Abandon Rate %

[Mark Tabak]

I would appreciate hearing from people as to what their average abandon rate % has been running. I have 4 call centers where 33% of all calls are inbound. Our calling is all B to B sales and customer service.

[burtcb]

33% seems a bit high for an abandon rate. Call centers I work with want less than 15% abandons.

[akoch]

we used to achieve an abandonrate less than 8%.
you need to organize all the processes as tough as possible and
set the staffs skills in optimum.

[gkern]

It depends on your service level goal, call volume, hours of ops, and arrival. If you want to give me a call with your numbers I can tell you what is typical. We have a number of queues with different volumes and service levels.

Greg Kern
CallTech
512-261-0409

[gkern]

It depends on your service level goal, call volume, hours of ops, and arrival. If you want to give me a call with your numbers I can tell you what is typical. We have a number of queues with different volumes and service levels.

Greg Kern
CallTech
512-261-0409

[JoeB]

As Greg Kern writes, there are no “standard” or even “acceptable” abandonment rates: the acceptable rate for your call center(s) depends on customer expectations and level of urgency and your ability to meet them. The “art” of call center management is to identify a level of performance that requires least resources and still meets the customer exactions. Our research shows that sometimes significant improvement in service level brings only a small improvement in abandonment; conversely, some call centers manage to lower their level of service without any increase in call abandonment.

You need to determine the appropriate abandonment rate for your call center by analyzing the drivers for abandonment and your current performance levels. This analysis combines statistical measurements of key performance indicators and of customer behavior – our research shows that abandonment patterns are non-linear and must be identified in order to create an effective improvement plan. Based on this analysis, identify those service components that will improve the abandonment rate, which should cover agent performance, call center organization, as well as technologies such as self-help and decision support systems. The final step is to create a phased improvement plan with continuous monitoring.

Please contact me if you want to discuss the specifics of the analysis and a plan to improve abandonment rates.

Joe Barkai
DIAGNOSTIC STRATEGIES
www.DiagnosticStrategies.com
jbarkai@DiagnosticStrategies.com

[Bender]

I believe 33% is the number of calls inbound, not abandoned.

Do you currently track your abandonment rate?

Our's is currently 5% on average and we are 100% inbound. It really depends on what number your company feels comfortable with, and of course, your customers. Do you get many complaints from customers about this?

[Mark Tabak]

33% is the number of inbound calls, not current abandon rate. We are currently running about 1.5% or less.

[mystery]

our call center is the recipient of the JD Power and Associate award for 2 consecutive years, one way we achieved this by having less than 3% abandonment.

[csteven]

Mark, looks like you're getting about 50/50 help. 50% just want to sell their services. I'll tell you what's our goal. We're a telco & it's 5%. Our inbound team is having a problem hitting it, our 2nd largest centre, collections, is under it with a 0.001%. I'd think if you're hitting 1.5%, you should probably feel proud, unless you man a 911 center.

Steve

[Tony]

2.5%


2.8% month to date

[Carmildav]

I currently have an abandonment rate of 5% except for Monday which is usually about 8%. We are primarily an inbound customer service center with no sales quota. Previously, I worked for a major utility company (with over 800 reps per call center) and our abandonment rate was 10%. Anything over 12% then we were subject to fines by the utilities commissions. One thing we have tracked is repeat customer calls from our abandoned call logs and that is only about 4%. In other words our customers don't call back!

[MikeHCIT]

I have to say a 1.5% rate should make you really proud. The centers that I have worked in we shoot for lower than about 6%. I think you really need to look at lot's of things before you ask what the correct number is however. Whatever is accpetable to your customers being the most important.

FYI right now my center is at about 8-9% and that's too high for me.

Mike H
CIT Chicago, IL