Many companies rely on call centers to answer customer inquiries and concerns. How competently these call center agents answer their questions can influence the company’s overall success. However, the majority of the customers expect their issues to be resolved during the first contact with their business as when they don’t get their answers during the first contact it may lead to customer frustration or loss of business. That’s why First Call Resolution is critical for a business’s success. If you want to boost your customer satisfaction by improving the company’s FCR, then this blog is for you. Let’s start with the basics of FCR!
First-call resolution is when call center agents address the customer’s needs and concerns efficiently the first time they call. By doing this, no need for follow-up with a second call is required. This is one of the most critical Key Performance indicators that most of the contact centers measure.
For example; a call center representative solves a customer issue with a single chat, phone call, or email. A high FCR rate and low talk time with customers means that the agent quickly offers solutions with no follow-ups. Low FCR with more hold time means customers have to call back a few more times.
Below are the first call resolution best practices to boost customer satisfaction.
If you want to improve your first call resolution rate then you need to start with providing proper coaching for your call center representative agents. Train agents with in-depth knowledge of the product or service that you offer along with advanced problem-solving techniques and effective communication skills to increase the probability of them resolving issues on the first call. The more information they have, the better they can handle complex customer inquiries.
As soon as the customer and agents are on the same page relating to the issue, they must be concise and clear with the customers about what action needs to be taken. If the customer has to take action, then the agent should clearly explain the steps that the customer needs to take to overcome the issue. But if the agent doesn’t clearly explain, then to get an accurate response there will be a follow-up call.
In today’s digital world, your call center team needs to be provided with the appropriate tools that they can use to address the customers in the best way. This means using CRM software various social media, and chatbot software. With the help of this, you can quickly resolve customer issues and help in improving the first call resolution.
When a customer contacts a call center there may be a chance that a particular agent may not be able to answer it, although, there may be someone else in the support team to do that. In such cases, using automated ticket routing will be best. It helps in connecting the customer directly to the agent who is best suited to handle their issue. This improves the FCR, cuts down the wait times, and helps in delivering high-quality customer service.
A great way to measure and improve FCR is by asking customers to give feedback on call or email. Ask if they are satisfied with the call center support, whether their issue was resolved, or any recommendations from them. This will give you valuable insights into the first call resolution and help in addressing unhappy customers immediately and directly.
If many customers are asking the same questions daily, then it is better to create a FAQ section or a knowledge base. Customers with a particular issue can resolve it by checking this section independently without contacting the call center. In some situations when they contact the call center representative, the agent can tell them to that section which leads to stronger FCR.
The primary goal of customer service is to deliver exceptional and high-level services to customers and keep them satisfied. Improving First Call Resolution is an essential way to keep the customers happy. How quickly the agent handles customers and addresses their issues is critical to a business’s success.
So, by implementing and measuring strategies to improve FCR, businesses can boost customer trust and loyalty in their brand along with seamless customer experience. Kolaxo Contact Center Services has trained and professional call center agents who master the FCR measure to boost customer satisfaction and increase brand recognition.