In the previous post we have discussed the metric of cost per call (or the equivalent cost per minute which can be calculated taking into account the AHT) that is widely used to measure how much money does running the contact center cost to a company. This metric has to be balanced against revenue per call (or the equivalent revenue per minute) in order to lead to improved contact center efficiency.
Revenue per call is calculated by dividing the total amount of revenue the contact center generates compared to the total number of calls handled by the center. While the latter is easy to measure, the total amount of revenue is very hard to measure because of indirect revenue generation that results from contact center operations. For example, having a good customer support may result in the influx of new customers via word of mouth, which is impossible to measure accurately. There are methods, though, to extract estimations generated revenue that are good enough to provide insight on what is going on.
Several contact centers opt to use this metric for agent evaluation. This is rather dangerous, as it may lead the agents to focus too much on earning attribution for bringing additional revenue while at the same time neglecting other, more important overall goals such as FCR and quality of service. Calculating who brought how much revenue also incurs additional complexity to the already complicated estimation techniques used and is often based on additional assumptions. Revenue per call should thus be used with caution and preferably seen in the wide context of the whole contact center rather than individuals or sections.
Typical methods used to increase revenue per call are similar to the ones used to decrease the cost per call:
- Agent training is of utmost importance, helping eliminate costly errors and resulting in quick handling of cases and quality results.
- Deployment of a robust contact center solution gives the tools to the contact center personnel to maximize their efficiency.
- Utilization of effective and efficient business processes to streamline back –end operations.
- Usage of outbound contact center capabilities to proactively take care of potential problems and sell products more effectively.
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