When you call customer service to get help with a service or product, the common expectation is to want your problem solved on the first call.
If the issue is not solved, typically, this leads to poor customer experience.
First-call resolution, FCR, is one of the best ways to rate customer experience in a call center.
FCR and customer experience are two concepts that are strictly related because FCR rates improve when call center agents solve the customers´ needs and problems during the first phone call.
Customer experience, also known as CX, is the priority for most businesses. Adobe worked with Econsultancy on the report of Digital Trends for 2020, in which the results made clear the importance of CX. During this research, they found out that 34% of leading businesses put as a priority the customers´ experience. It is essential to know your customer to have higher customer satisfaction.
This article will develop all the characteristics and importance of FCR metric:
First-call resolution refers to when contact center agents solve the customers´ problem without the need to repeat calls. Giving the best customer support and managing call handling is vital to any business, even more in a call center environment.
Having higher first-call resolution rates will have positive impacts on your company:
The lousy service experience can cause significant problems for your company. Statistics have shown that almost 82% of customers leave companies where they have had bad experiences.
The first contact you have with your customer can make the difference in your business-customer relationship.
The way agents handle the first customers´ calls can lead to customer retention or the opposite of it. This is one of the many reasons why having a higher first call resolution rate can have a significant positive impact on your company.
The work of customer service agents is vital to the company’s reputation. When selling a product or service, if the customer service goes wrong, statistically, the dissatisfied customer will tell up to 15 people about the negative experience. Underlining why first-call resolutions are essential. If you have a first positive experience, the word will spread, and you will have more clients, or at least you won’t have a negative image.
In addition to this, it is proven that customers may spend up to 16% more if they have better service.
If your business has higher FCR rates, the wait times will get shorter. How? If the call center agents are efficient and solve the customers´ problem on the first contact, there will be fewer follow up calls and repeated calls. The work system will be more productive.
To calculate the FCR rates, consider all the different communication channels that your company has with the clients, such as phone calls, email, and live chat.
There are a series of steps to follow when calculating FCR rates:
The results of a research made by The Ascent Group established that 60% of the companies that have been measuring FCR rates for more than a year have improvements up to 30%.
To improve and implement First call resolution in the most effective way, here are some tips:
Having a high FCR rate is essential for many businesses, especially call centers. All these series of pros make it obvious, even more with all the statistics shown.
The effect first-call resolutions can have on your business are multiple, from reducing costs and having a more efficient environment at work, to the customers´satisfaction.