Call abandonment rate (CAR) is a metric that measures the percentage of calls that are missed when customers call the call center. call center but couldn't wait and gave up before connecting with the operator.
This often occurs when customers have to wait too long (due to long wait times, staff shortages, or ineffective IVR systems).
The Importance of Call Abandonment Rate
This is an important metric used to measure the effectiveness of inbound customer service channels, which directly impacts the customer experience.
Causing a poor customer experience
Customers feel dissatisfied when they have to wait too long, or worse, call and get no support. If this is not improved, the business may lose customers.
Impact on brand reputation
Poor customer experiences will damage brand reputation and reduce future revenue.
Increase in operating costs
A high CAR rate increases call center operating costs because employees have to handle missed calls. This increases work pressure, requires additional staff, incurs call charges (due to outgoing calls), and necessitates investment in technology to improve customer service processes.
Reduced competitive advantage.
For businesses with a competitive strategy based on differentiated customer experiences, such as in the high-end market segment, a high Call Abandonment Rate is unacceptable, causing customers to leave and switch to competitors.
Call Abandonment Rate
Missed call rate = (Number of missed calls / Total incoming calls) * 100%
- Number of missed calls: is the total number of calls that ended before the customer connected with the operator.
- Total incoming calls: Includes answered calls, missed calls, or any other reason the call center receives within a certain period of time.
For example
Imagine your call center compiles data for one month and receives the following results:
- Missed calls: 1000
- Total number of calls to the call center: 8000
At that time, it will be calculated.
- Call drop rate = [1000/8000]*100 = 12.51%
- At that time, CAR = 12.51 TP3T
Bellsystem24 Vietnam has observed that call drop rates tend to increase at specific times, such as peak hours and special seasons. Therefore, measuring and focusing on improving these 'hot spots' will help improve the overall CAR.
Call Abandonment Rate for certain industries
According to Hubspot, this index fluctuates on average between 5 and 8%. However, there are significant differences between businesses in different industry groups.
- Retail and e-commerce: From 5% to 8%
- Telecommunications, television: From 8% to 12%
- Finance, banking: From 3% to 7%
- Healthcare, health care: 5% to 10%
- Utility services: From 5% to 8%
Causes and ways to reduce Call Abandonment Rate
Shortage of call center agents
A shortage of call center agents reduces the call center's operational efficiency, as the number of staff cannot handle all customer demand, especially during peak hours.
Improve:
- Forecast future call volume to develop appropriate staffing plans for each time period.
- Recruit the necessary number of employees during normal periods, supplement personnel (overtime, part-time) during peak periods.
See also: Call traffic management in call centers
Call center agent lacking competence
Low-performing call center agents will result in longer customer request processing times, impacting response efficiency.
Improve:
- Enhance training and retraining to improve call center agents' capabilities.
Ineffective call routing
Some call centers lack call routing or have ineffective routing, resulting in calls being misrouted to the wrong agent, causing a poor experience. Businesses have to spend more time handling these issues, leading to increasingly longer queues.
Improve:
- Implementing intelligent call routing skill-based routing Based on customer needs, help distribute calls to call center agents with the appropriate skills.
The IVR system is too complicated
IVR system complexity that makes it difficult for customers to understand, even causing frustration and leading them to hang up.
Improve:
- Build a simple, logical IVR system menu that helps customers navigate easily as desired.
Unappealing IVR greeting
The content and length of IVR greetings directly affect customer emotions. Customers don't want to hear irrelevant, overly long content.
Improve:
- Create a greeting that suits the customer's characteristics, with content that is on point and of appropriate length. The voice should be clear and expressive. Hold music can be added.
No notification of waiting time.
Customers don't know how long they have to wait, which can lead to a poor experience and increase the dropout rate.
Improve:
- Provide information on the steps to be taken and the expected waiting time, helping customers decide whether to continue waiting or choose an alternative option.
Lack of automation.
The automated call center feature like a chatbot, Smart IVR can bring significant benefits, customers can resolve issues themselves with the support of AI, helping to reduce the manual workload of call center agents.
Improve:
- Enhance the use of chatbots and voicebots to provide basic customer information (account activation, balance inquiries, order status checks).
- Build layers to handle issues based on difficulty; call center agents only handle necessary cases that are difficult and require high security.
See also: Standard call center metrics and how to improve them
Conclusion
Call Abandonment Rate (CAR) is a key metric that measures call center effectiveness and directly impacts customer experience. A high abandonment rate not only reduces customer satisfaction but can also negatively affect brand reputation, increase operating costs, and diminish competitive advantage. To improve CAR, organizations should
