First Call Resolution - Performance in Call Centres:

Industry best practice is reflecting a change in the culture of call centre operations.  First call resolution is the benchmark everyone wants to achieve.  By getting it right, first time, centres can make significant savings in their operating costs.

First call resolution improves productivity, customer satisfaction and staff morale.  But how do you make it happen?

Begin at the beginning.  Recruitment.  You must make absolutely certain you have the right people dealing with your customers.  First call resolution requires customer service agents with a can-do attitude.  You still need the right skill set and organisational fit, but the customer service mentality must be there.

How can you be sure?  Recruiting practices might need some tweaking.  Role playing can be really informative.  It can be customised to suit your specific environment and can give you a really good picture of a prospective agent’s customer service prowess.

Call monitoring and evaluation is critical.  Monitoring helps ensure quality standards are maintained and agents are employing appropriate call handling techniques.  It might be something simple that is the barrier to call resolution.  Call monitoring can uncover the problem that training will then rectify.

But here’s a warning.  Keep the call monitoring positive.  Do not use it as a blunt object to beat the agent over the head.  Treat it as a productive exercise in personal development.  A negative attitude to monitoring will be detrimental to every call.

Keep your finger on the pulse.  Constantly evaluate your centre’s performance.  First call resolution goes beyond the notion of ‘problem solved’.  How satisfied was the customer with the service they received?  Customer call backs and mystery calls can aid in benchmarking the quality of call resolution.

Customer contact is demanding.  Maintaining a high level of performance can be stressful.  Ensure you have policies and practices that help agents to manage their stress.  The last thing you want is for your star performers to burn out.  Try to include a variety of tasks in the job description, foster a supportive atmosphere and appropriately reward and recognise excellent performance.

Having the right people with the right attitude is a major component to first call resolution.  But the right technology must also be in place.  Make sure your systems are capable of quickly and efficiently retrieving information for the agent.  Customer data, technical detail and payment ability must all be at the finger tips of the agent.

And give your agent the authority to get the call sorted.  Don’t put unnecessary escalation practices in place which will only hinder first call resolution.

So how bad is it if you don’t achieve first call resolution? 

• Quantitatively: it costs a lot.  Not getting it right first time can account for at least 30% of a call centre’s operating cost. 
• Qualitatively: dissatisfied customers can do extensive damage to your brand and corporate reputation.

First call resolution is no passing fad.  It’s the intelligent merging of operational metrics with the service and quality demands of the customer.  It delivers financial benefits to the centre, enhances motivation of staff and improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.