Call abandonment rate is the percentage of incoming calls that you get but hang up before they reach an agent. If you want to measure the effectiveness of customer service or call center performance, this is one of the most important KPIs that you need to be mindful about. Let’s deep dive and take a look at more details on the call abandonment rate KPI.
Why should you be mindful of the call abandonment rate?
All the people who contact you for customer support expect to get connected to a customer support agent. However, not all people can do that. Some of them drop out due to the complexity of your IVR. Long queues and waiting times can make some people drop. If you want to reduce this, you will need to take a look at the call abandonment rate KPI.
Long hold times will usually lead you to a higher call abandon rate. If you continue to do this, you will not be delivering favorable customer satisfaction. Your customers might even go for your competitors based on dissatisfaction. Even though it is not possible for you to overcome the call abandonment rate of 100%, you should at least try your best to keep it under 5%. Then you will be able to minimize the negative impact that you will have to face due to the call abandon rate.
How to calculate the call abandon rate?
The equation to calculate the call abandon rate is quite simple. You will need to divide the total number of abandoned calls from the total number of calls that get connected to the agent. You can multiply that by 100% to end up with getting the call abandonment rate percentage. The ultimate goal is to keep this percentage under 5% at all times.
For example, If your call center receives 2,000 calls each day and 50 are abandoned, your Abandon Rate is 2.5%.
Why do calls abandon?
Multiple reasons can increase your call abandonment rate. Here are some of the most prominent reasons.
- If there is a long queue, customers who are waiting in that queue would hang up based on frustration. If the customer is being charged for the call, customer frustration would amplify.
- Some of the callers discover the solution to their problems while they are trying to get connected to the agent. This can make them hang up.
- There are situations where calls hang up due to network issues.
- Complex IVR menu choices can also make the life difficult for a caller to get connected to an agent.
How can you reduce the call abandon rate?
The call abandon rate is directly associated with customer satisfaction. Due to the same reason, you will need to minimize the call abandonment rate as low as possible. Here are some useful techniques that you can follow to minimize the overall call abandon rate.
Reduce call waiting times
Call waiting time is usually the most common reason behind the call abandon rate. Therefore, it is important for you to monitor the call waiting times. Then you need to come up with a method to reduce the overall call waiting time. For example, if you are understaffed, you should increase the number of agents who work for the call center. Likewise, you should provide self-help options to the people as well.
Look for ways to reduce number of calls
If you can reduce the number of calls you get, you will be able to reduce the call abandon rate as well. This is where you should locate instances that tempt people to generate calls and provide them with solutions.
Reduce time spent on each call
You should also provide knowledge and training to the agents to reduce the number of minutes they spend on a call. Then they can answer calls quickly.
