A contact center’s efficiency is determined on the basis of a number of factors, such as agents’ performance, productivity, and how well they are able to meet the varying demands of the customers. One of the most important metrics that play a significant role when determining a contact center’s efficiency is the length of time taken to resolve every customer’s query, which is also known as First Contact Resolution (FCR). In simple words, the FCR rate is the number of times a contact center was able to resolve a customer’s query or problem on the very first call or communication via any other channel, such as chat, email, text, or social media.
Also referred to as the ‘pulse rate of the contact center,’ a higher FCR rate implies that the customers are happier and the total operating cost of the contact center is minimal. On the contrary, a lower FCR implies that the team’s performance is poor and the resources are not being utilized to the fullest of their ability. Therefore, it is extremely important to utilize the available resources to the fullest of their ability.
To improve the FCR score, it is also important to ensure that customers are connected with the right agents for a timely resolution. Doing so makes it easier to reduce the total churn rate and turn your customers into your brand’s evangelists. Apart from these, there are several other ways that may help to improve not only your customer experience but also the contact center’s FCR score. Read on to learn about a few of these.
Table of Contents
- Identify The Reasons Behind Repeat Calls
- Create Customer Profiles After Analyzing Their Contact Behavior
- Implement An Intelligent Contact Center Software
- Enable Automation Wherever Possible
- Focus on Improving Agent Performance
Identify The Reasons Behind Repeat Calls
One of the most common factors that affect a contact center’s FCR rate is the number of times a call is received from the same caller for a similar query. It is important to understand that receiving such repetitive calls tends to impact the overall FCR rate and lower the contact center’s CSAT score.
Therefore, the best way to move out of such a situation is to identify the reasons behind such calls, find the best ways to fix them and find an alternative solution that can be offered to the customer in trouble. Making this process a regular practice is recommended so that you continue to move towards a better and streamlined process.
Create Customer Profiles After Analyzing Their Contact Behavior
If a contact center knows a lot about its customers and the reasons for their calls, it becomes easier for it to meet their demands. This, in turn, helps improve the contact center’s FCR and CSAT scores. The analysis of a customer’s contact behavior can be done in a number of ways, such as grouping the customers on the basis of their profile or characteristics, demographic information like age, gender or interest, industry, the reasons for their call, etc.
Grouping your customers under different categories and sub-heads can make it possible to understand who is calling for what and their core problem areas. This can serve as a great help to introduce a more streamlined process into the contact center.
Implement An Intelligent Contact Center Software
Suppose your agents get complete access to the caller-related information as soon as they call the contact center. In that case, it might be easier for them to offer more efficient and proficient customer support services. The center with much-advanced software can enable this facility as it will have the complete contact log for the contact center, be it through phone, email, chat, or any other means.
Having such detailed information handy makes it possible for the contact center agents to resolve the issue raised by the customers in the minimal time possible, thereby improving the overall FCR and CSAT score. Apart from this, providing the agents with dashboards that contain details about their performance will empower them to meet the ever-changing demands of the customers and, hence, help them to improve the FCR rate of the contact center.
Enable Automation Wherever Possible
Increasing the availability of self-service options such as FAQs and knowledge guides is one of the great methods to improve the FCR score of the contact center. Uploading the information in formats that can be easily comprehended and accessed will make it easier for the customer to find basic information such as account information, working hours, and promotions. This would help in improving the total call volume received by the contact center.
It is also important to make sure that all such information uploaded on the website is updated regularly. Doing so would end the risk of providing the customers access to stale or useless information.
Focus on Improving Agent Performance
Agents lie at the core of every contact center’s operations. This implies that they play a major role in determining the extent to which a contact center can attain customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is important to keep them well-informed and perfectly trained so that they can handle customers better, thereby improving the organization’s FCR score.
Train them on aspects like how to use software, the pros and cons of using software, call control techniques, and call etiquette while inspiring them to perform better and helping them understand the right way to attain their FCR target. Doing so would not only enhance their performance but also help improve the contact center’s FCR score.
Follow a Systematic Approach to Improve FCR Score
Apart from these, empowering the agents to make their own decisions, improving internal communication, making quality monitoring tools available, and collecting customer feedback through surveys and Speech Analytics are other important ways to improve the FCR rate. It is essential to comprehend the customer’s query correctly on the first go as this would help you to route their call to the right agent and, hence, make it easier to attain the highest level of CSAT score.
It is important to understand that improving the FCR score is not a one-day game. It requires constant team efforts and hard work to ensure that the contact center is able to thrive in this highly competitive market. So, start putting in your efforts today to reap its benefits tomorrow.
