How to measure customer satisfaction in a call centre thumbnail image Published on 2nd May 2023 by Gemma Harding

A call centre is the ultimate customer service environment. So, it’s critical that you’re able to measure and assess just how satisfied your customers really are. 

 

Anecdotal evidence from your teams on the front line can be useful, but it’s no substitute for insightful data. 

 

By looking at the right metrics (and filtering out the less important statistics) you can gauge a true picture of service levels. And crucially, of how your customers feel about their experiences with your company. 

 

Read on for some useful tips on how to measure customer satisfaction, and why it matters. 

 

Why measure customer satisfaction?

 

There are lots of reasons to measure customer satisfaction, including:

 

  • Helping you gain a better understanding of your customer’s expectations and needs
  • Reducing costs related to customer dissatisfaction – from processing claims and complaints, to losing a customer altogether
  • Identifying areas of weakness in your customer service offer, and the factors driving dissatisfaction
  • Helping you focus on building customer loyalty and retention, thereby reducing the costs associated with customer acquisition 
  • Helping you boost your reputation and brand image
  • Improving your products and services in response to customer feedback. 

 

How to measure customer satisfaction

 

You can take one of a few different approaches to measuring customer satisfaction. But for most, it all comes down to the data. You need to know which metrics to measure and analyse – these are the key figures that tell you what you want to know. 

 

Call centre metrics explained

 

So, what exactly are call centre metrics and how do you measure them? In a general sense, metrics is any kind of data used to track business processes and performance. 

 

Within a call centre, customer service managers focus on tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). These are the specific points of data you’ve identified as helping you measure progress towards a certain goal. 

 

For example, you can look at the percentage of calls answered within 20 seconds to determine service level performance. This would show you whether you have enough resources to cope with customer demand. 

 

Below, we’ll run through a few of the most crucial call centre metrics you should be focusing on.

 

Customer satisfaction

 

The first useful metric you can look at is customer satisfaction. This can be measured using surveying tools, to ask customers directly about their satisfaction with the service they’ve received. This is a good opportunity to gather feedback, and make customers feel like their concerns are being listened to. 

 

First-call resolution

 

This is the percentage of customer calls that are resolved on the very first call. This is important, firstly because it shows you how quickly customer issues are being resolved. The faster you can get things sorted for your customer, the more satisfied they’ll be. 

 

It also makes a difference to something called customer churn rate, which is the rate at which customers effectively end their relationship with your company. If their problems aren’t being solved, they’ll go elsewhere. 

 

Call availability

 

There are a couple of metrics you can use to assess how available your agents are to take calls. These include average speed of answer and average time in queue. You can also look at the percentage of calls which are blocked, possibly due to a lack of available agents or software incapable of handling the call volume. 

 

Analysed together, this data can tell you how quickly customer calls are being answered. It can also flag up a need to expand your call centre or outsource to a call handling service to deal with rising demand. 

 

Average handling rate (call length)

 

By looking at the average call length, you can assess the efficiency and productivity of your team. You can also plan and allocate resources accordingly, because you’ll know how many calls each agent can handle in a typical day. 

 

Average handling rate (AHR) data can also help you to make improvements, to reduce average call length and get through more calls in a day. 

 

Call abandonment rate

 

The last important metric is the call abandonment rate. This is the percentage of calls terminated by the customer. If this rate is high, it could suggest that customers are having to wait too long to reach an agent. Alternatively, they could be dissatisfied with their call experience, or are frustrated that their problem can’t be resolved.