Here’s one of my long-form B2B content articles! You can view it on Convoso’s blog page here.

Top 3 KPIs for Lead Management in Outbound Call Centers

Every dialer admin and call center executive keeps a close eye on metrics. But when it comes to improving profitability for your outbound call center, knowing the right metrics to track can mean the difference between success and… well, you know.

There are a multitude of valuable metrics to track for insights about agent, list, and call performance. But for this post we’ll discuss the 3 top lead management KPIs used by high performing outbound call centers to impact growth and profitability:

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Connection Rate
Lead Conversion Rate

KPI 1. Cost Per Acquisition – Know your true CPA

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) should be one of the primary lead management KPIs for your outbound call center.

What is a true CPA?

CPA measures your total cost to get one specific acquisition. Your agents, your leads, and the dialer are the major costs contributing to the calculation of your true CPA, which should not be confused with the more limited metric CPL, or Cost Per Lead.

This KPI gives a high-level view into the costs associated with converting leads and should be monitored in real time by both agent and lead source, so you can make decisions based on ROI.

The Benefits of Tracking CPA

Understanding your true Cost per Acquisition allows you to:

Get clear insights into spending and saving opportunities
Optimize your call center’s return on investment (ROI)
View the profitability of your call center’s various activities in one simple metric
Calculate the lifetime value of each acquisition, marketing costs, and expected profit

“The best in class contact centers focus on their cost per acquisition at a lead vendor level, and how much revenue comes out of those leads. Unfortunately, many contact centers don’t measure CPA – they only look at it on a cost per lead [CPL] basis. They’re making strategic decisions about how they’re operating their call center, but they don’t have the whole picture.” – Nima Hakimi, Convoso CEO & Co-Founder Convoso

KPI 2. Connection Rate

Connection rate tells us the efficiency of the leads, and is another important Lead Management KPI.

What is a Connection Rate?

The connection rate compares the number of calls made on a given day to answers. It’s a short term metric and provides a daily snapshot.

To determine the rate, divide the calls answered [including voicemails] by the total calls placed. For example, 25 calls answered / 100 calls dialed = a Connection Rate of 25%.

The Benefits of Tracking Connection Rate

Understanding your Connection Rate allows you to:

Know quickly if your dialer is having issues
Compare connection rates on different days/times to see when leads are most likely to answer

“The fastest way to tell if your dialer is broken is to check the Connection Rate… We’re proactive and have a team monitoring each carrier’s connection rates, so if it goes down, we immediately take them out of the route until the issues are resolved. This way everything continues to function as normal, and the impact on our customers is minimized. We also only use solid, top quality telecom carriers.” – Nima Hakimi, Convoso CEO & Co-Founder

KPI 3. Lead Conversion Rate

Lead Conversion Rate is one of the most simple Lead Management KPIs.

What is the Lead Conversion Rate?

The Lead Conversion Rate looks at the percentage of calls it took to make a sale or transfer. Your conversion rate is the number of leads that resulted in a successful sale or transfer divided by the total number of calls. A low conversion rate increases your cost per lead and impacts your company’s overall revenue.

The Benefits of Tracking your Lead Conversion Rate

Understanding your Lead Conversion Rate allows you to:

Make strategic decisions about your data throughout the day
Evaluate list and agent performance to increase your call center’s efficiency and profitability