New CCMA Benchmark data reveals quicker contact centre response times and lower attrition rates
The CCMA (Contact Centre Management Association) is set to announce the findings from its latest CCMA Benchmark, via an online seminar on Thursday 19 June.
CCMA Benchmark is an annual temperature check of the UK contact centre industry, with CCMA member organisations asked to track their contact centres across 25+ performance indicators each year, allowing them to compare themselves against industry averages.
Based on contact centre data from the 12 months of 2024, this year’s CCMA Benchmark has revealed several compelling industry trends, when compared to last year’s corresponding study:
√ Response times across channels are getting quicker – The average speed to answer (ASA) for voice calls improved, decreasing by 9.2%. For webchats, the ASA fell by 26%, while WhatsApp saw a 17.1% reduction in average response time.
√ As contact complexity increases within most contact centres, Average Handling Times (AHT) have increased from 8 mins 18 secs per interaction to 9 mins 13 secs, and there continues to be a shift towards increasing the ratio of team managers to frontline colleagues. The average ratio in this year’s study is 11.6 frontline colleagues to team managers, compared with 11 in last year’s CCMA Benchmark. The average number of training hours provided to frontline colleagues increased by 38.3%
√ Attrition rates are dropping – the rate of attrition is down from 33% to 28% year-on-year, as businesses in the sector increasingly see their retention and career pathway work bear fruit.
A number of additional, significant trends have surfaced in this year’s CCMA Benchmark data that Kate Law, CCMA’s Membership and Learning Director, will be discussing with a panel of industry leaders from the CCMA membership during the engaging online session as 12 noon on Thursday 19 June. They’ll also explore what this means for contact centre operations and their continuous development.
Kate said of the study:
“This year’s CCMA Benchmark highlights a contact centre industry that continues to rise to the challenge of changing customer demand and channel preference, the ever-evolving technology landscape and the need for progressive learning and development programmes to match.
“I look forward to sharing these trends and how they relate to the changing industry, on 19 June.”
For more than 30 years, the CCMA has been absolutely dedicated to supporting contact centre professionals. We’re constantly pushing ourselves to do more for our thriving community, which happens to be the largest community of contact centre professionals in the UK. The CCMA was founded with the goal of sharing best practice and networking to improve skills and knowledge in order to progress contact centre operations – and we live by that to this day.
We give those that work in contact centres the chance to discuss ideas and share experiences through member-only Special Interest Groups and online and in-person events. Members are invited to become Accredited through the Contact Centre Standards Framework and get independent guidance on where to focus for improvements. There is also the opportunity to benchmark the operation against 25+ KPIs. The CCMA Academy gives everyone a structured learning opportunity to support both personal and professional development for the benefit of their operation.
And of course, we celebrate the progress our industry is making through the UK National Contact Centres Awards. Those that win go on to share their stories through channels such as the UK National Contact Centre Conference, Best Practice Visits and CareerTalk. They are invited to input into the Special Interest Groups and other events.
For additional information on the CCMA view their Company Profile
