First Call Resolution or First Contact Resolution (FCR) is a metric used to measure customer inquiries or problems resolved on the first call or contact with a representative or agent. FCR is one of the most commonly measured metrics in the
call center
A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone ...
industry. Ideally, the FCR definition means no repeat calls or contacts are required from the initial call or contact reason from a customer perspective.
The difference between First Call Resolution and First Contact Resolution is the contact channels measured for FCR (e.g., interactive voice response, chat, email, website, call center). The First Call Resolution metric name measures FCR for a call center. The First Contact Resolution metric name measures FCR for any contact channel.
There are numerous external and internal methods for measuring FCR. Internal methods measuring operational performance include agent logging,
speech analytics, quality monitoring, reopened issues, and counting repeat call volume. External methods measuring FCR and
customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction (often abbreviated as CSAT) is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of ...
include post-call surveys. "No Repeat Calls" in a given timeframe and "Post-Call Survey" FCR measurement methods have not only been used for over two decades but continue to be the most popular methods used by call centers for measuring FCR.
Ideally, FCR is determined based on the perspective of the customer. This is because the customer's opinion is what matters the most as the customer is the only one who is going to know whether their issue was resolved.
Overview
The origins of FCR started in an inbound call center. Originally, the FCR rate was measured only on voice calls but has expanded to all contact channels (e.g., email, interactive voice response, chat, website, call center, social media). The FCR metric has been used in the call center industry for over 25 years and continues to be a prevalent call center metric.
Nearly a decade ago, the start of
customer relationship management
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.
CRM systems compile data from a r ...
ended the old days of "measure everything that moves". Call centers have a wide range of available statistics and data to analyze customer experience (CX). Top call centers realize that to be successful, they must find the metrics that truly impact CX and reveal the key insights. Research suggests that no single
key performance indicator
A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it en ...
(KPI) has a bigger impact on customer satisfaction than FCR; customer satisfaction drops an average of 15% (top box response) with each callback a customer must make to a call center.
The call center industry average for FCR using the external FCR measurement method of a post-call survey is 70% which means that 30% of customers have to call back about the same call reason for the average call center. An FCR rate considered good is 70% to 75%. FCR rates can also vary by industry, call complexity, and segment. Research shows that 60% of companies measuring FCR for 1+ years report a 1% to 30% improvement in their performance.
FCR is an indicator of improving customer journey metrics (e.g.,
customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction (often abbreviated as CSAT) is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of ...
),
operating cost
Operating costs or operational costs, are the expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility. They are the cost of resources used by an organization just to main ...
metrics (e.g., cost per call for resolution), and business outcome metrics (e.g.,
Net Promoter Score
Net promoter score (NPS) is a widely used market research metric that is based on a single survey question asking respondents to rate the likelihood that they would recommend a company, product, or a service to a friend or colleague. The NPS is a ...
®, Net Retention Index). For example, research shows for every 1% improvement in FCR, there is a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction. Research also shows for every 1% improvement in FCR increases transactional Net Promoter Score® by 1.4 points. When FCR performance is low or high, so are the performances of customer satisfaction and referrals and a reduction in cost and customer defections.
Research shows that majority (93%) of customers expect their call to be resolved on the first call. Why does FCR stand out with all the possible ways of viewing call center performance? It gives insight into a call center interaction through the customers' perspective. Most people do not enjoy making repeated calls or contacts to address issues because they want to resolve their calls on the first call.
There are a number of challenges in measuring first call resolution. The challenge still exists today as to how to define and measure FCR accurately, effectively, and efficiently. Since defining and measuring FCR is open for interpretation, there is no consistent process to measure this critically important KPI. Some call centers report 90 to 95 percent FCR rates, yet it raises a red flag when FCR is that high. Perhaps the calls being resolved should not be handled by phone initially, as the customer's call could have been resolved using a self-serve contact channel.
Criticism
Many call center leaders consider the FCR metric difficult to measure, because it is complex. There is no internal FCR measurement industry standard, which hinders the accuracy of the FCR measurement and the benchmarking of FCR against other call centers. Internal FCR measurement uses no repeat call in a given time frame criteria for determining an organization’s FCR rate. This approach can overstate the FCR rate by 10% to 20% higher than the external FCR measurement (e.g., post-call survey).
Even though call center leaders have identified FCR as a critical KPI, there is some question about what exactly constitutes a "resolved call." Some call centers consider a call resolved if the agent didn't need to transfer it. Other call centers determine if a call is resolved if there is no follow-up work needed by the customer after the call. Internal FCR is determined based on whether the customer called back for the same issue within 1 to 30 days. Determining the appropriate callback time can be difficult, and as a result, there is no industry standard for internal FCR measurement, making the FCR rate less accurate for benchmarking against other call centers.
References
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Customer relationship management
Metrics
Customer service