Customer contact managers face a challenge when it comes to reducing customer service costs. They have to create the right balance between customer service quality and reduced costs. One important metric that can be extremely useful in reducing customer service cost is cost-per-contact.
In our blog, we will explain what cost-per-contact is and some ways to reduce operational costs to improve your bottom line.
What is Cost-Per-Contact?
Cost-per-contact refers to costs incurred in handling a via live customer support. It takes into account the different costs associated with a customer contact center including:
- Salaries of customer agents
- Utility costs
- Software
- Hardware
- Rent
- Administration costs
To calculate the customer service cost, you need to first define the time period for which the cost should be calculated. The time period can be per hour, per day, per month, per quarter, or even per year. After you have established a time period, you need to establish the number of contacts per different channels:
- Phone
- Live Customer Support Chat
- Self-service IVR
- Fax
- Face-to-Face
Finally, you should divide the customer service costs with the total number of customers during a particular period. The answer to that mathematical equation will give you the cost-per-contact.
Now that you know what cost-per-contact is, let’s take a look at some of the ways in which you can reduce the customer service cost.
Automatic Routing
Consider skilled-based routing to avoid unnecessary call transfers. This will help in reducing handling time and customer contact cost. It will also result in improved customer satisfaction.
Speed Up First-Contact Resolution
First-contact resolution is important to reduce cost-per-contact. It is an important KPI that has a direct impact on the customer loyalty. Long customer resolution times result in negative impact on the customers as well as businesses. If multiple calls are needed to resolve an issue that will result in greater costs.
Implement Self-Service Options
Another effective way to reduce the customer contact cost is by introducing self-service options. The self-service option will result in reduced customer contacts that will free up internal live customer support resources. This can be achieved by offering the following customer service options.
Knowledge Base
Offer in-depth information about the products and services online. The information base should include frequently asked questions by the customers.
Proactive Information
This involves proactively communicating any issue with the product to the customer, along with the steps to resolve the problem.