A new report from MaxContact has unveiled what it calls the ‘stark realities facing UK contact centres in 2024’, with agents battling soaring workloads as the industry grapples with the emerging impact of AI technologies.
The “2024 UK Contact Centre KPI Benchmarking Insights Report”, based on a survey of 500 contact centre leaders working in sales, debt collection and customer service, paints a picture of an industry at a crossroads, navigating post-pandemic changes and emerging technologies.
The report uncovered challenges across different sectors:
- Debt collection functions are facing an uphill battle, reaching the right party in only 26% of calls – a figure that raises serious questions about the effectiveness of current strategies. With household debt on the rise, this low contact rate could have significant implications for the financial sector.
- Sales teams are stuck in a numbers game, with agents making an average of 56 calls daily but achieving success in less than 7% of these interactions. This low conversion rate suggests a need for better lead qualification and more targeted sales approaches.
- Customer service teams are struggling to balance speed and quality, with an average handle time of 7.82 minutes and a first call resolution rate of just 45%. This suggests that while agents are spending significant time with customers, they’re often unable to resolve issues in a single interaction.
The report also sheds light on the human side of contact centres. It indicates that agent workload has increased by 11% on average. However, despite the increasing workload, only 44% of contact centres reported an increase in agent salaries, with an average rise of 7%. This disparity between workload and compensation could exacerbate the industry’s already high turnover rates, which the research found sits at an average of 30% annually.
However, amidst these challenges, the report highlights a potential game-changer: Artificial Intelligence. Nearly 60% of respondents believe AI will significantly impact the industry within three years, with 38% seeing its primary benefit in reducing manual workloads.
“These findings are a wake-up call for the industry,” warns Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact. “Contact centres are clearly under pressure, and traditional working methods are being pushed to their limits. Those who embrace AI and other innovative technologies now will be the winners of tomorrow. The rest risk being left behind.”
The report also reveals a growing focus on quality assurance, with 83% of respondents considering it very or somewhat important. However, only 39% currently use speech analytics solutions, suggesting a significant opportunity for improvement.
This landmark report serves as both a warning and a roadmap for the contact centre industry. As traditional metrics falter and new challenges emerge, it’s clear that a radical rethink of operations is needed.
The full “2024 UK Contact Centre KPI Benchmarking Insights Report” is available for download here.
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