11 KEY CALL

CENTER METRICS
TO MEASURE SALES
PERFORMANCE
Executive Summary
Both businesses and consumers unanimously prefer the voice channel over every other
communication channel for business communications. And yet, consumers are being bombarded
with rising fraud and robocalls, causing them to avoid answering their phones even when
trustworthy brands like yours are trying to reach them.

Hiya’s current State of the Call research shows that a shocking 94% of unidentified calls aren’t
even answered because of concerns about those spam and fraud calls. This inability to get
calls answered has a bigger impact on sales than any other area of business. In fact, 85% of
retailers surveyed said that sales have been negatively impacted by unanswered calls. With this
widening communication gap, it is essential to track a variety of sales call metrics to know where
both problems and opportunities lie.

Remaining on top of the most important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) keeps your business
agile and your bottom line rising.

With the modern tools we have access to there is a wealth of data available that can be
implemented into your sales reviews. So much so that both managers and sales agents
can become overwhelmed. To keep it from becoming overwhelming, just remember that
getting prospects and customers to pick up the phone when you call and then having quality
conversations with them is the ultimate goal. Keeping that in mind, the KPIs that are right to your
sales organization are the ones that will shine a light on the efficacy of your conversations.

Keep reading to learn 11 KPIs you should track to identify opportunities to improve your
outbound call center performance, drive better sales agent productivity, and increase overall
revenue from the voice channel.

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The Struggle of Outbound Call Centers
in the Modern Age
Deciding which call center metrics you should be tracking can be difficult to narrow
down. This is especially true as it becomes increasingly more difficult to connect with
customers by phone call and as omnichannel sales outreach methods are implemented.

UNKNOWN CALLS GO UNANSWERED

Most people do not answer phone calls from numbers they do not recognize. In fact,
94% of calls that do not display a known caller ID go unanswered. In light of the high
volume of phone scams running rampant, it’s easy to understand.

This phenomenon has only gotten worse under the COVID pandemic where Covid
scams and fraud calls about stimulus checks have been the norm. One study found an
844% increase in scam calls in just one week at the start of the pandemic.

There are so many phone scams in today’s world, that prospects and customers may be
afraid to answer an unknown call. Even if they do pick up, they may be apprehensive to
truly listen or agree to anything.

This makes it difficult for modern businesses to find success with outbound sales calls.
Even with all of the best techniques, it can be difficult to be successful if you cannot reach
your prospects.

This struggle again underscores the importance of taking the first step to make your
customers feel safe to answer your calls by adding Caller ID, and then going beyond by
closely monitoring and analyzing your call center reporting.

OMNICHANNEL OUTREACH
People on both sides of the line still prefer the phone, but those calls are just one
important part of a cohesive outreach approach. In fact, research from the State of the
Call shows consumers across all age groups actually prefer a call from a business over
any other form of communication. This is especially true in the case of business calls from
financial institutions or healthcare organizations.

Other communications channels such as chats, texting, email, and LinkedIn inmail

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 messaging have grown in popularity in recent years. This is especially true among
younger generations. A simple message to confirm an appointment or ask to renew your
subscription has become a part of the normal consumer experience.

These digital messages can certainly be helpful in communicating with customers in

some aspects. However, they can make it difficult to measure the effectiveness of each
specific channel.

RESPONDING TO THESE CHALLENGES

While it has become more difficult to engage with prospects via phone call, not all hope is
lost. There are solutions beginning to pop up across the business world to help connect
better with clients and reduce dangerous spam calls.

The government has also stepped in to try and put a stop to this nuisance. The FCC has put
pressure on various telephone carriers to make structural changes that can limit these calls.
Former President Trump also signed legislation into law, aimed at curbing this phenomenon.

Cold calling prospects in an outbound call center environment still remains successful in
various areas of business. Keeping track of various call center statistics can help elevate
the success levels of any team.

As Peter Drucker said—if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Keeping track of this
information allows managers to understand changing trends in the industry while keeping
sales agents accountable in the process.

Hiya provided us a solution for caller identification and now

we can guarantee to customers that this isn’t spam, it’s our
company calling. We’ve seen our actual contact rates for
outbound campaigns double. This has been fantastic for our
outbound team and has helped us go that extra step. Because
of Hiya, we’re tracking to hit our business plan this year.

Emerson Jacobelli, Director of Consumer Contact Center

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Track the Right KPIs to Improve
Sales Performance
Analyzing call metrics goes beyond just tracking how many phone calls each agent took.
There are underlying issues and opportunities for improvement that can be uncovered by
taking a closer look at each KPI.

Consider these 11 sales-specific KPIs as a great place to start to monitor and improve
your sales conversations.

The lift in answer 1. Answer Success Rate (ASR)

rates with Hiya is The answer success rate is also known as pickup rate, hit rate, or answer rate.
nothing short of
This metric is simple, referring to the number of phone calls actually answered overall.
phenomenal. We’ve
For outbound call operations to be successful, they must maintain a high ASR.
decreased our
customer acquisition This number is also useful in calculating more complex metrics across the operation.
costs in such a While a low answer success rate may not be due to the actions of the agent
meaningful way that themselves, it can underscore a need for changes to call center best practices.
it’s allowed us to
It also becomes a very important metric to track before and after you add an enhanced
reinvest in other parts
caller ID service, such as Hiya Connect Branded Call, to monitor the improvement in
of the business.
answer rates.

Justin Ryan Marks,

VP of Marketing, Quantum 2. Dials Per Day
Assurance
This metric focuses on agent productivity as they make calls in real-time. It measures
whether agents are moving quickly enough from one call to the next, and if they’re
making enough calls to hit their goals.

This figure should maintain a balance. On one hand, agents should not be wasting
time between prospects and should work to be as efficient as possible. At the
same time, when they get a prospect or customer on the phone, they should take
their time to qualify them effectively.

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 3. Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT is one of the most popular call metrics to track.

This figure refers to the average time an agent spends on each individual call. It begins
when the agent’s call is answered by the client and runs through until either party
hangs up.

There are three main components of this metric:

Average talk time

Average hold time

After call work time

The average handle time can vary based on many circumstances, so it should be
measured as part of a range rather than against a single target number.

The ideal AHT range should be carefully balanced with the business goals of the
call. For example, a low AHT may mean the agent is ineffective in one type of
business call, such as a sales call, while a low AHT could at the same time be a
positive indicator in other use cases, such as a notification call. The converse is
also true; if the AHT is high, the agent may be struggling to locate information or
navigate the customer database in a customer service call, but in the use case of a
survey call, a high AHT might be a great indicator of survey completion.

As such, these numbers can be very informative outbound call center statistics and
the ideal range is unique to the types of calls your contact center is making.

29% Voice Call 4. Call Attempts Before Being Blocked

19% Email Sales and sales development representatives (SDRs) should maximize calling
productivity by making smart calls and converting their conversations. Calling the
9% SMS Text
same customer repeatedly does not always lead to better results and can actually
7% IM/Whatsapp have the opposite effect on productivity. In fact, customers today are likely to block or
6% Web Chatting* report your number if you call excessively. One metric that helps measure productivity
and the diminishing returns of call attempts, is Call Attempts Before Being Blocked.
5.5% Video Call
Having your number blocked or repeatedly reported as spam can negatively affect
*Web Chatting: Skype, Slack,
Teams and chat bots your caller reputation to the extent that your calls get the dreaded “Spam Risk” label. A
better way to avoid this problem altogether is to proactively label your own calls with
your company name and call reason using a business caller identity service such as Hiya
Connect Branded Call.

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 5. First Call Close

First call close is a similar metric to first call resolution (FCR) but is more informative to
the performance of sales-based outbound call centers.

For outbound call centers, first call close is key to measuring return on investment
(ROI). It measures the level of conversion to qualified leads or meeting for agents on
the first interaction with customers.

Successful first call close numbers indicate not only strong agents and call center best
practices in use, but also indicates the audience is engaged.

Tracking FCR and first call close can also point to agent training. If the agent is not
knowledgeable enough and ultimately has to pass calls off too often, this may point to
training issues. It’s a great idea to record or observe agent calls to help them improve
their talk track and techniques.

These numbers are some of the most valuable call center statistics, and can also factor
into other metrics including customer satisfaction.

The ROI is so good 6. Call Abandonment Rate

that it pays for For outbound call centers, this number refers to a situation where the call connects but
itself. The end-user the other party ends the call prior to connection with an actual agent.
experience is very
slick. Our logo is The more time customers spend on hold, the more likely they are to abandon the call
instantly recognizable and hang up. This is where the FRT figures come into play.
and instills a high A high call abandonment rate points to a negative customer experience. Plus, it leads
level of trust in the to the loss of both prospective and repeat customers.
call recipient.
Call abandonment rate can also point to bad call center practices, lagging technology,
or glitches within the system. Individual agent productivity can hinder these call
Dialler Manager,
metrics, as well.
Automotive Service
All things considered, it is important for call center reporting to keep track of this
number and keep it as low as possible.

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 7. Calls Handled

Though this is a simple figure to add to call center dashboards, it is powerful.

Calls handled measures the total number of interactions taken by individual agents. It
does not include abandoned calls most of the time. When looking at calls per agent,
this number can also be narrowed down to dials-per-hour.

Tracking this KPI can help improve individual agent productivity—which in turn
enhances the effectiveness of the outbound call operation as a whole.

Identifying our calls 8. Call Forecast Accuracy

with Hiya Connect This metric measures how accurate call volume forecasts were, during specific
has resulted in 37% time intervals. As with schedule adherence, this information is key for staffing and
more customers scheduling purposes in call center reporting.
answering–27% on
the first attempt.
That directly impacts 9. Dials-to-Deals Ratios
new policies, WFM
Managers will want to measure leads, meetings, deals, and/or revenue per successful
planning, and hourly
call to employ a full-picture approach of the overall department’s performance as well
agent costs.
as how effective each individual agent is.

Life Insurance Contact This set of metrics is used to better develop resource allocation, budgeting,
Center projections, and other similar tasks. This information also illuminates the overall
effectiveness of outbound calls to be compared with other channels being used.

10. Conversion Rate

In the outbound sales call center environment, conversion from your

conversations is everything.

Whether it be completing a survey, qualifying a lead, setting a meeting, or making

a purchase—if some type of goal action is completed during a call, these would be
considered converted customers.

As this is the purpose of the contact center in the first place, Conversion Rate is
extremely important to keep track of and improve over time. Managers may also want
to use this metric for list closure rate, which looks at conversions as compared to the
number of prospects targeted. This information can indicate issues with the calling list,
like incorrect numbers or too many cold leads.

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 11. Call Quality

This KPI is all-encompassing. It is an internal measure, and the scorecard will measure
between companies—and sometimes between departments.

Tracking quality is usually done by recording live calls made by agents, and reviewing
them for various factors.

Some of the considerations that may be tracked to measure quality include:

• Does the agent stick to the pitch?

• Are they polite?

• Are they engaging?

• Are they knowledgeable?

• Do they have proper call etiquette?

• Were they successful/did they convert?

Measuring quality in this way can also shed light on individual agents and their
success in the outbound call center environment.

This is a good example of the importance of analyzing multiple call center metrics at
one time. On paper, an employee with a high level of calls handled may look like a
stellar salesperson. They may be successfully reaching prospects and speaking right in
line with the given script.

But this agent may not have phone etiquette that lives up to your company’s
standards. As such, they may have a crazy high level of handling with a very low level
of conversion. Plus, a negative phone call experience can do lasting damage to your
company’s image.

This is why it is so important to analyze multiple metrics in conjunction with each

other—and quality is no different. By tracking and reviewing agent phone call quality,
you can shed light on which agents are truly knocking it out of the park.

For those agents that don’t, more training or possibly a shift to a new position could
be beneficial for all involved. This ensures less burnout on the agent’s end and better
quality scores for the company.

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What Sales Metrics Are You Tracking?

There are dozens of sales metrics your contact centers and sales teams can track, but not
all of these can help improve sales operations and conversions from calls. Investing time
into identifying the right metrics, identifying and authenticating outbound phone calls with
solutions like Hiya Connect, and taking steps to improve customer experience can all boost
the performance of SDRs and call center agents.

Hiya Connect Branded Call helps create better connections with customers the first time,
making it an invaluable first step for any customer-centric organization that wants to
improve performance. Hiya Connect goes beyond caller ID with Reputation Monitoring
and powerful Insights and Analytics that enable better agent and customer experiences.

Learn more about Hiya Connect on our website or go deeper into contact center metrics
and how you can implement these changes in your workplace, with a free assessment of
your outbound calling numbers.

ABOUT HIYA

Hiya Connect provides enterprise intelligence and increased influence over the
performance of voice calls. Hiya’s modern SaaS application doubles answer rates,
decreases the cost to connect, drives faster lead conversion, and improves customer
satisfaction.
Prevent impersonation of your calls and protect your brand with Secure Call. Influence
answer rates through an exceptional branded calling experience and engage faster
with Branded Call. Register verified business numbers, monitor and dispute reputation
tags directly with Reputation Management. Impact business results with self-serve call
Performance Analytics that offer insights to optimize business performance.
Hiya Connect is powered by the Voice Performance Platform, a set of specialized trust
models, machine-trained algorithms, and performance science based on 13B+ monthly
call events to ensure call protection and appropriate reputation designation. Hiya has
the unmatched distribution of the Hiya Network, a set of direct relationships with the
largest mobile carriers and mobile phone manufacturers in the world, including AT&T
and Samsung, with a reach of over 140M individuals across 40+ countries.

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