It’s extremely important to learn and understand how to measure first call resolution. It’s also essential to comprehend how this type of measurement can affect your customers and overall success.

Establishing How to Measure First Call Resolution

When defining the success of your call center, along with measuring your first call resolution, you need to take several key performance indicators (KPIs) into consideration. These variables determine your company’s profitability. Some of these KPIs include:

• Average time in queue
• Average speed to answer calls
• Abandonment rate
• Average handle time
• Total call duration
• Customer satisfaction metric

First call resolution is a percentage of all the calls that had a call center agent resolve the caller’s issue during the first attempt. These calls aren’t escalated to a manager, transferred, and didn’t require a callback. The insights gained from these calls help improve operational efficiency and delivery of an exceptional customer experience.

What is First Call Resolution?

Not every company uses the same standards to define first call resolution. Some call centers rely entirely on call identifiers from their phone system. If the caller doesn’t call again within a certain time frame, then the issue is considered resolved.

This doesn’t mean the issue was settled. Plus, the customer may call again for an entirely unrelated problem. The most common method for determining the rate is the total calls settled on the first attempt divided by the total calls in a time period.

Once you decide on the exact definition of your first call resolution then you will need to determine the criteria that contribute to your first call resolution rate. For example, was the call resolved on the first attempt or was it escalated to a supervisor?

Did they require a callback or did they call again at a later date about the same problem? Don’t forget to include a specific time period between contact with each caller. If the customer calls within that time frame, then it won’t count as a first call resolution.

Using Call Center Tools

The advantages of using hosted dialer solutions are the call center tools that allow you to gather the necessary metrics to determine your first call resolution rate. The CRM system gives you the ability to record whether a caller’s issue was settled to their satisfaction. If it has not been resolved, a ticket will mark it as unresolved.

The IVR system collects data from the time the customer calls to the reason behind the call, the number of times, and call abandonment rate. Another frequently used tool is the recording of live calls. These calls can be listened to as they progress or listened to at a later time. Important information regarding a customer’s previous calls can give you insight as to why it was settled or not.

Customer Satisfaction Matters

At the end of it all, a true standard of first call resolution should be whether or not the customer walked away satisfied with his or her service. How efficiently and effectively are you delivering hassle-free customer service or sales? Callers want to receive smooth, excellent service the first time, every time.