?

Productivity is defined as the amount of input needed to produce an output. In the context of a call center, your input can be your call center agents and your output can be the number of support tickets resolved in a week.

Here's an example:

• Call Center A has 50 agents, who can collectively resolve 500 support tickets in a day.

• Call Center B also has 50 agents, but they can collectively resolve 1,000 support tickets in a day.

Which one is more productive? If you base it solely on those numbers, then Call Center B is the easy answer.

But what if the interactions callers had with Call Center B agents failed to solve their issues, leaving them frustrated and making them consider moving to a competitor? While the customers that called Call Center A were left feeling satisfied after —solidifying their loyalty towards the company?

Key takeaway: Productivity can't be measured with just one metric.

The Most Important Metrics to Track for Optimizing Call Center Productivity

Though there are many factors that affect productivity, agent performance plays a big role. Here's a quick list of call center metrics to keep in mind when identifying how to measure agent productivity.

First Call/Contact Resolution Rate (FCR)

This metric tracks the rate at which your agents are able to resolve issues on the first call.

If your FCR is high, it means your staff are able to help customers right away—no need for follow-up calls and multiple interactions. Alternatively, if your agents fail to solve the problem during the first call, the customer is forced to call again, causing frustration for them and taking time away from other customers.

How to calculate it:(Number of resolved calls on first contact) / (the total number of calls) x 100

Average Handling Time (AHT)

AHT is how much time a call center agent spends on any work related to customer interactions or engagements. Having a low AHT signals that your agents are efficient in managing their time on calls and quickly resolving issues.

A word of caution: Don't forget to focus on improving the quality of your customer service as well as shortening handling time.

How to calculate it: 

(Total talk time + after call work time) / (total number of calls)

Missed-Call Rate

This metric refers to unanswered calls or missed calls due to any of these reasons:

• Customer calls, loses interest while waiting, and hangs up before an agent answers

• Customer is put on hold or in a queue, and they hang up while waiting

• Your voicemail kicks in but the customer doesn't leave a message

What happens after a missed call? The majority of people whose calls aren't answered won't call back. If a customer was calling about a sales inquiry, that revenue is as good as gone. And businesses lose up to $75 billion a year due to negative customer experiences.

A high missed-call rate means you need to find ways to free up agent availability—whether that’s by upgrading your tools, hiring additional in-house agents, or even outsourcing your customer team.

How to calculate it:

(Number of abandoned calls) / (total number of incoming calls) x 100

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score

You can find out your CSAT score by sending customers a quick survey after a call with an agent. This survey asks callers to rate how satisfied they are with the agent and how their issue was handled on a scale from one to five.

Your CSAT helps you put a number on how callers feel about your customer service offering, and a high CSAT score means your agents are doing a good job at delivering solutions.

How to calculate it:

(Number of satisfied customers) / (number of customers who answered the survey) x 100

Why Productivity May Be Suffering in Your Call Center

Productivity challenges in call centers often stem from a few key issues. Here’s a closer look at what might be holding your team back:

• An unmotivated or disengaged team: When agents feel disconnected from their work, productivity drops. Motivation drives engagement, leading to happier employees and better performance.

• Inadequate training: Without the right training, agents may struggle to handle calls efficiently or lack confidence, affecting productivity and customer satisfaction.

• High employee turnover: Constantly hiring and training new staff disrupts workflows and strains resources, ultimately reducing productivity.

• Outdated processes: Inefficient processes slow down response times and create unnecessary hurdles, which frustrates both agents and customers.

• Poor workforce management: Without proper scheduling and resource allocation, you risk overworking some agents and underutilizing others, leading to burnout.

• Inadequate software: Legacy or unsuitable software can slow workflows, making it difficult for agents to assist customers quickly and effectively.

• Lack of real-time analytics: Without real-time data, managers miss opportunities to optimize performance, track metrics, and make improvements on the spot.

8 Tips and Best Practices for Improving Productivity in Your Call Center

With a few targeted strategies, you can enable your team to work more efficiently. Here are some practical productivity tips and best practices for call centers.

1. Audit your current processes

Start by assessing your existing workflows to spot inefficiencies. An audit can help you find bottlenecks, outdated practices, and redundant tasks that slow down your team. 

For example, if agents frequently switch between multiple platforms during calls, look for an integrated solution that centralizes data and call handling. Tools like Aircall’s call center software, which syncs with CRMs and helpdesk tools, bring together all the customer information agents need to save valuable time on each call.

Additionally, use real-time analytics to audit agent performance. You may find that a particular type of call takes longer to resolve, which could signal a need for further training. 

Set aside time every quarter to perform an audit, involving team leads to get on-the-ground insights and ensure continuous improvement.

2. Improve your self-service options

Remember, not all customers want to speak to an agent right away, and over two thirds of customers prefer self-service customer support. 

Offering self-service options also frees up your agents' time for more urgent and high-impact support tickets.

Just make sure that your self-service strategy gives customers fast and easy access to the information they need. It should also display a clear path to contact an agent if necessary.

Some tips for better self-service:

• Create a FAQ page or a knowledge base for the most common questions.

• Implement automation, like live chat, where possible.

• If applicable, set up an onboarding flow that walks new customers through your product or service.

3. Leverage AI to eliminate time-consuming tasks

AI handles routine tasks to allow agents to focus on more complex, high-value interactions. For example, Aircall’s AI-powered transcription feature transcribes calls in real time, making it easy for agents to reference past conversations and take more informed actions quickly.

Another valuable AI application is automated ticket tagging. Instead of agents manually categorizing calls or issues, AI tools can automatically assign tags based on keywords and context, saving time and minimizing errors.

AI chatbots can also manage common inquiries, such as account updates or FAQs, saving more complex issues for live agents. 

Aircall’s AI-powered call transcriptions allow managers to quickly review calls and identify where performance is lacking.

4. Provide your agents with the best tools and tech stack

The right call center software will empower your agents to perform their best every single day. Aircall's cloud-based phone system, for example, integrates seamlessly with most CRMs and help desk solutions—reducing lag time and delays.

Other features that can help with agent productivity include call tagging, filtering, call forwarding, queue management, parallel calls, and advanced analytics.

Discover Aircall’s powerful customer communication platform for a call center that maximizes agent productivity and customer satisfaction. Try for free.

5. Closely track agent performance

Monitoring agent performance helps pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement, driving productivity. Here’s how to make tracking effective:

• Set clear KPIs: Measure performance and spot trends using metrics like average handling time, first-call resolution, and customer satisfaction.

• Use real-time dashboards: Track live insights via an analytics dashboard like Aircall’s to make quick adjustments during high call volumes to maintain service levels.

• Offer regular feedback: Weekly or monthly check-ins keep agents motivated and help them understand where they excel and where they can improve.

• Use call recording and analysis: Reviewing agent calls lets managers provide specific feedback based on real customer interactions.

6. Teach your team to be multi-channel agents

To stay relevant and competitive, you need to provide the best customer service and customer experience. You can do this by serving your customers wherever they are via an omnichannel contact center. 

Start training your support team to be knowledgeable in different communication channels, including phone calls, email, SMS, chat, messaging apps, and any other channel that makes sense for your business. By offering omnichannel customer support, you adapt to your customers’ needs and preferences, improving the chances of a positive interaction with your agents. 

7. Implement continuous monitoring and training

All the productivity hacks and strategies will be of no use if you don't monitor your call center's progress. So while it’s important to review call center analytics, it's even more important to act on the insights you draw from them. 

Monitoring calls allows you to track agent performance and pinpoint specific areas of improvement. You'll be able to craft tailored training modules based on where agents are falling short. 

For example, if you notice a particular agent has an exceptionally long AHT, you can check in with them and see where they’re struggling, whether it’s finding answers to customer inquiries, accessing CRM data, or managing caller frustrations. 

Identify which agents need more support with Aircall’s analytics features.

8. Engage and incentivize your employees 

Rewarding your team increases motivation and productivity. Performance-based incentives, such as gift cards for record-setting resolutions times or extra time off for achieving high customer satisfaction scores, can keep agents motivated and focused on quality.

Encouraging skill development can also help you engage employees. Provide training opportunities and allow agents to lead sessions or take on mentoring rules to help them grow and feel more connected to their work. 

Optimize Your Call Center With Productivity-Boosting Software

With Aircall, boosting team productivity in your call center is well within reach. Aircall’s time-saving features, like real-time analytics, call routing, and seamless CRM integrations, empower your team to work efficiently and provide faster, higher-quality service. 

By equipping contact center agents with the right tools to optimize workflows and access customer information instantly, Aircall can help you overcome common call center challenges and improve customer satisfaction. With increased productivity, your team can deliver a smoother customer experience—setting your company up for long-term success.

Discover Aircall’s powerful customer communication platform for a call center that maximizes agent productivity and customer satisfaction. Try for free.

FAQs

What is productivity in a call center?

Productivity in a call center measures how efficiently agents handle calls and tasks. It’s often assessed by metrics like average handling time, first-call resolution, and customer satisfaction. High productivity means agents resolve issues quickly and effectively, increasing customer satisfaction.

How do you improve agent productivity in a call center?

Improving call center agent productivity involves optimizing workflows, providing training, and using the right tools. Start by assessing current processes to identify time-consuming tasks. Implement AI tools for tasks like call tagging and transcription, and use performance metrics to track progress.

How do you calculate productive hours in a call center?

Productive hours in a call center are calculated by measuring the time agents spend actively handling calls or performing work-related tasks, excluding breaks and idle time. To calculate, sum up the active working hours for each agent over a set period.

How many hours should a call center work?

Call center operating hours vary by business needs, customer demand, and industry standards. Many call centers operate 24/7 to meet global demand, while others may have limited hours. For productivity, balancing operating hours with adequate staffing is essential to avoid agent burnout.

This blog post was created with our partners at LTVplus, a world-class outsourcing company that provides customer service for eCommerce, SaaS, educational businesses, gaming companies, and more. LTVplus builds, trains, and manages dedicated teams of live chat agents, customer support agents, and payment recovery specialists. It takes away the hassle of live chat, email, social media, voice, and SMS support management. As a result, you can focus on your business objectives and goals while its customer support system runs in the background seamlessly. 

Published on December 31, 2024.