Getting the phone to ring or creating some other form of contact between the advertiser and the prospect is what most marketers conceive of as their main objective. And that is an admirable objective. What occurs next, though?
The fact that a phone call is just a phone call makes it a crucial question. To the marketer’s bottom line, it has no significance. In reality, if there isn’t a return on investment, it’s just another expense of running company.
We assist advertisers in acquiring vanity toll-free numbers that go above and beyond to make those call center phones ring. But we are aware that this is not the conclusion of the narrative. not in the least. The customer relationship is really just getting started.
Once the phones start ringing, advertisers have a variety of tools at their disposal to gauge every call’s outcome, from caller pick-up to (hopefully) sale.
There are important measures that serve both of these sectors, and those metrics can be classified into two categories. Here are those that, in our opinion, are most significant.
Metrics for Agent Productivity
The careful marketer will want to gauge the efficiency of your call center, whether it is a division of the advertiser’s business or a third party. Some of these KPIs may indicate that more training is necessary, or perhaps that it’s time to change service providers.
Common Waiting Period
As previously mentioned, it’s important to gauge responsiveness during the entire call. AWT calculates how long a consumer had to wait on hold before speaking with an agent. You may determine how long a potential paying customer is willing to wait for someone to respond to their questions or ring up a sale by comparing this data to sales made.
Average Call Abandonment Rate
This metric is obviously closely related to AWT, but for an advertiser it may be even more costly. After all, a certain percentage of consumers who are kept on wait for an extended period of time will nevertheless place an order, notwithstanding their annoyance. However, those that hang up on the call represent no sales. You can only hope that some will give it another shot in the future.
Typical Handling Time
You have them. What are your agents doing with them now? This metric can assess both the effectiveness of the company’s response system and the skills of specific agents.
Most callers don’t want to talk on the phone for any longer than necessary, with the exception of the loneliest of callers. They want to take action, whether it’s asking questions and receiving pertinent answers regarding the product, signing up for a subscription, making a purchase, or doing anything else. How simple was that for your call center and particular agent? The tone between the caller and the advertiser will be established by this contact, even if it is in fact with a third party.
Time spent not serving the customer and call transfers
This is yet another metric to assess how well the interaction worked. The caller will be placed on hold, subjected to more grating Muzak, and finally connected to another agent who can (again, presumably) address their inquiries if the initial agent is unable to. If the second agent is unable to, the tedious process repeats itself with more waiting and wishing.
How probable is it that a consumer who receives that kind of service will eventually make a purchase and return?
Orders processed and sales generated
When your call to action (CTA) is designed to encourage people to make purchases of goods or services, this is ultimately what matters. Even if the CTA does not result in a sale, you can still use this measure. Measure subscription fulfillment to your free online newsletter or free tickets to an upcoming event in the same way.
In other words, it measures the proportion of calls that result in the CTA indicated in the marketing material that prompted the call being executed. Utilize this statistic to evaluate everything from a call center’s performance to that of a single employee.
Metrics for Customer Experience
This is a crucial measure and the flip side of the coin. We’re now hearing what your crucial customers have to say about the deal.
Score for Customer Satisfaction
Sometimes, numbers don’t provide the full picture. Your best performance scoring tool may be getting customers to evaluate and report on the call themselves. When recollections are still vivid, try to get this information as soon as possible after the call. If this information is not researched and used, it has little value. Utilize it to continuously improve processes and to track the trends in customer satisfaction ratings.
