First Call Resolution

In many contact centers, First Call Resolution (FCR) is a key metric.  The goal is the same across the board: Resolve customers' issues so they won’t need to call back.  An effective FCR program can actually lower your call volume, which can lower your staffing needs and ultimately your operating cost.

FCR measurement is a tricky beast, though.  Talk to 5 different call center managers, and you’re likely to get 5 different answers on what FCR means and how it is measured.

What does FCR mean?
The most basic view of first call resolution is resolving the issue that prompted the initial contact.  If a customer calls for tech support, and the technician resolves the issue on the first call, it is resolved.  But some companies go even further, requiring all of a customer’s concerns be addressed and resolved.  If a tech support call uncovers a billing issue, both must be taken care of.  After all, if the billing issue is left open, the customer will call back at some point.

And to go deeper into the variety of ways FCR can be measured, there’s also a time frame attached: No callbacks for the same issue within 1 week, or no callbacks on any issue for 96 hours, for example.

How to define FCR is a business decision all contact center executives should face.  What is the impact on the customer experience?  What is the resulting cost of support?  These are the two major deciding factors.  Once those questions have been answered, it’s time to set up a program for FCR and begin measuring it.

How is FCR measured?
There are a number of ways to track who is contacting you and why.  Phone logs and CRM reports are usually the go-to sources for FCR data.  But are they reliable?  These days, when a customer can call from a cell phone, home phone, or business line, a simple check for duplicate phone numbers can come up short.  CRM records can be more reliable…as long as you are confident your agents are using the CRM correctly on every single call.  If you are only measuring repeat calls on the primary issue, a simple mis-coding can make or break your report.
 
And then there’s the question of perception.  The CRM gauges your agent’s perception of how a call was resolved, but for a true measurement of call resolution—particularly when you are trying to determine the likelihood of that customer calling back—you also need to include the customer’s thoughts, which means a post-call survey is in order.

Using all of these data points—phone records, CRM reports, and survey results—you can get the best measurements of FCR, and provide truly exceptional quality at an achievable operating cost.