If you've ever contacted customer support and been told your issue was resolved, but then had to call back to fix the same problem, it's because the company didn't meet their First Call Resolution (FCR) expectations.
This metric is extremely important for call center teams, as consumers are increasingly looking for better service , and especially speed in problem-solving.
Furthermore, this indicator is closely linked to the customer effort metric , which is currently the most predictive indicator when it comes to customer loyalty.
If you're interested in this topic and want to learn all about what First Call Resolution is, how to measure it, and how to use customer experience metrics to complement this measurement, just keep reading this article!
What is First Call Resolution (FCR)?
First Call Resolution, also known as first contact resolution or FCR, is a company's ability to handle a customer's calls, emails, questions, or complaints during their first contact, thus making for a more efficient experience.
With this indicator, you can understand the resolution rate on the first contact your support team has with your customers.
Improving this indicator helps reduce customer effort and improves the customer experience across the board, and is seen as one of the most important metrics to measure in a contact center model.
How to calculate FCR?
Calculating First Call Resolution is very simple, just divide the number of resolutions made during the first contact by the total number of requests made by consumers.
FCR = Total cases resolved / total number of cases
The higher the number, the more likely your team is solving problems the first time and reducing customer effort.
However, calculating this rate alone isn't enough. How will you know if the customer's issue was truly resolved? Asking the agent may not be the best option.
Therefore, the ideal is to apply a satisfaction survey right after closing that contact, asking if the problem was resolved after closing the ticket.
Using complementary metrics
As we mentioned earlier, after closing the ticket with the customer, it is necessary to “close the loop” with the customer, asking whether or not the problem was resolved through a CSAT survey .
customer effort survey can also be applied , asking whether your company made it easier to resolve the customer's issue.
Since both metrics are transactional , it is up to the company to decide which of the two can extract better insights.
I imagine you're wondering where the Net Promoter Score (NPS) fits into this, right? In these contact center cases, NPS isn't the most appropriate metric, precisely because of the purpose of customer contact with your company.
For example, most customers will contact your company to resolve a problem, so the NPS question will not have a neutral bias to actually know the customer's experience , since they will already be contacting you precisely to report a negative experience.
In this case, the priority is to know whether the customer's problem was resolved, whether there was little or a lot of effort to resolve this problem, and after the problem has been resolved, then an NPS survey makes more sense.
I recently wrote a practical guide on using customer experience metrics , with the benefits and disadvantages of each one – I'm sure it will help you clear up any doubts you may have.
Why measure First Call Resolution?
The main reason to start measuring FCR is that you'll be able to identify issues with first-call resolution and better understand the process your customer goes through when contacting your company.
If the support team doesn't monitor this rate, issues will continue to persist and customer effort scores will continue to rise, resulting in lower customer retention and loyalty .
Once such problems are identified, they can be resolved, thus improving the work of the agents and also the FCR rate.
7 practical tips to increase First Call Resolution
Now that you're up to speed, it's only fair to share best practices to further improve your company's FCR rates.
#1 Simplify processes
Most cases with low FCR are linked to high bureaucracy in service procedures, so there is no need to demand that issues brought by customers have to be resolved only by a specific member of the company, or a manager, for example.
Always try to simplify these processes and make problem resolution accessible to all agents.
#2 Centralize information
Good omnichannel is all an effective customer service team needs to solve customer issues across multiple platforms.
With centralized and organized information , your team becomes more efficient and there is no need for exchanges between agents and repeated explanations of the same problem.
#3 Autonomy for attendants
Give your team autonomy so they can help customers without having to contact a superior or open complex protocols every time.
This way, you simplify the procedures for resolving the problem and prevent the problem from not being resolved due to bureaucracy.
#4 Focus on solving problems
Another important factor in this equation is prioritizing solving the customer's problem and not indicators such as service time.
Because if the customer's problem is not resolved, they will have to open another call, explain the problem again to another agent, and the service time will be doubled or tripled.
Therefore, focus on solving your customers' problems quickly, and the "consequences" will be the best possible.
#5 Continuous analysis
Monitoring First Call Resolution is crucial, as this is the only way to know whether or not your strategies to improve this indicator are successful.
For example, imagine that you decide to simplify and change several internal procedures to ensure an increase in the call resolution rate. However, if you don't monitor this indicator, you won't know whether the adapted processes were positive or negative.
Analysis is a crucial part of every business strategy, and as Peter Drucker said, what can be measured can be improved.
#6 Understand unsolved cases
If your First Call Resolution rate isn't 100%, it's because a call wasn't resolved immediately, and understanding why is crucial. At this stage, it's important to understand whether:
- Was it an issue that didn't just depend on the attendant?
- Lack of technical knowledge?
- Did the customer or attendant not help resolve the problem?
- Missing a help center or FAQ ?
- How could the problem have been resolved in the first contact?
- Were there any limitations to solving my customer's problem?
All of these variables are valid and can occur in the work routine. Therefore, monitoring occurrences makes a difference when it comes to resolving weaknesses and increasing FCR.
#7 Be helpful and proactive
This may seem obvious, but asking questions like “Did this solve your problem?” or “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” can dramatically improve your FCR and customer perception of your company.
This small action brings transparency to customer service, encourages the customer to speak up, ensures the solution is working, and reduces the likelihood of the customer calling back. After all, it's better to solve now what could be a major problem later.
Conclusion
FCR is one of the most important metrics for contact center teams to understand their issue resolution rates.
By implementing these best practices, you can reduce calls and increase customer satisfaction by resolving issues and concerns without requiring repeat contact.
Using First Call Resolution will provide a great understanding of whether your customer's issues are being resolved or not – and, most importantly, will allow you to cross-reference this indicator with customer satisfaction, effort, and loyalty rates.
And as you can imagine, this is an ongoing effort to identify gaps , create an improvement plan, and finally, implement these improvements to enhance your customers' experience.
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