Gartner defines a KPI as: “A high-level measure of output, traffic, or other usage simplified for gathering and review on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.”
Yet, in the context of customer support, perhaps the following definition is most appropriate:
Contact center KPIs are metrics that help leaders to measure how their performance impacts customer, agent, and business outcomes.
KPIs across each of these three stakeholder groups should inform contact center decision making. Examples for managers to keep a close eye on include:
| Customer | Agent | Business |
| Customer Satisfaction | Agent Satisfaction/NPS | Cost Per Contact |
| Complaint Volumes | Ramp-Up Time | Operating Expenses |
| Customer Effort | Attrition and Absence Rates | Customer Acquisition/Retention |
| First Contact Resolution | Hours Spent on Coaching | Schedule Efficiency |
Of course, some KPIs will highlight the impact on more than one stakeholder. Service level – as an example – will cover all three, as it:
- Influences customer experience through indicating wait times
- Influences agent experience through indicating workloads
- Influences business results through indicating planning efficiency
Nevertheless, contact centers can safeguard customer, agent, and business outcomes by considering each of these three perspectives when reporting on KPIs.
Yet, to further enhance the process, contact centers can break KPIs up further. Many operations do so by breaking KPIs down into the following brackets.
1. Quantifiable KPIs - The most common type, capturing insights in hard numbers – e.g., an agent resolves 35% of customer queries at the first call or 35% FCR.
2. Qualitative KPIs - Insights in the form of text labels – e.g., a customer rates their contact center experience as “somewhat satisfying”.
3. Lagging Indicators - Measuring business outcomes and not the driver – e.g., the total number of customers acquired by an agent in a month.