Pick-up rates: calculating and optimizing them in call centers
Every missed call is a lost opportunity and a potentially unsatisfied customer. Pick-up rate, or Quality of Service (QoS), is a key indicator that measures your team's responsiveness to incoming calls. A high rate reflects a high-performing team and satisfied customers, while a low rate can signal critical problems such as understaffing or poor scheduling.
This article reveals everything you need to know to master this essential KPI: from its definition and calculation, to the factors that influence it and strategies for optimizing it. Immerse yourself in our practical advice to transform your call center into a model of efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Definition of off-hook rate
The pick-up rate, or quality of service (QoS), is a key indicator in customer relations centers. It measures your team's efficiency in answering incoming calls. More precisely, it's the percentage of calls answered in relation to the total number of calls received.
The answer rate can be expressed in seconds or in the number of rings before the call is answered. This depends on how your center measures speed of response.
This KPI helps you to evaluate the efficiency of your customer relations center in order to maintain a high level of customer service. A high pick-up rate means that few calls are missed, and is a positive sign of performance. Conversely, a low rate may indicate problems such as understaffing or inefficient processes.
It is therefore crucial to monitor this metric to make the necessary adjustments and achieve your call center's customer satisfaction objectives.
Calculate the dropout rate
To calculate the pick-up rate, you first need to determine the total number of incoming calls over a given period. Next, identify the number of calls handled by your agents.
The commonly used formula is :
Pick-up rate = (Number of calls answered / Total number of calls received) × 100
In the context of Afnor NF Service Relation Client certification, the reference calculation of the off-hook rate is a little more nuanced. It does not take into account callers who hung up 15 seconds after choosing to be put through to an agent:
Quality of Service = Number of contacts handled / (Total contacts presented - Number of contacts hung up within the first 15 seconds after choosing to contact an advisor)
What is a good pick-up rate?
A good pick-up rate is essential for a positive customer experience. When your drop-out rate is high, it improves overall satisfaction, and your customers are more inclined to remain loyal. On the other hand, a low drop-out rate can damage your customer relationship and increase the risk of churn.
In general, a pick-up rate of at least 85% is considered satisfactory. The ideal, however, is to exceed 90%.
In the case of Afnor certification, exemplary service quality is essential. According to the NF345 standard, companies are expected to achieve a drop-out rate of 88% or more.
It is important, however, to track this metric over short periods such as by the day and by the hour. This will enable you to accurately identify the days of the week and times of the day when the pick-up rate is below your targets. Refining your tracking in this way will help you identify sources of inefficiency and take the necessary steps to ensure efficient customer service at all times.
7 factors that can reduce your pick-up rate
1. Understaffed
One of the most obvious reasons for a low pick-up rate is understaffing. If the number of agents available to answer calls is insufficient for the volume of incoming calls, it is inevitable that some calls will not be answered.
2. Poor schedule management
Ineffective scheduling of agents can also lead to poor quality of service. If call peaks are not properly anticipated and agents are not scheduled accordingly, this can lead to periods of overload when not all calls can be handled.
3. High call handling times
Another factor that can negatively influence the pick-up rate is average call handling time (ACTT). If agents spend too much time on each call, this reduces their availability to answer subsequent calls.
4. Lack of training for advisors
Poorly trained or insufficiently skilled agents may find it difficult to handle calls efficiently, which can prolong handling time and therefore reduce the number of calls handled per person.
5. Technical problems
Technical problems, such as system failures, network issues or misconfigured call center software, can also negatively affect pick-up rates. Ensuring regular system maintenance and investing in reliable, high-performance technologies is essential to minimize downtime and maximize call center efficiency.
6. Lack of agent motivation
Agent motivation plays a crucial role in their performance. A stressful work environment, lack of recognition or inadequate working conditions can demotivate agents, making them less effective in their call handling. Implementing recognition programs, offering incentives and creating a positive working environment can help improve agent motivation and, consequently, call completion rates.
7. Unexpected call volume
Sometimes a call center can be overwhelmed by an unusual call volume, for example due to a marketing campaign, a major technical problem with a product or an unforeseen event. Having contingency plans and extra resources in place to handle these situations can help maintain a high pick-up rate even in times of high demand.
How can you optimize your contact center's quality of service (QS)?
Analyze your calls with Speech Analytics
Speech analytics, such as that provided by Batvoice AI, is a powerful tool for improving call pick-up rates in customer relations centers. By analyzing conversations between agents and customers, it helps identify recurring problems and anticipate frequent call patterns, thus reducing the volume of inbound calls. This technology also helps supervisors measure your agents' performance, so they can better identify their shortcomings and offer them targeted training to improve their call handling.
In addition, analysis of your voice data ensures continuous monitoring of call quality as part of Quality Monitoring, enabling rapid intervention to correct problems and maintain consistent agent performance. Finally, by better understanding customer needs and expectations, call centers can offer a better customer experience, reducing repeat calls and freeing up agents to answer new calls more quickly.
Adjust your agents' schedules
Effective schedule management can dramatically improve pick-up rates. Use forecasting tools to analyze call trends and adjust agent schedules accordingly. This ensures that there are always enough agents available during periods of high demand.
Continuously train and develop agents' skills
Investing in ongoing agent training is crucial. Well-trained agents are more efficient and can handle calls faster, reducing waiting time for subsequent callers. Offer regular training tailored to the individual needs of each call center agent on communication techniques, call management and the use of contact center systems.
Anticipate call volume peaks
Be prepared to handle peaks in call volume by having extra agents on standby or using temporary agents during periods of high demand. Automatic call-back features can help manage call waiting and improve pick-up rates by reducing the number of abandoned calls.
Improve agent motivation and commitment
Finally, agent motivation is a key factor in improving productivity and ensuring high service quality. Create a positive working environment by recognizing and rewarding outstanding performance. Offer opportunities for professional development and make sure agents feel valued and supported.
