Providing exceptional customer service is essential for companies today. First call resolution (FCR) – solving a customer‘s problem during the initial contact – must be a top priority for call centers. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore proven methods to dramatically improve FCR rates.
What is First Call Resolution and Why It Matters
First call resolution means a customer‘s question, complaint or request is addressed fully the first time they reach out to your support center, whether by phone, email, web chat or other channels.
High first call resolution translates to happier customers and lower costs through improved efficiency. Let‘s look at some key statistics:
- 81% of customers consider quick problem resolution important or very important when judging a company‘s service quality (PwC)
- 78% said their loyalty to a company is dependent on high-quality support (Microsoft)
- 70% reported poor customer service experiences made them stop buying from a brand (Accenture)
At the same time, high FCR rates generate major savings by reducing repeat contacts:
- Companies save $1 in operating costs for every 1% increase in first call resolution (Dimension Data)
- Average cost of a repeat call is $25 compared to $6 for first contact calls (Gartner)
Bottom line: Investing to streamline issue handling and prevent extra calls pays off through better customer retention and increased profit margins.
Assessing Your Call Center‘s First Call Resolution
Measuring first call resolution performance is the first step to improvement. There are two primary methods:
Customer surveys capture if the issue was fully addressed from the buyer‘s perspective. Surveys should take place shortly after the call when it‘s fresh in the customer‘s mind.
Quality assurance monitoring involves supervisors listening to call recordings to gauge whether complete resolution was achieved based on criteria like:
- Issue diagnosis was correct
- Information provided was accurate and thorough
- Ownership was taken from start to finish
While surveys assess subjective satisfaction, monitoring looks at objective issue handling quality. Using both provides well-rounded insights.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) like average handle time, escalation rate to higher tiers of support, and repeat call rate also reflect how well agents are resolving issues.
Common Causes of Failed First Call Resolution
Before diving into solutions, it helps to diagnose why some customer issues necessitate repeat contacts. Major factors include:
Incomplete information access – Agents lack visibility into order history, account status or previous support tickets to resolve concerns.
Unaware of workarounds – They don‘t know temporary fixes for persistent problems awaiting long-term solutions.
Unable to make empowered decisions – Scripts and rigid policies restrict latitude to instantly credit accounts, waive fees, approve exceptions, etc.
Poor call routing – Customers get transferred between departments increasing frustration and doubling handle time.
Ineffective escalation process – Second tier staff just assign tickets back or keep issues open indefinitely awaiting sporadic follow-up.
Communication breakdowns – No established cadence for keeping customers updated on issue status via their channel of choice.
With common pitfalls identified, let‘s explore proven ways to overcome these barriers.
Best Practices for Improving First Call Resolution
Achieving excellence in first call resolution requires focusing on people, process and technology.
Equip Agents with Knowledge
Empower your frontline staff with specialized skills and instant access to information. Recommended actions include:
Consolidate resources – Unify knowledge base articles, FAQs, tech manuals in a searchable customer service database. Popular platforms like Salesforce Service Cloud, Zendesk, Freshdesk integrate these capabilities.
Facilitate peer sharing – Foster camaraderie for agents to exchange insights on complex customer issues and workaround solutions.
Bridging information gaps– Provide account history, trouble tickets, previous case details directly on agent desktop for vital context.
Speed access to experts – Enable agents to instantly chat with specialized product support or priority routing of call transfers when more expertise is needed.
Motivate and Coach Staff
First call resolution must be integral to your support culture. Ways to catalyze commitment include:
Set expectations – Incorporate FCR rates in core agent KPIs used for performance management.
Encourage healthy competition – Publish first call resolution rankings to recognize top performers.
Offer incentives – Provide individual rewards like gift cards or team bonuses for hitting monthly FCR targets.
Ongoing development – Conduct regular training refreshers; ensure wide cross-training to equip agents to handle diverse issues.
Solicit feedback -Use post-call surveys and quality assurance findings to improve knowledge resources and processes.
Optimize Support Processes
Complex customer service workflows often create gaps leading to repeat contacts. Take these process reengineering actions:
Simplify call routing – Minimize transfers. Categorize issues for quick assignment to the right agents.
Tighten escalation circle – Limit hand-offs to only specialized second tier staff instead of multiple back-and-forth referrals.
Set clearer expectations – Provide timeframe to resolution and preferred contact methods to keep customers updated on priority cases.
Automate steps – Identify manual efforts around refunds, data research, form submittals etc. that can be systematized to speed response.
Make improvements scalable – Find ways to update knowledge base, adjust business rules, build automated playbooks so fixes can be propagated across the organization.
Advanced Tools to Identify Fail Points
Cutting-edge call center technology provides additional ways to pinpoint and address gaps leading to repeat calls and poor first contact resolution:
Speech analytics – AI-based modeling detects lexicon and sentiment signals correlated with unresolved issues and customer effort.
Contact mapper – Visualize each customer‘s omni-channel support journey to highlight unnecessary steps.
Desktop analytics – Activity tracking to identify what sites agents visit, where they stall or exit flows without resolution.
Smart case classifier – Machine learning automatically tags unresolved cases by failure reason and routing errors.
While boosting first call resolution requires a concerted, cross-disciplinary effort, the payoff is game-changing: reduced costs through operational efficiency, increased customer retention thanks to happy clients, and contact center staff who take pride in providing 5-star service.
Call Center Managers – Execute This 3 Phase Plan to Increase First Call Resolution
Driving transformational improvement in first call resolution takes careful orchestration across people, processes and systems. Below is an execution roadmap organized in three horizons:
Horizon 1 (0 – 6 months)
Goal: Optimize short-term performance
Actions:
- Launch customer surveys to capture resolution rates
- Expand quality assurance monitoring
- Analyze trends in repeat call drivers
- Identify common workaround solutions to disseminate across staff
- Coach agents on better call closing and expectation setting
Benefits:
- 10-15% increase in FCR rate within 6 months
- Higher customer satisfaction levels
- Increased agent confidence
Horizon 2 (6 – 12 months)
Goal: Scale support capabilities
Actions:
- Upgrade knowledge management system
- Implement speech analytics to surface priority improvement areas
- Expand agent access to customer data and subject matter experts
- Revise help desk ticket routing rules and escalation workflows
- Train staff on identified gaps; share best practices
Benefits:
- Over 20% FCR lift in the first year
- Reduced repeat contacts and operational costs
- Improved customer loyalty and business growth
Horizon 3 (12 – 18 months)
Goal: Enable continuous optimization
Actions:
- Integrate contact mapping and predictive analytics for deeper insights
- Launch smart case classifier to track FCR failure reasons
- Automate repetitive information lookup and issue resolution steps
- Foster peer feedback loops and community learning culture
- Maintain consistent surveying and monitoring
Benefits:
- Predictable achievement of targeted FCR benchmarks
- Compounding efficiency gains through automation
- Ingrained culture of customer-centric service excellence
The bottom line, first call resolution excellence pays dividends across key performance indicators – better customer satisfaction, lower costs, faster growth. While the effort is substantial, the rewards of highly loyal customers and future-ready customer service make it a compelling imperative.
