Contact Center Productivity: What It Is and 7 Ways to Improve It

Contact centers (not to be confused with call centers) are the nucleus of a company's interactions with its customers. With the contact center, a company can answer customer questions, resolve product or service issues, and maintain customer relationships.

How efficiently a company utilizes its contact center's resources (i.e., human personnel and software tools) defines the contact center's productivity. The more efficiently a contact center uses its resources, the more productive it can be.

In this article, we will define a contact center and explain how it differs from a call center. We'll also talk about contact center productivity, how to measure it, and how it relates to the success of the business.

Contact Centers vs. Call Centers

Contrary to popular belief, contact centers and call centers are not the same things. (Considering how similar the two terms sound, we understand the mixup.)

On one hand, you have call centers. As the name suggests, call centers focus on phone communications only. Imagine a room of customer service agents answering an endless stream of telephone calls.

On the other hand, contact centers provide support through a variety of channels. In other words, contact centers make contact with customers more holistically. How contact centers offer more holistic support include:

• Phone calls 
• Email communications
• Video conferences
• Live chats between customer service agents and customers
• Self-service knowledge articles where customers can answer their own questions
• Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots that interact with customers

What is Contact Center Productivity and Why Is It Important?

Contact center productivity is a measurement of how efficiently a contact center uses its resources to resolve issues and assist customers.

Contact center productivity is important for business because the more productive a contact center can be, the more seamless a business can run. With a seamlessly running business comes happy customers who return for more business and recommend your product to others.

It's largely understood that contact center productivity is comprised of two main components.

1. Customer service agent motivation
2. Tools or technologies

Customer Service Agent Motivation

Contact centers are the most productive when the customer service agents are motivated to meet or exceed the expectations assigned to their role. Customer service personnel are more likely to be motivated and remain motivated when they have a clear and concise role, are well-trained, and are well-supported.

Contact Center Tools

Besides the human beings responsible for providing customer service, contact center tools and technologies are next up in order of importance.

Contact center tools consist of hardware, like telephones and computers. In addition, software, like internet service, AI technology, and customer service applications are important too. The higher functioning these tools and technologies can perform, the more productive the overall contact center will be.

6 Critical Contact Center Metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Now that we have a basic understanding of what contact centers are and the two components that lend themselves to their overall productivity (service agents and tools), let's look at some metrics or KPIs that better define productivity.

The most critical contact center productivity metrics are:

• Average Call Duration: The average call time says a lot about how productively service agents work.
  
  
• First-Call Resolution Rate: The more often a contact center can resolve an issue during the first call, the more productive it can be.
  
  
• Conversation to Close Rate: The most productive contact centers have a high close rate.
  
  
• Number of Agents per Hour per Call: The more individuals that need to be involved, the less productive the contact center is.
  
  
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSS): The more productive the center can be, the more satisfied the customers.
  
  
• Volume and Quality of Work: Overall volume and quality of work are ideal metrics for looking at bigger-picture trends.
  
  

How Contact Center Productivity (KPIs) Should Be Measured

Every company and its respective contact center is different. Therefore, there is no single metric or KPI to focus on to measure the contact center's productivity.

Ultimately, the KPIs a company measures should highlight the weaknesses of the contact center. Then, with a nuanced understanding of the center's weak points, you can more strategically make workflow adjustments to increase productivity.

Here are some examples of KPI metrics, the basic formulas used to measure them, and examples of benchmarks to strive for. Remember–  these are just examples, and the list is not exhaustive. There may be other KPIs, different formulas, and company-specific benchmarks.

7 Actionable Ways to Improve Contact Center Productivity

1. Create a Comfortable Work Environment

   A positive corporate culture and comfortable work environment are essential for contact center productivity. Contact center personnel should be well-compensated, supported in their roles, and even offered personal development opportunities. In addition, they should be equipped with the appropriate tools to help them do their jobs in the most efficient manner possible.

2. Invest in Employee Training Programs

   It's no secret that well-trained customer service agents are better at their roles. For that reason, investing in employee training programs is a fantastic way to boost productivity.

   For example, new-hire training programs are essential for preparing customer service personnel to begin work.  In addition, supplementary training, when new workflows or technologies are installed, can help contact center personnel.

3. Leverage AI Technologies

   Customer service personnel are busy people. Therefore, a super effective way to boost their productivity is to reduce the manual tasks they must perform. Leveraging AI technology is an ideal way to outsource simple tasks and free up bandwidth. With fewer manual tasks, customer service agents can be more productive.

   Another way contact centers use AI technology is by implementing an AI chatbot. With AI chatbot software, customers can gain access to a customer service bot that can help them find the information they need.

4. Provide Resources for Self-Service

   Contact centers should have resources for customers to help them answer their own questions and solve their own problems.

   For example, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page or blog where customers can find simple answers to fix their problems is helpful.

   As another example, Giva's Customer Service Software Self-Service Portal provides round-the-clock access to customer service resources so customers can autonomously solve problems before contacting agents.

5. Integrate Software Systems

   The days of traditional call centers with perpetually ringing telephones are behind us. Nowadays, an omnichannel approach that leverages various customer service channels and complementary software is the more efficient way to boost a contact center's productivity.

   For example, Giva's Knowledge Base Software Tool has been found to reduce the number of issues sent to the contact center. With fewer issues, the contact center can utilize their valuable time and resources for other important tasks.

6. Set Clear Goals and Expectations

   Long-term performance goals are critical for providing a pathway for success. Along the way, measuring short and medium-term key performance indicators or KPIs is a way to track progress.

   Managers and supervising personnel should be responsible for setting and communicating the company's goals. Likewise, it's their responsibility to measure KPIs and provide performance feedback (or more training).

7. Prioritize Employee Engagement and Morale

   Motivated and engaged customer service personnel are crucial for the overall productivity of the contact center. In other words, companies can leverage the morale of their employees to increase productivity.

   For example, company cultures that rely on collaboration and teamwork provide a sense of belonging that improves business. Similarly, when customer service representatives are supported with adequate coaching and training, they feel more empowered.

Contact Center FAQs

How is a contact center different from a call center?

Contact centers are omnichannel customer service tools. In other words, they provide various channels of communication between the customer and the business. This differs from call centers because call centers focus on telephone communication for customer service.

What is the primary channel through which a company interacts with its customers using a contact center?

With a contact center, a company has multiple channels to interact with clientele. For example, phone calls, email communications, video conferences, live chats, self-service knowledge articles, and AI chatbots.

The primary channel the company relies on will depend on the industry. For example, a retail company may rely on live chats and email communications. A larger utility company may focus on telephone communications and self-service options.

What is productivity as it relates to contact centers? 

Contact center productivity is all about how the contact center leverages its resources to communicate across its various channels. The more productive it is, the more it can interact with customers, solve issues, and answer questions.

What metrics or KPIs are important for contact center productivity?

Monitoring contact center KPIs, such as first-call resolution rate and customer satisfaction scores, is the most effective way to measure productivity. Other KPIs, like average volume and quality of work or average call duration, are important, too.

How do you increase contact center productivity?

Increasing contact center productivity is essential for the success of any business, as well as the satisfaction of its customers.

Contact centers can increase their productivity by:

• Creating a comfortable work environment
• Training customer service personnel
• Using AI technologies
• Providing options for self-service
• Integrating software systems across platforms

Conclusion: Increased Contact Center Productivity for Increased Business Benefits

Compared to "old school" call centers, whereby customers would interact with customer service personnel via telephone, contact centers provide an omnichannel or "new school" approach to customer service.

Contact centers leverage many channels of communication, such as telephone, video calls, self-service resources, and even AI chatbots, to provide a holistic customer service experience.

The more efficiently a contact center can navigate these different channels, the more productive it can be at servicing customers.

Measuring specific metrics or KPIs is ideal for gauging contact centers' productivity. Therefore, focusing on specific tactics that boost KPIs, such as training personnel, integrating software systems, and leveraging AI, is the most effective way to keep customers happy and loyal.

Giva Can Help Streamline Your Contact Center Operations

Let Giva be your contact center support software partner with our Customer Service Software in the Cloud.

Features include:

• AI Copilot Capability: Harness the power of Giva's AI Copilot to effortlessly refine responses and quickly access and format solution information, empowering agents to address customer issues with accuracy and efficiency
• Knowledge Base: Stop reinventing the wheel with a searchable knowledge base. Leverage valuable customer service resolutions previously created to resolve similar tickets
• Customer Self-Service Portal: Provide customers round-the-clock access to customer service resources, so they can resolve their own issues before contacting your agents
• Automated Tasks and Workflows: Automatically open tickets on a scheduled and recurring basis, and automate escalation and closure of tickets

Help your support teams continue to delight your customers. Book a free Giva demo to see our solutions in action, or start your own free, 30-day trial today!