Cost per Contact in Practice
Calculation
CPC = Total support cost in period / Number of contacts in period
Typical Ranges by Channel
| Channel | Typical CPC |
|---|---|
| Self-service | €0-2 |
| Chat | €3-8 |
| €5-12 | |
| Phone | €7-15 |
How to Use It
CPC is most valuable when paired with CSAT. However, optimising CPC in isolation leads to cost cutting that destroys experience. Instead, track CPC and CSAT together, and optimise for the ratio of satisfied customers per euro spent, not either metric alone.
Frequently asked questions
What should be included in Cost per Contact?
Agent salaries and benefits, management and QA overhead, tooling licences, facilities, and training. After all, excluding overhead understates the true cost and makes deflection business cases look worse than they are.
