We’re all familiar with common call center KPIs (CSAT, AHT, etc.), but the most important quality parameters in BPO aren’t always your standard contact center metrics. BPOs juggle different clients across multiple industries, so they’re more tied to service agreements and the specific needs of those clients.
So, while BPOs will seek to improve customer satisfaction, first call resolution, and the other usual suspects, their priority metrics may differ a little from your typical call center. Identifying the most relevant quality parameters in BPO is crucial for long-term success:
Meeting service level agreements (SLAs)
Ensuring regulatory compliance
Keeping agents engaged so they don’t churn
Today, we’re going to explore 11 essential quality parameters in BPO, and give you some tips on how to maintain high standards in these areas.
CSAT measures how happy customers are with the service they’ve received. For BPOs, and most organizations, customer experience is paramount, so this metric stays near the top of the priority list.
Higher CSAT scores signal that your agents are equipped to effectively meet expectations, and are doing so consistently, building loyalty and protecting the reputation of both the BPO and the client.
To maintain high customer satisfaction scores, you should:
Deliver soft skills training in areas like active listening and empathy
Use real-time insights to monitor service quality and intervene when it drops
Give regular agent feedback, so they can adapt quickly and deliver positive experiences
Your AHT tracks the total time an agent spends resolving a customer interaction (including initial contact and after-call work).
For BPOs, balancing efficiency and quality is essential, as lengthy interactions can lead to higher costs, while rushed interactions run the risk of poor service—which will affect not just your business, but your client’s brand image.
To reduce AHT (without compromising on quality), empower your agents with streamlined workflows—whether that’s through AI tools, automated processes, or access to a centralized knowledge base.
AI-powered analytics, like sentiment and analysis and speech analytics, can also help you identify bottlenecks and optimize processes.
This is the percentage of queries that are resolved the first time a customer reaches out. It’s a critical quality parameter in BPO, as it directly affects operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and cost control.
Higher FCR scores mean fewer follow-ups and repeat calls, which improves the service experience for both customers and agents. Specific training on problem-solving and product knowledge supports faster resolutions, and access to data via text and speech analytics lets you pinpoint common issues so you can prep your employees on these problems in advance.
Your NPS gauges customer loyalty by measuring how likely they are to recommend your service to others. In business process outsourcing, it’s essential because it reflects long-term customer sentiment—and the success of your client relationships.
Higher NPS scores = strong customer retention and brand advocacy.
Lower NPS scores = customers frustration with your brand and service.
A culture of continuous improvement is key to raising your NPS score. Use sentiment analysis, as well as speech and text analytics, to understand customer frustration (or satisfaction) and react accordingly. And listen to feedback from both customers and agents, so you can pinpoint common CX issues and work to eliminate them.
CES evaluates how easy it is for customers to resolve their issues when interacting with your team. This is one of the most important quality parameters in BPO, as your agents might be the only point-of-contact your customers have with your clients—delivering a subpar experience can leave them with a poor outlook on your client’s brand.
Better service means lower CES; higher scores indicate customer frustration. To boost this metric, your agents need:
Quick, easy access to knowledge bases and integrated tools like your CRM
Better support from self-service tools like virtual agents, chatbots, and IVR
Focused training that emphasizes skills for reducing customer friction
Quality of Service (QoS) evaluates the overall effectiveness, professionalism, and reliability of your call center operations—all reasons why this is one of the most vital BPO quality parameters. It’s more than just delivering solid CX—your QoS reflects:
How well agents are adhering to scripts and processes
How agents exhibit soft skills and emotional intelligence, like active listening and empathy
The way your agents solve problems (and how deep their product knowledge is)
Improving your QoS means taking a hard look at how your agents handle every interaction. Using QA metrics to track agent performance and creating custom coaching sessions helps your team deliver a more satisfying, consistent customer experience.
For BPOs, SLAs are essential for establishing clear service expectations, responsibilities, and performance standards with clients. Meeting these SLAs is crucial; it gives clients faith in the effectiveness of your service and the performance of your agents. SLAs typically include goals for response times, resolution rates, and other BPO quality parameters we’ve discussed.
Your quality assurance process is key to SLA adherence. Using QA, you can monitor agent performance and quickly identify any lapses in service quality. Then, you can take your QA learnings and use them to deliver targeted coaching, ensuring your agents do all they can to adhere to SLAs.
Average speed of answer is a measurement of how quickly your agents respond to incoming calls. In BPOs, it’s essential for minimizing customer frustration and improving the overall service experience. A lower ASA means your call center is running smoothly and efficiently, while a high one can mean there are issues with your processes (or simply not enough staffing).
Changing your ASA starts with analyzing call volume trends, and then using that data to change your staffing levels during peak times. Using intelligent routing systems and better self-service tools can also help decrease the number of calls that require an agent. Additionally, automating workflows with AI-powered tools can free up agents, letting them handle more calls per day.
Call abandonment rate represents the percentage of calls where customers disconnect before reaching an agent. This metric can impact several other quality parameters in BPO, so it’s something that you should always monitor.
High abandonment can signal potential issues with wait times, agent availability, or inefficiencies in your systems—all sticking points that trickle down and impact other metrics including first call resolution, customer effort score, and so forth.
If you want to improve it, figure out why customers are disconnecting in the first place by asking pertinent questions:
Your agent turnover rate is the percentage of agents that have left your call center within a specific time frame.
In business process outsourcing, a high turnover rate disrupts operations, increases recruitment costs, and impacts service quality. That’s without even mentioning the crippling effect it can have on team morale and SLA adherence.
To prevent attrition, prioritize agent engagement by investing in agent well-being and fostering a culture of growth and improvement. You can also leverage your QA program (and software) to lift morale, adding in gamification elements to keep employees motivated and engaged.
This metric reflects the percentage of time agents spend actively handling calls or performing related tasks. For BPOs, balancing occupancy is essential to prevent both operational inefficiency and agent burnout.
While a high agent occupancy rate does indicate that your agents are staying productive, too high of a rate could suggest that they’re being overloaded with work—a potential precursor to future stress and, left unchecked, staff churn.
To optimize your occupancy rate, use workforce management tools to help align staffing levels with call volume patterns. You should also look into incorporating AI-powered automation to speed up workflows and eliminate tedious tasks that take up too much of your agent’s time.
Quality assurance is the basis for consistent performance within your call center, enabling you to maintain high standards across varied clients (and industries). Ensuring high standards for your BPO quality parameters starts with a thorough QA process and the right software.
While AI, automation, and analytics can all contribute to a smoother operation, QA serves as a mechanism to keep all of these other systems running smoothly. With the right software underpinning all of this, you can support agents and automate processes to help your BPO meet client demands—every time.
