Most call center managers agree, that FCR or First Call Resolution is one of the most crucial metrics in their everyday work. By having a healthy FCR and avoiding returning calls from unsatisfied callers can measurably support the performance of the call center, lower the pressure on agents and increase customer experience all at once.
How can you have a better First Call Resolution? Below we have collected a few tips that can help focusing on FCR and boosting the overall performance of the call center.
- Find out all the questions
Make sure the call center agents are doing their bests to encourage the callers to ask all the questions they have in their mind during the discussion. If the conversation doesn’t end prematurely, the customers have the chance to discuss all of their concerns, then the chances of multiple call-backs are significantly lower.
- Provide extra information
Another way to improve FCR is to provide information and answer questions, even when it’s not requested. There are always changes, new deals, special offers that can be shared with the callers, regardless of the topic of the discussion. If the call center agents can successfully estimate what else the customer on the other end of the line need to know, that can help to avoid receiving multiple calls from the same people.
- Check for understanding
There are some cases when it’s not so easy to comprehend what is happening next, what are the exact processes, so it’s very important to always make sure that everything is clear to the caller. Making sure that each piece of information is passed on during the first interaction has a direct, positive effect on the First Call Resolution metric.
- Explain the reasons
If the customer is requesting something that is not possible, the agents should make sure to provide a logical, easy-to-understand explanation and alternative options or resources to leave the caller satisfied.
If the customers feel dismissed, they might believe that the agent was not helpful and will attempt to call another time to verify the information received.
- Request feedback
If the customer has called with an issue to be resolved, don’t just assume that the problem has been resolved after providing your solution. Ask the callers what they think.
The ultimate goal should never be just to go though the list and finish the queries, but to leave everyone satisfied. The easiest way to make sure that you are providing a great customer experience is to follow up on the calls and request feedback, indirectly effecting your FCR.
- Listen to the agents
Make sure that your agents are involved! After all, they are working on the frontlines, they are talking to the customers day after day, they have the most knowledge about what could be improved in order to avoid frequent call-backs or misinformation.
- Keep the records tidy
It might be tedious to record every necessary information regarding each customer in the CRM system, but in the long run knowing more always pays off. Have the agents keep the customer records tidy and organized in order to have access to up-to-date information on the accounts. Outstanding queries or missing data can result in resumed conversations, which is not preferable is you are focusing on maintaining a healthy FCR.
- Start using smart routing
Smart routing allows you to direct incoming calls to the most suitable teams or individual agents to deal with the certain query. Evaluating and filtering the calls helps you save time and prevents the customers to talk to less knowledgeable operators, ultimately resulting in call-backs and/or lengthy transfers between teams and departments. Introducing smart routing can support several metrics, including a positive effect on FCR and customer experience as well.
If you are interested to learn more about how First Call Resolution can be effectively balanced and what additional KPIs Nexios can measure, make sure to contact us!
