Agent productivity solution provider, Knowlagent has announced the findings from the Contact Center Shrinkage Survey, which is the first of its kind for the call center industry.
Shrinkage is an important element to measure as it is any part of a call center agent’s time that is consumed by activities other than customer interactions. This cost is one that is considered to be unavoidable for companies and the industry, yet shrinkage could impact the bottom line.
The survey found that shrinkage can take up a considerable amount of an agent’s workday if it is not properly managed. In fact, shrinkage can easily consume as much as 30 percent of an agent’s time.
The survey noted a distinct difference between different types of shrinkage. Primary loss accounts for 54 percent of shrinkage and has to do with activities that fall outside of the call center manager’s control, such as absenteeism, lunch, tardiness, etc.
Secondary loss generally refers to those activities that can be managed, such as training, social learning or project work. According to the findings, secondary loss generates 46 percent of shrinkage and overall, 12 percent of an agent’s day.
Findings from the survey suggest that of the secondary loss category, shrinkage is largely allotted to training and coaching tasks. Throughout the VoIP call center industry, outsourcers report the lowest percentage of time in shrinkage and the least shrinkage is reported by the largest and smallest call centers surveyed.
The survey also determined that there is growth in the support of social media, chat and text for larger organizations. At the same time, collections has the highest percentage of shrinkage at 26 percent overall. The vast majority of those participating would be happy with shrinkage improvement between 1 and 10 percent.
"Knowlagent conducted this survey to provide executives with a benchmark for understanding how shrinkage impacts their contact centers," said Matt McConnell, Knowlagent CEO, in a statement. “It is a significant cost that is often just accepted as a part of doing business. We wanted to discover where the improvement opportunities are to better serve our customers.”
In other Knowlagent news, the company announced in November the launch of the Knowlagent 8.5, a new update to its solution. The new version has been designed to significantly expand the types of off-phone activities delivered to agents during call volume downtime, which further cuts down shrinkage in the call center.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Chris DiMarco