Abandoned calls are when calls are dropped while in a call center queue. Abandoned calls are signs of missed opportunities and bad customer service, as customers who abandon calls are usually left dissatisfied with the CX and may be irritated with not being able to have their issue resolved. Here are some tips for reducing call center abandonment.
How to Figure Out Call Abandonment Rate
Call abandonment rate is a percentage of how many calls hang up before speaking to an agent dividend by the total number of calls. You can calculate your call abandon rate by dividing the total number of abandoned calls by the total number of calls received. A CRM system and quality metrics should be able to track these numbers effectively and give your supervisors a birds-eye view of abandonment rate in the call center.
If your call abandonment rate is high, here are some tips for how to reduce it.
Offer Self-Service Options
Self-service options, like conversational IVR, AI-powered web chat, and FAQs, can help with long call queue times. Self-service options may be able to resolve customer issues by allowing customers to perform multiple tasks. For example, on a conversational IVR, customers can use the power of their natural language to navigate a menu. Through this menu, customers can check information like updates about their order, answers to frequently asked questions, and sometimes even the ability to change requests and orders. With a self-service menu, customers can resolve their own issues.
Self-service not only helps some customers resolve their own issues, but can also help queue times by helping direct customers to the right resource. An IVR can be segmented to different departments that customers are able to navigate to through the menu, helping with call queue times and reducing the likelihood of a dropped call.
Offer Service on Many Different Channels
Depending on the platform, the contact center platform may be fully omnichannel. Bright Pattern, for example, is a fully omnichannel platform that allows agents and customers to interact on any channel, including voice, email, text, SMS, messenger apps, web chat, video chat, and more, and allows the interactions to be switched on to any other channel seamlessly.
Offering an omnichannel experience and allowing customers to connect on multiple different channels can help reduce call center abandonment by lowering queue times. This is because you can segment different teams to different channels, and divert resources and manpower to channels that have more traffic, while allowing customers to use other channels that have less agents so that they don’t have to join the queue. Offering an omnichannel experience is just as effective as a voice-only or chat-only experience depending on the platform.
Omni QM for Agent Training and Supervision
Another way to reduce call center abandonment is through quality assurance measures and effective agent training. Investing in agent training can be a game changer and make a different for both agents and customers. Call centers can provide specialized training to agents depending on their activity history and data points, and improve productivity with best practices to enhance the customer experience and improve resolution speed.
On the Bright Pattern platform, there is Omni QM, which allows supervisors to monitor 100% of interactions on all channels. Omni QM allows supervisors to get a full view of the contact center and target specific pain points in the customer journey, making it smoother and improving average handle time.
Check out the Omni QM features and how Omni QM can help your call center.
