The Most Important Call Center Metric You’re Not Measuring
By
Bob Cecchini
Senior Consultant
First Call Resolution, Resolved on Contact, First Time Final, or Once and Done. By whatever name you choose to call it, First Call Resolution (FCR) is very likely the most important indicator of customer satisfaction, and you are probably not measuring it. Think about it. Do you really care that you had to wait in queue for two minutes if the agent who takes the call solves your problem and you don’t have to call back?
FCR is best defined as the percent of calls that do not need any other contacts to resolve the customer’s issue. Its complement is repeat calls. So, if you have 20% repeat calls, you have 80% FCR.
Research has shown a close correlation between high levels of FCR and customer satisfaction. In addition, high FCR usually means lower costs (fewer repeat calls) and higher employee satisfaction.
So, if FCR is so wonderful, why isn’t everyone measuring it? It’s because unlike other call center metrics, the system can’t do it for you. FCR is subjective, and you need to ask the caller. Some companies do post-call surveys. Others simply have agents ask the caller if their issue was resolved or if they’ve previously called on this same issue.
Once you start measuring FCR, you’ll want to take actions to improve it, so here are three things to work on:
- Agent Training—High FCR requires agents who are trained to handle all types of inquiries, especially the more complex ones that most negatively impact FCR. Well-trained agents know how to confidently convey all the necessary information needed to assure callers.
- Easy Access to Information—The agent desktop should be designed to make it easy for agents to navigate to the correct information, and that information must be well maintained and current.
- Timely Response to Pended Calls—One way to ensure repeat calls is to say you’ll do something and then take too much time doing it. So, try to minimize pended calls, set aggressive timeliness goals for resolving them, and keep a close eye on pended call aging and the number of pended calls by agent.
To those of you who are already measuring FCR, congratulations. For others, give it serious consideration. It may very well become one of your most important call center metrics.
