Your chances to keep agents after they’ve found a job with a competitor are zero

Agent attrition is the single largest expense facing call centers, about $5,000 for each agent replacement. Since on average 50% of all agents are replaced every year this means that for a 10,000 agent strong call center the cost of attrition is at least $5,000x5,000=$25,000,000 each year.

Trying to preserve agents once they decided to leave and after they already found a job somewhere else is very difficult and even when successful extremely expensive. At a minimum it requires matching the better terms offered by a competitor.

A better way is to use smart AI predictions to find out ahead of time which agents are likely to resign. Frustrated agents can be approached by team leaders or by HR preservation experts to understand what is going on in the agent’s mind. The chances of preserving agents at those early stages are very high, usually above 50% while the preservation cost is minimal.

Bonuses and incentives are a very small price to pay to keep skilled agents happy and prolong their stay in their position for a few more months.

The benefits of extending the average employment time of agents are huge. Increasing the average agent employment from 6 to 9 months means the call center enjoys three additional months of work by a skilled agent, instead of a replacement.

Most importantly it means the call center can reduce its hires by 50% while increasing the quality of its hires at the same time.

By predicting which agents are going to leave next you have a chance to stop them and enjoy the single biggest competitive advantage in the call center industry.