45 Crucial Call Center Statistics [2023]: Metrics, Performance KPIs, And Industry Data - Zippia (2024)

Research Summary. It’s basically a central human experience to worry about calling up a company’s call center to fix a problem or ask a question. That’s why the businesses that can provide an organized and effortless customer service experience through their call centers end up beating out their competition. Here are the key call center statistics:

• 40% of American customers stopped doing business with a company after a poor customer service experience according to one study.

• 96% of customers say that customer service is an essential factor that affects their choices.

• A customer is 4X more likely to buy from a competitor if they have a problem with something service-related as opposed to an issue with the price or product.

• Customers are likely to spend 140% more after a positive experience rather than a negative one.

• The United States accounts for 29.5% of the global call center market as of 2020.

• The U.S. call center market size is $23.9 billion as of 2022.

• 36% of call centers use cloud technology.

• Cloud-based call centers report having 27% less downtime.

• Cloud-based call centers with 500-seats report saving an average of 43%.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Customer Opinions | Company Opinions | Industry | Trends and Projections

General Call Center Statistics

• The global contact center market size is worth $339.40 billion.

  The global contact center market is expected to reach $496 billion by 2027.

• 59% of businesses survey customers to get feedback as of 2020.

  Alternatively, 61% of businesses track customer satisfaction, 52% monitor online review sites, and 24% have formal customer advocacy programs.

• U.S. companies lose over $62 billion in annual revenue due to poor customer service.

  On the other hand, a study by American Express showed that customers in the United States were willing to spend 17% more on companies that they felt provided excellent customer service. That number continues to increase as the years go by.

Customer Opinions on Call Centers Statistics

• In 2021, over 65% of all customers said they had much higher customer service expectations than they did only a year ago.

  This percentage of high expectations among consumers is a trend that’s been steadily rising over the past two decades.

• 77% of customers view a business more positively if they’re proactive with customer service.

  These findings suggest that consumers prefer when companies take the initiative themselves to figure out what they want and implement it.

• 88% of customers prefer voice calls with a live agent instead of navigating an automated phone menu.

  The things that annoy people about phone menus the most are listening to irrelevant options (69%), inability to fully describe the issue (67%), lack of human interaction (43%), inefficient service (33%), and confusing options (15%).



• According to a 2017 survey, 27% of customers say that their #1 frustration with poor customer service is lack of effectiveness.

  Other respondents said that their top frustrations with poor customer service were lack of speed (12%) and lack of accuracy (10%).



• 90% of customers worldwide consider issue resolution as their top customer service concern.

  Additionally, 90% of customers also believe that it’s very important to receive an immediate response when they have a customer service question or concern.

• 78% of customers feel that they have a better experience if a customer service agent doesn’t sound like they’re reading from a script, as of 2018.

  This represents a nine-point jump in people who prefer a less scripted interaction since 2014.

Company Opinions on Call Centers Statistics

• 48% of service teams ranked ‘creating an excellent customer service as their top priority.

  In comparison, 45% stated that their main goal was to retain customers, 41% cited customer success as their top priority, and 40% emphasized customer engagement.

• 67% of companies have shown tremendous growth by collecting customer feedback.

  This demonstrates that customer service feedback plays a huge role in improving a call center’s status in the industry.

• 29% of all businesses have installed live chat software.

  Most of these companies turn to live chat software to improve their customer support efficiency and reduce their agent’s workload. Around 90% of businesses found live chat software to be helpful in their call center operations.

• 42% of businesses have incorporated a help desk system to improve their customer’s experience.

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  Out of the companies that have implemented a help desk system, 86% of these companies believe that it has boosted work productivity and built customer loyalty.

Call Center Statistics by Industry

• The finance industry has the highest rate of call centers at 26% globally

• The government and public services industry has the lowest rate of call centers at 4% globally

• The industry with the #1 worst customer service in the U.S. is government offices at 39%

• 61% of B2B companies have a live chat feature

Call Centers Trends and Projections

• 36% of call centers use cloud technology as of 2020.

  Examples of common cloud technology that call centers use are SaaS, hosted, hybrid and private cloud. There are several benefits to cloud-based call centers, such as having 27% less downtime and being 43% less expensive on average.

• 66% of call center businesses are looking to invest in advanced analytics to provide better customer service as of 2020.

  Many call center businesses will still continue to use social media as their main channel of customer support.

• According to a 2021 study, AI and other new technologies will handle 70% of customer interactions by 2022.

  The two biggest reasons that companies are investing in AI and other technologies are because it improves customer experience and reduces costs.

• The global call center AI market is anticipated to have a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 26.3% over the next decade.

  In 2020, this market was valued at $959.80 million. By 2030, the global call center AI market is expected to reach a valuation of $9,949.61 million.

• The call center market is expected to grow at the rate of 6.6% over the next five years.

  By 2027, it’s expected that the call center market size will be $496 billion.

Call Center Statistics FAQ

1. What are typical call center metrics?

   The typical metrics that call centers use to track their productivity and performance are:

   • Average call abandonment rate

   • Average speed of answer

   • Occupancy rates

   • Percentage of calls blocked

   • First call resolutions

   This data helps call centers determine what they’re doing right and how their operations could improve.

2. What is the average call center turnover rate?

   The average call center turnover rate averages between 30% to 45%. This turnover rate is considered very high, however, it’s still lower than the current national average of 57.3%.

   Overall, call centers should try to focus on finding ways to retain their employees, as this will save them considerable time and money on future training costs.

3. What is a good answer rate for a call center?

   A good answer rate for a call center is answering around 80% of calls in under 20 seconds. However, the average ‘time to answer’ call center metric can vary depending on the industry.

4. Are call centers stressful?

   Yes, call centers are notoriously stressful. There are a number of valid reasons why call centers are stressful, like:

   • Dealing with angry customers

   • Having repetitive daily tasks

   • Heavy workloads

   • Strict time limits

   • Low work incentives

   • Lots of tools and technology to learn

   While it’s undeniable that working at a call center is more stressful than the average job, there are plenty of ways to balance a career in this field.

5. What is the job outlook for call center jobs?

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   What is Team as a Service?

   The job outlook for employment with call center, or customer service representative jobs, is projected to decline from 2021 to 2031, according to the BLS. Despite declining employment, there is about a projective average each year of 389,400 openings for customer service representatives.

Conclusion

Having the luxury of reaching out to a call center is something that many of us take for granted. However, there’s a billion-dollar market behind call centers, and companies are constantly looking for new ways to improve their operations and enhance customer experience.

The United States accounts for 29.5% of the global call center market as of 2020 and has a market size of $23.9 billion as of 2022. Having a strong call center and customer service team is crucial for a business’s success.

In the United States alone, 40% of American consumers say that they’ve stopped doing business with a company after a poor customer service experience. Furthermore, a customer is likely to spend 140% more after a positive service experience.

While the notion of a call center has always been a bunch of workers answering phones in real-time to tend to customer needs, this image of the industry is rapidly changing. Today, 26% of call centers are using cloud technology, with reports of companies saving 43% on average.

Even 61% of B2B companies have a live chat feature. Additionally, one recent study determined that AI and other new technologies will be handling 70% of customer interactions by 2022. These updates in the cell center market are expected to improve the customer experience and reduce overall costs.

The call center industry is changing, but it’s likely that these developments will only bring more growth to the market.

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