Call Center KPI Benchmarks By Industry Plus Best Practices

Call centers are often critical for customer service departments, regardless of the industry. Whether you're in healthcare, finance, or law, having a way to create verbal and personal connections with your patients, customers, or clients is paramount.

They also allow you to provide tech support, manage inquiries, handle complaints, and complete orders. Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure how well your call center accomplishes these tasks.

Further, call center KPI benchmarks by industry are even more helpful for measuring performance.

In this article, we discuss the importance of measuring call center KPI benchmarks by industry. We give examples from the healthcare, finance, law, non-profit, and education industries. Lastly, we provide our advice regarding best practices for tracking call center KPIs.

The Importance of Call Center Metrics and KPIs by Industry

Before we get into the industry-specific portion of this article, we think it's important to establish a baseline understanding of metrics and KPIs. We'll define them, explain how they are interconnected but different, and outline their importance for call center performance management.

Metrics vs. KPIs

Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are related but distinct concepts. Here's a breakdown of their differences:

• Metrics are quantitative measures of a specific process or activity. They provide data and insights into performance. Examples include:

  • The number of calls received
  • Average call handling time
  • Customer satisfaction scores

• KPIs are a subset of metrics considered most important for achieving specific business goals. They are selected based on their impact on overall performance and are used to track progress towards those goals.

  For example, if a call center aims to improve customer satisfaction, a KPI might be the percentage of customers who rate their experience as "excellent."

• KPIs are chosen for their strategic importance and are used to focus attention on the most critical performance objectives.

  On the other hand, metrics measure the efficiency of the individual activities that contribute to those objectives.

In summary, metrics can be understood as an umbrella under which certain KPIs influence how you proceed with processes and meet stated goals.

The Importance of Measuring "By Industry"

Measuring both metrics and KPIs is critical for the performance management of your call center. By measuring and analyzing metric and KPI data, you can:

• Optimize your center's resources and operations
• Boost efficiency
• Improve the customer's experience with your call center service
• Align your customer service departments with your organization's overall business strategy
• Remain agile to change and competitive in your market

However, simply measuring the metrics and KPIs "the other guys" are paying attention to may not make the most sense for your business, especially if those competitors are in another industry.

Ideally, you should be measuring call center metrics and KPIs by industry.

Comparing your KPIs to industry benchmarks reveals your strengths and weaknesses relative to competitors. This provides a benchmark for assessing your competitive standing and refining your customer support strategies.

5 Sets of Specific Call Center KPI Benchmarks by Industry

Call centers may be a common facet of well-developed customer service departments. While several metrics can be KPIs across industries, some might be more critical than others for different types of businesses.

For example, longer handling times could be interpreted as poor customer service agent performance. However, in a healthcare setting, long handling times may be appropriate because a patient's needs can be complex, and it takes time to empathize and actively listen.

The following is a list of five industries with examples of KPIs by industry. In most cases, there is overlap between sectors. This list is not exhaustive but is a starting point for understanding the nuances of measuring metrics and KPIs.

1. Healthcare Organizations and Healthcare Third-Party Services

   In a healthcare call center, many standard call center metrics are less important. That's because, in this industry, the patient experience takes priority. However, measurable KPI benchmarks are helpful for gauging the overall patient experience.

   Speed to Answer

   Average Speed to Answer (ASA) is all about how much time callers spend in a queue waiting to speak with a representative. Healthcare institutions like hospitals are infamous for having longer ASA metrics. That's because agents are dealing with more difficult problems, which leads to longer handling times and a decrease in the volume of calls they can handle.

   The ASA benchmark for healthcare is 3 minutes 22 seconds.

   Hold Time

   Hold time reflects the amount of time the caller waits on the phone after being put on hold by an agent. We all know that patients don't like waiting. Long hold times can significantly impact the patient's overall experience. When patients become frustrated during a long hold time, they hang up. Many of which do not call back.

   Some sources indicate that 50 seconds is the average for healthcare call centers.

   Abandonment Rate

   Abandonment rates reflect the number of callers hanging up before talking with a customer service representative. This is typically due to the slow speed of answering.

   In a healthcare setting, when patients give up on calling, they also give up on care or treatment. Consequently, the callers choose to handle their healthcare needs with a competitor.

   A recent survey reported average abandonment rates between 5% and 8%, with the benchmark for healthcare being at nearly 7%.

   Giva has created powerful Customer Service Software for healthcare institutions. Giva's software deploys AI Copilots and automation to streamline processes and boost productivity. It also converts data into highly visual call center dashboards, reports, charts, and graphs you can use to draw actionable insights.

2. Legal Firms and Law Offices

   Acquiring new clients is crucial for a law firm's success. Unfortunately, finding new clients isn't all that simple. That's why legal firms and law offices rely on call centers (and other modes of communication) to bring in new leads and convert those leads to clients.

   Number of New Clients by Source

   It's common for law firms to utilize multiple channels for acquiring new clients:.

   • A direct referral
   • The company website
   • Contact center (including phone calls, chatbots, email, etc.)
   • Social Media

   Understanding where new clients come from first is vital for firm management and resource allocation. If many new customers come through via phone call, the law firm may want to invest more resources in developing its call center operations.

   Learn more about Giva's focus on legal firms and law offices.

3. Financial Services and Banking

   With so many financial institutions to choose from, banks are constantly competing for new customers. That's why customer satisfaction and loyalty are so critical in the financial services industry. 

   Transfer Rate

   The transfer rate of a call center refers to the number of incoming calls that get routed to other agents or departments. High transfer rates usually highlight two problems.

   1. The phone tree is mismanaged
   2. The agents are incapable of handling the customer's needs

   High transfer rates can negatively impact customer satisfaction and their perception of the financial institution's quality of service, which can impact customer loyalty.

   Net Promoter Score (NPS)

   The NPS reflects the probability that a customer will recommend their financial institution. NPS scores are helpful for measuring customer satisfaction with banking services and overall customer loyalty to specific institutions.

   For example, large brands, like Airbnb and Starbucks, have NPS' in the 70s out of 100. On the other hand, a study from Qualtrics XM Institute found institutions within the banking industry averaging net promoter scores in the 20s.

   Giva has created IT Service Management and Help Desk Software for banks and financial firms. Each product is cloud-based and can be rapidly deployed. In addition, Giva's tools are highly customizable to your specific financial situation.

4. Universities and Colleges

   Call centers are important components of university and college business operations. Although educational institutions don't use call centers to upsell products or chase sales, they do rely on them to field inbound calls from students and parents.

   Also, universities and colleges will use call centers to make outbound calls to alumni and potential donors.

   Peak Hour Traffic (PHT)

   PHT reveals the busiest period of the call center's day. In the education industry, the PHT is typically in the early evening, when students or parents finish classes and work.

   By analyzing PHT data, you can streamline your staffing protocol to align with peak periods. For example, by hiring additional agents or scheduling more agents to work during busy call periods, you can field more queries, answer more questions, and solve more problems. All of which leave a positive impression on inbound callers.

   Schedule Adherence 

   Schedule Adherence is a metric that measures a call center agent's adherence to their assigned schedule and respective tasks.

   For example, a manager in a university call center may dictate that agents spend 90% of their time making outbound calls to alumni and potential donors and 10% of their time updating alumni profiles in the software system.

   High adherence would indicate that the agent is performing well. Conversely, low adherence could reveal problems with the workload or a lack of adequate training. This could result in inadequate time spent on outbound calls, negatively affecting interactions with potential donors.

5. Nonprofits and Charities

   Nonprofits and charities rely on close connections with generous donors, much of which occur over the phone and through contact centers. By monitoring critical KPIs, nonprofits and charities can improve their donor engagement and overall fundraising.

   Cost Per Contact (CPC)

   The CPC reflects the average cost of each individual call, so it can give you an estimate of the cost of operating the current call center.

   In robust contact center situations, the CPC typically includes other inbound interactions also, not just phone calls. For example:

   • Video calls
   • Emails
   • Social media messages

   Understanding your CPC is important for non-profit business planning. It can guide your organization on how to be more cost-effective and how to optimize resource allocation.

   Some estimates go as high as $7.16 per call, while others ballpark CPC between $2.70 and $5.60. The bottom line is that this benchmark can vary depending on the specific industry and complexity of the business.

   Donation Conversion by Channel

   Donation conversion by channel measures the number of donors who took action to donate and through which channel. Channel options include organic, social, email, phone, referral, and advertisement. This KPI is helpful because it can show which donation avenues are effective and which ones are not.

   Learn more about Giva's focus on colleges and universities.

Table Summary of a General List of Call Center KPIs by Industry

The following is a larger list of call center KPIs that are often tracked. While each can often apply to all industries, they might have a more important nature to them for a specific industry.

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Categories: Insights For Customer Service Leaders , Outsourced Call Center, Customer Service Best Practices