Outbound contact centres still play a vital role in sales and customer engagement, but are they truly performing at their best? Key performance indicators (KPIs) provide a framework for success, yet the real question is: Are your managers equipped to interpret and act on them effectively?
- Call Pickup Rate – Low pickup rates may indicate poor dialling strategies or incorrect customer data. Are managers addressing these issues to improve connection rates?
- Average Call Duration – Longer calls may suggest engagement or inefficiencies. Do managers have the available insight to help distinguish between productive interactions and wasted time?
- Average Handling Time (AHT) – Balancing efficiency with quality is crucial. Are managers optimising processes to reduce delays without compromising service?
- Answering Machine Detection Rate – High voicemail rates waste agent time. Are contact centres adjusting their approach to minimise this?
- Rejection Rate – A high volume of unanswered calls may point to poor targeting or dialling strategies. Are managers refining their approach based on this data?
- Agent Wait Time Between Calls – Excessive downtime signals inefficiency. Are workflows optimised to keep agents engaged and productive?
- Conversion Rate – Success is measured by call outcomes. Are managers analysing why some calls convert while others fail, and adjusting strategies accordingly?
- Occupancy Rate – Are agents being overworked, leading to burnout, or underutilised, resulting in wasted resources? Do managers have the right data and leadership skills to balance their team members’ workloads effectively?
- Data Accuracy – Poor data leads to inefficiencies and failed connections. Are managers ensuring databases remain up to date?
- Right Party Contact Rate – If agents aren’t reaching the intended recipients, performance suffers. Are managers taking steps to improve contact accuracy?
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – A positive customer experience is essential. Are managers prioritising training to enhance service quality?
Having KPIs is one thing—using them effectively is another. Many contact centres face challenges such as:
- Lack of real-time performance insights.
- Insufficient training for managers to interpret and act on KPI trends.
- Inefficient processes that fail to align with data-driven improvements.
- Gaps in technology preventing optimal call routing and workflow automation.
Outbound contact centres may track the right KPIs, but without effective leadership, performance will suffer. Are managers investing in the right tools, training, and strategies to ensure their teams operate at peak efficiency? The data is available—are they making the most of it?
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Sales Development Representative @ Televerde | Driving Revenue & Growth | UK & EMEA
1moKent Hansen
Data-Driven Distribution & Marketing Strategist | ROI Focused | Customer-Centric Approach | Fencing 🤺 Coach
1moHarry Kitchen, always great to see some discussion on #OBTM however relatively dead consumer calling is within Europe and North America, it is still very alive and thriving in APAC and other corners of the globe. That difficulty in the mature markets has a lot to do with the lack of trust mentioned, lack of trust to answer the phone even, let alone listen and buy anything! As some of you know, I’ve been tuning predictive diallers for 27+ years and looking at the wider scope of OBTM optimisation for a few years longer than that! If I may comment, 5 KPIs I’d also look at: 12. Talk / Wait / Wrap% - this is necessary in all TM either on a dialler or in preview (you can add Preview% too). I know AHT and average Wait (AWT) are in the article, but the percentage of time spent in Wrap is critical to success and points to all sorts of issues you need to be looking at. 13. Abandon Rate – higher rates can break laws within certain markets and will increase customer annoyance, the definition of what is an “abandon” is important too since any amount of noticeable silence can put the customer into a negative mindset. Therefore, I like to look at the distribution of agent first response/“hello” time and when abandons occur. Continued x3
I suspect one of the biggest issues facing outbound calling and the biggest risk to its survival is trust. I used to always talk to clients about the KLT curve. People only buy from people they know, like and trust. With the huge amount of scams taking place digitally and even in person, how do you provide your prospect with assurance that you genuinely are who you say you are? If you call me telling me you are my bank and I wasn’t expecting your call, why is it my job to verify myself to you and not vice versa? Before you get into worrying about AHT and occupancy rates my number one driver for consideration to anyone wanting to conduct outbound calling would be to think about how they overcome the trust factor.