What is Benchmarking?

By Peter L DeHaan

March 28, 2007

Last month, in "Can You Prove It?" we addressed various external methodologies to substantiate call center quality and efficacy.  Of the methods discussed, benchmarking stood out as providing more relevance at a lesser cost than other independent evaluation methods.  Therefore, benchmarking becomes a viable, valuable pursuit, worthy of consideration and implementation.  The results of a properly conducted benchmarking analysis are a reliable gauge and reference point, quantifying your call center operation with respect to others.

Any industry or group can benchmark itself.  For the call center industry, benchmarking is the process of comparing and contrasting measurable contact center metrics with the best-in-class performers from a peer group.  As such, benchmarking is an effective and easily determined TQM (total quality management) tool – perhaps the best available – when the process is properly conducted.

To illustrate, contemplate a common, yet simple, situation.  Consider the eternal call center question, "What should my service level be?"  (Service level is the percent of calls answered in X seconds.)  Most call center managers know that the answer to that question is 80-20, or 80% of calls answered in 20 seconds.  But what is the basis for this answer?  The truth is that no one really knows the origin of this "standard" or even if it is reliable or verifiable.  Yet the answer is so effortlessly and frequently bandied about, that its veracity is accepted as non-negotiable fact; it is considered common knowledge – even though it is pure, albeit well intended, conjecture.

How do you determine what your call center's service level should be?  If it hasn't already happened, your boss will someday ask – so you had better have an answer – other than the stock "80-20" response.  Even worse, your boss might inform you what service level you need to achieve to earn your next merit raise!  If his or her target service level is unattainable or untenable, you will need a quick and ready refutation.  Preferable to either scenario is to be proactive, benchmarking your service level (as well as your entire call center) and communicating service level goals and expectations with your boss in advance.

The first step would be to follow a pre-established measurement methodology to determine your call center's current service level.  At first, this seems simple.  In reality, there are many concerns that come into play.  One is if early abandons will be considered; that is, if the caller hangs up after one ring, with their call be included in the calculation or excluded?  Another consideration is whether automated call answering should count or is service level relevant only to agent answered calls.  (Incidentally, you will be well served to consider this issue from the caller's perspective.)  Thirdly, if your call center offers a callback option, when the system queue reaches a certain threshold, should callers opting for a callback be included?  This list could go on.  The point is not to ascertain the ideal determination, but rather to agree on a standard methodology.  Thankfully, established benchmarking programs have already determined these measurement standards, so participants need not wrestle with the specifics, merely follow the prearranged parameters.

Now that you know your service level, you need to compare it with the service levels of other call centers (who have measured theirs in the same manner).  At this point, it is tempting to simply take an average.  This would be a misleading development.  No one wants to work in an average call center, so it makes little sense to compare your operation to what is average.

Although you could consider only those with the highest service levels, this, too, would form another inequity, making service level the singular focus.  In reality, anyone can improve their service level – just schedule more agents.  However, there would be side effects: increased labor costs, lower agent occupancy, and so forth.

Therefore, the balanced, ideal solution is to consider those call centers with overall excellence and look at their service levels.  This "best-in-class" group is who you want to benchmark your self against, not only to develop a target service level, but also to contrast your entire operation.  Again, this is something that established call center benchmarking programs do for you automatically, so there is nothing that you need to do once you submit your numbers – other than wait for their report.