The European Contact Centre Decision-Makers’ Guide Executive Summary
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The European Contact Centre Decision-Makers’ Guide
Executive Summary
2
INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY
“The European Contact Centre Decision-Makers’ Guide (2018)" is a major report studying the
quantified performance and HR aspects of mainland European and Irish contact centre operations,
comparing them to similar US and UK operations.
Taking a random sample of the industry, a detailed structured questionnaire was answered by 168
contact centre managers and directors in 2017 and early 2018.
The report’s sections include:
• Agent attrition
• Agent absence
• Salaries (agent / team leader / contact
centre manager)
• Performance benchmarking
• Omnichannel
• Cost per contact
• Homeworking
• Cloud-based contact centres
• Customer experience
• Technology use and plans
• Contact centre growth
The full report can be downloaded free of charge from www.contactbabel.com.
AGENT ATTRITION
Agent attrition rates in Central & Eastern Europe are considerably higher than elsewhere in Europe,
including the UK, although they are relatively similar to the US. The Nordics in particular reports very
low attrition rates, with a median of only 5%.
Figure 1: Mean and median agent attrition by region
29%
13%
23% 23%21%
29%
23%
5%
10%
13%
15%
20%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
CE Europe Nordics W Europe Average UK US
Mean & median agent attrition by region
Mean Median
3
SALARIES
Agent salaries in Central & Eastern Europe are considerably lower than elsewhere in Europe or the
US, being around one-quarter that of the Nordics. This differential is smaller at the managerial level.
Unlike elsewhere, CEE outsourcers tend to pay higher salaries than inhouse operations, at least at
agent levels.
Figure 2: Salaries by inhouse / outsourced operations, by region, by job role
Region Inhouse/outsourced
New agent
Experienced agent
Team leader
Contact centre manager
CE Europe
Inhouse €6,148 €7,386 €10,809 €20,743
Outsourced €6,436 €7,700 €9,421 €14,984
Combined €6,268 €7,517 €10,230 €17,758
Nordics
Inhouse €25,800 €28,867 €38,133 €53,067
Outsourced €22,200 €22,800 €28,200 €66,000
Combined €24,360 €26,440 €34,160 €58,240
W Europe
Inhouse €22,600 €25,696 €33,121 €49,006
Outsourced €15,608 €18,443 €24,235 €41,471
Combined €19,853 €22,846 €29,630 €45,936
Average Combined €16,731 €19,157 €24,960 €39,163
UK
Inhouse €20,349 €23,372 €30,233 €47,093
Outsourced €18,116 €20,894 €25,315 €42,257
Combined €19,929 €22,799 €29,091 €45,726
US
Inhouse €26,563 €31,473 €40,402 €64,286
Outsourced €23,302 €26,915 €34,492 €52,443
Combined €26,172 €30,946 €39,654 €62,144
NB: US & UK salaries based on Euro exchange rates (1 Euro = 1.12 USD; 1 Euro = 0.86 GBP)
4
PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKING
The success or otherwise of contact centres has traditionally been measured by observation of key
metrics, usually related to cost and efficiency - average call length, average speed to answer, % of
calls answered within a certain time, etc. While these figures are a useful and still widely
acknowledged and understood benchmark, times are changing. Many contact centres now try to
measure the effectiveness of their operation by tracking metrics such as first-time call resolution and
customer satisfaction levels, although there are no standard measures or agreements on what
constitutes a satisfied customer or fully-resolved call.
Figure 3: Contact centre metrics
Metric
CE Europe Nordics W Europe UK US
Mean call duration (service) 4m 24s 4m 52s 5m 11s 5m 26s 6m 16s
Mean call duration (sales) 5m 58s 4m 47s 5m 14s 6m 52s 7m 56s
Mean call abandonment rate 10.0% 9.4% 4.8% 5.6% 6.0%
Talk time per hour 53% 60% 48% 54% 58%
Speed to answer 22 58 34 35 54
Mean first-call resolution rate 85% 82% 76% 73% 72%
Mean call transfer rate 4.2% 8.5% 6.5% 9.2% 9.2%
5
OMNICHANNEL
Western European and CE European respondents state that their use of email is very considerable,
at 27% and 20% respectively, with lower proportions of phone activity than in the UK, US and
Nordics. As this is the first year of studying mainland and Irish European contact centres, judgement
should be reserved until further years’ surveys corroborate this.
The results show a major use of digital channels in CEE, with the Nordics also using above average
social media customer service and also web chat. Western Europe, apart from email, has much
lower use of digital channels such as web chat or social. Levels of voice self-service are lower than
the US. It should be noted that this survey does not take into account any use of web self-service.
Figure 4: Inbound interactions by channel
58.7%
70.0%
61.4%68.5% 67.8%
9.2%
3.8%
4.7%
5.2%10.2%
20.0%11.5% 27.0%
15.5%13.1%
6.5%8.8%
2.2%3.3%
5.3%1.1% 0.5%
1.5%3.0%
0.7%0.1% 0.3%
0.3% 1.1% 0.4%3.8% 5.0%2.0% 2.9% 1.8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
CEE Nordics WE UK US
Inbound interactions by channel
Social media(customerservice)
Fax
Letter
SMS
Web chat
Telephone(self-service)
Telephone (liveagent)
6
ABOUT CONTACTBABEL
ContactBabel is the contact centre industry expert. If you have a question about how the industry
works, or where it’s heading, the chances are we have the answer.
The coverage provided by our massive and ongoing primary research projects is matched by our
experience analysing the contact centre industry. We understand how technology, people and
process best fit together, and how they will work collectively in the future.
We help the biggest and most successful vendors develop their contact centre strategies and talk to
the right prospects. We have shown the UK government how the global contact centre industry will
develop and change. We help contact centres compare themselves to their closest competitors so
they can understand what they are doing well and what needs to improve.
If you have a question about your company’s future in the contact centre industry, we can help you.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.contactbabel.com
Telephone: +44 (0)191 271 5269
All data © ContactBabel 2018.
Download the full 104-page “2018 European Contact Centre
Decision-Makers’ Guide” from www.contactbabel.com.
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