The purpose of this chapter is to purport a set of alternative call center operational performance indicators, in order to enhance the relationship between call center performance and customer satisfaction. In order to do that, a methodological approach based on surveys, as well as stepwise multiple linear regressions, is developed from 6,616 cases collected during three months from the telecommunication industry. The general conclusion is that a set of alternative call center indicators covering three dimensions, namely the call center ability to resolve a problem, the call center responsiveness, and the prior customer satisfaction with the call center, together with traditional indicators, present a statistically significant relationship with customer satisfaction. The insights from this study can help managers to improve the customer satisfaction with call center, as well as to better sub-contract outsourcing call center operators.
TopIntroduction
Despite the relevance of the call center industry, there is a lacuna in academic literature in correlating the relationship between operational performance indicators used by call centers and customer satisfaction.
In the United States, two studies conducted by Feinberg et al. in 2000 and 2002 attempted to pinpoint operational indicators which determine customer satisfaction. The results encountered were, however, divergent. In the first study in 2000, two indicators appeared to have some connection with the customer satisfaction level (Feinberg et al., 2000). In the second study, in 2002, with the focus of research directed at the call centers that served the financial market, no performance indicator showed any correlation to customer satisfaction (Feinberg et al., 2002).
Thus, this chapter aims to contribute to the technical literature, seeking to answer the following research question: What set of call center operational performance indicators have any bearing on customer satisfaction? This question is relevant as there is no consensus on this point in the academic world.
An attempt is also made to find empirical evidence to help company managers who either operate or hire the services of call center operations to develop strategies that improve customer satisfaction, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of these organizations, both in the domestic and international markets.
With this in mind, three operations of one of the leading companies in the Brazilian call center outsourcing market were analyzed. For reasons of confidentiality, this study will safeguard the identity of all the companies involved in the research.