What is Call Abandonment Rate & Why You Need to Lower It

We‘ve all been there – you call customer support with an urgent issue, only to be put on hold for what feels like an eternity. The generic hold music drones on as your frustration mounts. After 10 minutes of waiting, you start to wonder if anyone will ever pick up. Finally, you can‘t take it anymore and hang up in defeat, your problem still unresolved.

Sound familiar? If so, you‘re not alone. In fact, this scenario is so common that call centers track it as a key metric called "abandonment rate." But what exactly is abandonment rate, why does it matter, and most importantly, how can you reduce it in your contact center? Let‘s dive in.

Abandonment Rate Defined

Simply put, abandonment rate is the percentage of callers who hang up before reaching a live agent. Maybe they found the answer themselves while waiting, or maybe they got fed up with the long hold time. Either way, an abandoned call represents a missed opportunity to provide customer service and solve problems.

While a 0% abandonment rate is unrealistic, most experts agree you should aim to keep it under 5-8%. According to a study by Call Centre Helper, the average abandonment rate across industries is 5-8%. But some contact centers see rates as high as 20% or more, which is cause for concern.

The High Cost of Abandoned Calls

You might be thinking, "So what if a few impatient people hang up? No big deal, right?" Wrong. A high abandonment rate is a big red flag that your call center is falling short in the customer service department. And poor customer service has real consequences for your business.

Consider these statistics:

• 82% of customers say the number one factor that leads to a great customer service experience is having their issues resolved quickly. (Hubspot Research)
• 33% of Americans say they‘ll consider switching companies after just a single instance of poor service. (American Express)
• Americans tell an average of 15 people about a poor service experience, versus telling 11 people about a good experience. (American Express)
• It‘s 5-25x more expensive to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one. (HBR)

The takeaway is clear: if you frustrate customers with long hold times that cause them to abandon calls, they‘ll take their business elsewhere. You‘ll end up spending more on marketing and sales to replace those lost customers. Plus, they‘ll likely bad-mouth you to their friends and family.

But a high abandonment rate doesn‘t just impact individual customers. It‘s also a canary in the coal mine for operational inefficiencies and missed revenue opportunities:

• Long hold times caused by understaffing wastes your highly-paid agents‘ time as they sit idle waiting for calls.
• Frustrated customers who can‘t get support are less likely to renew contracts or make repeat purchases.
• If you‘re missing sales calls, that‘s money left on the table.
• Consistently high abandonment rates can tank your call center‘s employee morale and performance.

The good news is, there are proven strategies to combat call abandonment and provide the efficient, satisfying support your customers expect. Here are 10 tactics to try in your call center:

1. Engage Customers While They Wait

One reason people abandon calls is the perception that they‘ve been waiting forever. You can reduce this perceived wait time by giving customers something to do while on hold. For example:

• Collect information you‘ll need to solve their issue via IVR prompts, like account numbers, order details, etc. That way the agent can get right to the issue when they answer.
• Play relevant information, like answers to top FAQs or details about their order status.
• Offer a customer satisfaction survey.
• Enable callback – more on that next.

2. Implement Virtual Queueing

What if a customer could keep their place in line without being glued to the phone? That‘s the idea behind virtual queueing, or callback. When hold times are long, the system offers callers the option to get a callback rather than wait on hold.

Callbacks are a win-win: the customer doesn‘t have to wait on the phone, but is still assured of reaching an agent. Meanwhile, you can smooth out call volume spikes and give agents time to work through the backlog.

3. Optimize Your Scheduling

Many contact centers staff the same number of agents every hour, day and week. But most businesses have predictable times when call volume spikes. Analyze your call data to pinpoint those peak times – maybe it‘s during lunch hour, or when a new product drops. Then adjust agent schedules to provide more coverage when you need it most.

If you‘re in a pinch, consider tapping managers or salespeople to help with overflow calls. Just be sure they‘re trained on your service policies and systems.

4. Set Expectations

A big driver of abandonment is when the actual wait time doesn‘t match what you told the customer to expect. Under-promising and over-delivering is the way to go.

Use your call center reporting to determine average wait times by time of day. Then state those wait times in your IVR greeting. For example: "We‘re currently experiencing higher than normal call volume. The expected wait time is 8-10 minutes. You can press 1 to leave a voicemail, 2 to request a callback, or stay on the line and we‘ll be with you shortly."

5. Empower Your Agents

The more efficiently your agents can solve customer issues, the more bandwidth they‘ll have to chip away at the queue. That‘s why investing in agent training and tools is crucial:

• Make sure agents have the knowledge and authority to handle common issues without escalating.
• Provide the best hardware and software so outdated, clunky systems don‘t slow them down.
• Use call monitoring and reviews to identify coaching opportunities. Praise successes!
• Offer incentives for hitting key metrics like quick resolution times and high customer satisfaction.
• Foster a team environment where agents collaborate to solve tricky issues.

6. Spread Out the Load

Despite your best efforts, there may still be times when call volume outpaces your in-house agents. That‘s where offering other service channels and outsourcing can provide relief.

Encourage customers to self-serve with FAQ pages, video tutorials, and chatbots. Make sure your service email address and social media pages are prominent so customers can reach out that way too.

For an extra capacity buffer, consider partnering with an outsourced call center. They can flex up and down to handle overflow and after-hours calls.

7. Get to the Root of the Issue

Sometimes a high volume of calls about the same issue signals an upstream problem, like a bug on your website, confusing product instructions or a service outage. Identify those root cause issues and work with other departments to squash them.

Which brings me to collaboration. To really move the needle, your call center can‘t operate in a silo. Regularly meet with stakeholders from product, sales, marketing and beyond to share insights and brainstorm CX improvements.

Tying It All Together

Keeping your call abandonment rate low has a direct impact on customer loyalty, word-of-mouth, and your bottom line. It‘s a key indicator of your contact center‘s efficiency and performance.

Luckily, there are many levers you can pull to save would-be abandoned calls:

• Engage customers and set expectations while they wait
• Offer callbacks to "hold their place in line"
• Staff up during predictably busy times
• Empower agents to solve issues quickly
• Provide other communication channels to spread out volume
• Partner with other departments to tackle the source of support issues

Combine these proven tactics and you‘ll be well on your way to providing the quick, seamless support your customers crave. Your abandonment rate – and balance sheet – will thank you.