First Call Resolution (FCR) or First Contact Resolution customer service metric. It’s a measure of the support team’s ability to resolve an issue or query within the first call/interaction itself. A good FCR rate means that your support team is efficient and effective with the support that they provide. A high FCR rate indicates better customer satisfaction, lower operational costs, and improved agent productivity (more on that, later).
Benefits of having a high FCR
The biggest win from a high FCR is greater customer satisfaction. When issues are resolved during the first call, customers feel valued and understood, leading to greater trust and loyalty. Not all support tickets lead to a quick resolution, but you should push to achieve a first-call resolution for as many interactions as possible.
Next in line is the time and dollars saved. Resolving issues on the first call reduces the need for follow-up interactions, saving time and resources. This way your customer service team can manage more calls, boosting overall productivity which saves money in the process. These savings may seem small upfront, but over a longer period, these can lead to some significant reductions in running costs.
Employee morale within your customer service team is also key to the functioning of your organization. A high FCR empowers agents to resolve issues effectively, reducing burnout and overall call turnover. Agents can then focus on developing better problem-solving skills to handle complex customer issues. It’s simple, better FCR leads to better agents that feed into better customer interactions.
Moreover, in the pursuit of high FCR rates, your team is pushed to improve data quality with valuable insights into customer concerns and the effectiveness of its solutions. This information can then be used to improve training, refine products or services, and maintain a competitive edge. Overall, high FCR enhances service quality and customer relationships.
Challenges in Achieving First Call Resolution
Achieving a high First Call Resolution rate is not a simple task. The primary concern is the complexity of customer issues. Many inquiries require in-depth knowledge of the product or service. These can involve multiple departments, making it difficult to resolve the issue on the first call itself. This complexity often results in escalations or repeat calls, which can frustrate the customer and employees as well.
Then there’s the training of employees, which is also a major undertaking. Sometimes there’s a lack of resources and other times, it’s callous employees break protocol, both of which can tarnish your brand’s reputation. There are a lot of moving parts that must click together for an FCR to be achieved, without which you would run into inefficiencies across the board.
Technical limitations can also be a major bottleneck. Poor integration of your CRM, outdated technology, or insufficient call routing. This prevents agents from accessing necessary customer information promptly, resulting in longer call times, and unresolved issues.
Lastly, high agent turnover rates can also negatively impact FCR. New or inexperienced agents lack the skills or product knowledge to resolve issues quickly. Even if they are proficient in the tools provided, they take time to settle into their roles, costing time and money in the process.
Measuring First Call Resolution
We know that you run a tight ship where all moving parts come together and function as one. This means you want to accurately measure your FCR and from there, seek ways to improve it. Because we can’t fathom having poor customer service, now can we?
To calculate your FCR, simply divide the issues resolved on the first call by the total number of calls handled. Make sure you know the period that you are calculating the FCR for. For a more comprehensive understanding of customer experience, calculate your FCR across all channels including phone, email, and chat. Feedback surveys are also a good way to understand if the customer was satisfied with the call and the provided resolution.
Strategies to Improve First Call Resolution (FCR)
Let’s get you and your agents on a winning streak and pump up those numbers. Here are 5 actionable ways to improve FCR. If applied correctly, you can see a significant improvement in your issue resolution and first-call resolution rates.
Effective Training and Knowledge Base Utilization
Training your agents is crucial for a high FCR. A thorough understanding of your product, the possible issues, and common customer issues should be at the top of your agents’ minds. Additionally, a strong knowledge base is also required. These are all pieces of information relevant to a customer that the agent can scan, search, and pull from when required. This reduces the need for escalations or callbacks when issues arise. Based on your industry of operations, these may look different for every single company. That’s why it’s recommended to regularly update your information as soon as any inadequacies arise.
Empowering Agents with Decision-Making Authority
Some decisions should be in the agent’s hands. This is something that could require organizational change, but if it’s possible, trust us, you’ll be better for it! Empowering agents and enabling them to make certain decisions without approvals from higher-ups can significantly improve FCR. As a result, your agents will be more confident during customer interactions, which leads to shorter call times, higher FCR, and improved productivity.
Implementing Advanced Call Routing Techniques
Using an AI IVR (Interactive Voice Response), you can route calls intelligently. When the customer has already shared their credentials and the type of issue that they are facing, you can divert their call to the concerned party with ease. So rather than having customer calls directed from an operator to a qualified agent; have it go to the agent directly.
Use of AI and Automation to Aid Agents
Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools can assist agents by providing real-time information and solutions. AI can analyze customer queries and suggest relevant answers from the knowledge base, while automation can handle routine tasks, allowing agents to focus on more complex issues. This support can lead to higher FCR and reduced call handling times.
AI can be an invaluable tool for your agents as well. And, no, it won’t replace their jobs. It will however make it easier for them to assist the customers faster. That’s exactly what you need for your customer inquiries. When you can capture a user’s issues, and present a relevant knowledge base entry for them; there’s always a suitable answer available. When connected to your CRM and automation tools, AI bots can pull customer info and trigger actions in the background. This gives agents more time to focus on more complex tasks.
Creating a Feedback Loop for Continuous Improvement
Last but not least, feedback. Your support agents must know and understand their KPIs thoroughly. They should know about the tools at their disposal and how to effectively use them. Additionally, customer feedback is also an important metric. There must be a time and place to share feedback, after this, you can adjust strategies, improve training, and refine processes. For information on using Phonely and other common concerns, check out Phonely’s help center for support.
The Role of Technology
Great call centers and BPOs can’t function without dependable technology. Technology that not only enables their business but also directly impacts their first contact resolution rate. All of this with very little downtime. Let’s give each of these a fair shake.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
Businesses at all levels need to have a CRM that gives quick access to customer history and interaction data. This includes the number of calls, support requests, and issues resolved. All of which are key metrics to calculate your FCR performance. A CRM is the master ledger, the backbone of your relationship with the customer. Salesforce is an excellent tool in this regard, one that can help your agents view complete customer profiles instantly. This speeds up the resolution process, since you know what product the user paid for, their industry, and other relevant information. When you connect an AI tool to this, you effectively have a personal assistant for each of your agents. Talk about everything, all at once!
AI-powered chatbots and Virtual Assistants
AI Chatbots and VAs are all the rage lately, and for good reason. By adding a chat option on your customer service portal, you can nudge user inquiries into a chat instead of a call. This frees up the phone lines, and your customer service team members only tend to issues that can’t be solved over chat. This reduces the need for phone support and only select issues will make it to the call center. While the duration for those individual phone calls may increase in this case, the total call volume will be down.
Data Analytics and Predictive Issue Resolution
Verizon, a large telecom giant, here in the United States uses predictive analytics to analyze patterns and trends. This makes it possible for them to solve issues even before customers call, leaving effectively zero room for complaints. This reduces the number of calls, thereby improving FCR. If you have expansive data on your service and customers, you too can use a proactive approach like this.
Omnichannel Support Integration
Omnichannel simply means more than one point of contact for the customer. Your customers should be able to call you, email you, or even chat. If they can DM you on Twitter, even better! Amazon, which is a behemoth of a corporation, offers consistent service across all channels. This allows customers to resolve issues within a single interaction. Thankfully, with the right tech stack, you too can offer a similar experience.
Common Misconceptions About First Call Resolution
There are a few misconceptions about First Call Resolution (FCR) can lead to ineffective customer service strategies. These must be recognized and fixed as soon as possible.
One common myth is that FCR should be the sole focus of customer service teams. While FCR is important, prioritizing at the expense of service quality can lead to rushed or incomplete resolutions, ultimately harming customer satisfaction levels.
A high first-call resolution Rate is a great metric to chase. At Phonely, we are constantly pushing toward the same, both for our customers and our phone lines. But good customer service requires equal parts agility and accuracy, so we can’t be this myopic. Compromising service quality for the sake of a high FCR rate is a recipe for disaster. This is where customer satisfaction ratings can provide a more holistic picture of service quality.
Lastly, some believe that a high FCR can only be achieved with better training and pliable employees. But these are not the only factors. This is where technology and streamlined processes come in. A woodworker can only do so much without a hammer and a drill. Similarly, your agents need to be empowered with the right tools in place, making sure that the first resolution is also the right resolution.
Future Trends
At Phonely, we are in an ardent pursuit to increase FCR rates across the board for our clients. Using advanced AI and machine learning with your current tech stack, we empower customer service teams to predict and resolve issues before they escalate. We see this becoming the norm going ahead with AI-powered IVRs that use natural language and the AI on the other end, sounds exactly like a human being. Take it for a spin?
With CRM integrations, personalization will become an industry requirement. Customer data can be used to tailor responses and solutions, making FCR possible for complex tasks as well. Self-service tools will also assist the user, reducing overall agent involvement.
Businesses at the forefront of this trend will benefit the most because there will be large efficiency gains. This will allow companies to set the bar for customer service excellence because you get personalized omnichannel service powered by the lightning speed of AI models. Integrating AI into existing workflows is the need of the hour.
The Path Forward
FCR has been and remains to be a cardinal metric to assess customer satisfaction and employee performance in a contact center. As the consumer landscape evolves, innovative solutions and personalized interactions powered by AI and ML will be the competitive advantage to have. While they will never fully replace a rich knowledge base and empowered agents, they will certainly help you get that 5-star rating and save money in the process.
