{"id":32931,"date":"2020-10-13T11:45:42","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T11:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proprofs.com\/c\/?p=32931"},"modified":"2025-06-04T06:13:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T06:13:38","slug":"first-contact-resolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.proprofschat.com\/blog\/first-contact-resolution\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Improve the First Contact Resolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When almost 60% <\/a>of customers believe that waiting on hold for a minute is too long, then imagine how a customer-obsessed CEO, Jeff Bezos, must have felt after waiting for more than four minutes to get on line with its own customer service team?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, your customer won\u2019t wait so long and they don\u2019t just expect a response, they expect first contact resolution. They aren’t checking up on your customer service team like Bezos but looking for a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And instant contact for help is just one side of the story. Even if customers successfully connect with your team in less than a minute, what\u2019s the guarantee that they\u2019ll get a solution on their first call?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you fail to offer a first contact resolution, you might see more customers leaving your business. In that case, it is important to understand what first contact resolution means for your business, its importance, and how you can improve it successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ve got your back. We\u2019ll help you learn everything about FCR in this blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What is First Contact Resolution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First-call resolution or first contact resolution (FCR) is defined as a contact center\u2019s ability to resolve customer issues or address their needs the first time they call, with no follow-up required. As a contact center metric, it is a vital part of the customer relationship management process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to say that it will help you know if customers are satisfied with your services would be a wrong assumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Toporek<\/strong>, a customer experience expert and the host of a podcast Crack the Customer Code<\/a>, shared the following two insights in one of his episodes when describing the first contact resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, you don\u2019t know if the solution helped the customer resolve their emotional dissatisfaction.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, customers want to connect faster, but they also want to be left confident and satisfied with the solution they receive from a brand. And unfortunately, this metric doesn\u2019t really capture emotional dissatisfaction even if you did resolve a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, you don\u2019t anticipate what other problems may arise once an issue is resolved.<\/em> Does it sound complex to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an example to help you understand the scenario better:<\/b> <\/span><\/strong>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy and her family have recently shifted to a new place. Due to this change, she wants to make sure that her new address is updated in the bank. She reaches out to the bank and asks them if she could receive her bank statements and other related documents to the new address. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a matter of a day or two, the address changes next to her records. Great! That\u2019s what we wanted right? Getting past a hurdle during the first contact. But does the bank anticipate that her other family members might have an account with them too and may approach them for the same? No, they don\u2019t.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, the other members of the family are left to connect with the bank again and follow through the same process to get their address changed. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With Amy\u2019s problem addressed the first time she called for help, the bank fulfills the FCR criteria. But they fail to anticipate a problem that may rise in future. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What does it really say about this customer service metric<\/a>? <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

FCR rate doesn\u2019t make you far-sighted or anticipate challenges your customers may face in future. This metric only indicates your responsiveness towards first contact and whether the challenge is met with a solution at the same time.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/th><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How to Calculate First Contact Resolution Rate<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To improve your support team\u2019s responsiveness towards all customers, it is important you learn the first contact resolution formula. Only then you arrive at strategies that help them improve in this area further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Contact Resolution Formula<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"First<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What Is a Good First Contact Resolution Rate?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Is there really a good first contact resolution rate for your business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Call Centre Helper, the industry standards for FCR rate usually range from 65% to 75%. But does that indicate that anything above 75% will be seen as a good first contact resolution rate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, every organization has its own customer service process and different stack of tools to offer help efficiently to their customers. That means their first contact resolution may vary too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also need to understand that every organization will have different standards to measure their FCR according to the sector they belong to. That\u2019s why, we can\u2019t compare FCR rates of one organization to another as it may vary due to their practices and decide what\u2019s a good FCR rate for your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Importance of First Contact Resolution<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By now you must have understood why good FCR performance is important for your business. It\u2019s an indicator of how prompt your customer service team is to address and resolve customer issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is that the only reason why this metric holds so much importance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study<\/a> suggests that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c77% of customers end up using a self-service support portal to get a solution to their problem faster.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tweet this<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, 12% of them fail to find the solution they need through these service portals. That 12% of customers who fail to find a solution through self-service portals end up escalating their problems to your customer support teams. And, during these circumstances they want their problem to be resolved on their first contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft\u2019s global research<\/a> reveals that customers who get their issues resolved in a single interaction label it to be the most important aspect of a good customer service experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means you need to offer a solution to your customer\u2019s problems on their first contact to create a delightful experience for them with your brand. In a nutshell, a good FCR performance is not just for your brand but also for your customers. You are trying to reduce customer efforts by offering them instant resolution on their first contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that\u2019s not possible either at your end. After all, different problems call for different solutions. But if that\u2019s the case, then how can you increase the first contact resolution rate for your business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How to Improve the First Contact Resolution<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Route Customers to the Right Contact Touch Points<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

72%<\/a> of consumers consider explaining their problem to multiple people as a sign of poor customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your customers don\u2019t like to repeat themselves, period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to make sure that their experience isn\u2019t hampered by repeating themselves to one operator and then to another, make sure you route them to the right department immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a live chat, you can simply add a field in your pre-chat form<\/a> that says Department.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"live<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That way when your customers initiate a chat and fill this form, they\u2019ll be directed to the right department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outcome?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With live chat routing <\/a>your customers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a.<\/strong> Save their efforts to repeat their problem every time they get redirected to a relevant department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

b.<\/strong> Get a solution to their problems faster as they reach the right department on the first try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same can be done on call support through interactive voice response (IVR)<\/a>. Here callers get to choose from a predetermined list of departments to which they\u2019d like to connect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for support tickets, the agent who comes across the new ticket can add the department tag or assign it to someone belonging to a specific department. But if you have the right help desk ticketing software<\/a>, then there\u2019s a way to get tickets to the right department automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can add and manage customer-facing emails (sales@, support@, help@, billing@, contact@ etc.) in your ticketing system. All emails will get converted into tickets and can be tracked through the shared inbox<\/a>. To make sure these tickets get assigned to the right department, create categories.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Shared<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

These will help you assign tickets to the right department automatically. And you will never miss a customer support request and always send timely responses, leaving your customer delighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn: How to Reduce Customer Service Response Time<\/a><\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
2. Keep Your Knowledge Base Up-to-Date<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
To empower your operators with the ability to offer instant solutions, make sure you keep your knowledge base updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A knowledge base system<\/a> will help them search relevant articles that help your customer support team respond to customer questions and offer possible solutions faster. This in turn helps you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n