How to improve FCR in Call Center

FCR is one of the key metrics in the Call Center. FCR is directly proportional to CSAT, which means if FCR is higher then CSAT will also go higher but it’s not as easy as it sounds. So in this blog today we will talk about “How to improve FCR in Call Center“.

Nowadays every enterprise outsources its customer service segment to call centers or commonly known as BPO. One of the main reasons for outsourcing their business to a call center is the “High Customer Satisfaction Rate“. A Call Center is specifically dedicated to aim for high customer satisfaction and a smooth customer experience. 

To deliver a high CSAT a call center has to achieve the target of different customer satisfaction metrics such as FCR, AHT, ART, Quality, etc.

Improve FCR in Call Center

As  mentioned at the start of the blog FCR is one of the significant metrics of a call center when we talk about customer experience and satisfaction but often overlooked.

So, In today’s article we are going to discuss about FCR metrics and will deep dive in to its benefits and mainly “How to improver FCR in Call Center?”

Let’s set the agenda today’s article first:

Agenda :

1.What is FCR?

2. Benefits of FCR?

3. How to improve FCR in Call Center?

Without further ado let’s discuss…

What is FCR?

FCR is an acronym for “First Call/Chat Resolution”. As the name refers this metrics is measured on “How quickly a customer is getting response as soon as the call or chat gets connected to the agent”.

Irrespective of Voice or Non- Voice process the FCR metrics plays a significant role in achieving CSAT metrics. 

If a call center’s FCR metrics is under control than chance of increase CSAT is higher. In general , CSAT is directly proptional to FCR (except some external factors affecting customer experience).

Now let’s discuss the

Benefits of FCR :

Although maintain FCR can have multiple benefits but 5 of the most important ones are outlined below:

• Improvement in Customer Satisfaction.

• Reduce Repeat Call/Chat

• Reduce the Call/Chat Abandoned

• Drives Revenue

• Improve NPS

Now let’s discuss the main topic:

How to improve FCR in Call Center ?

As mentioned above improving FCR (First Call Resolution) rate not only improve NPS/CSAT but also drives revenue for the business. Hence every call center should aim for improving FCR rate to expand the business and client relations.

Improve FCR

Keeping all this in mind below we are sharing “5 proven ways to improve FCR in a Call Center or BPO”.

Also Read: What is Cluster Analysis in Call Center

Let’s discuss them one by one

1. Rigorous RTM :

RTM stands for Real Time Monitoring which is a great tool to monitor every activity of an agent during or post the call or chat closed. 

By rigorously monitoring RTM we can tap each and every call and chat, also what is the variance between the target FCR and Actual FCR for the day. And if any agent struggling to maintain the FCR rate what is the best solution.

2. Canned Responses :

Canned or scripted response are a great way to not only improve the  ART i.e. Average Response Time but also the First Call Resolution.

The simple step you need to follow is to prepare a common opening script  and distribute it to agents (especially new hires), and ask them to follow as soon as the call/chat gets connected to them. This way agents need not to type the entire opening script rather just copy and paste with some subtle changes.

3. Monitoring Concurrency :

If you  are into a chat process high concurrency can lead to low FCR rate, hence as a supervisor you need to keep a check on concurrency of each agent. 

In some days if the chat volume is high and it is required to have high concurrency than try to align tenured people for high concurrency and exempt new hires as they may not able to handle 4-5 chats a time which can lead to low chat quality and CSAT.

4. Skilled Staff :

Hiring unskilled staff could also be one of the reasons which not inly impacts FCR but also other metrics such as ART, CSAT, NPS, AHT etc. Hence if you are expecting to meet the FCR target you need to have skilled staff onboard. 

If we talk about chat process, the basic criteria is to have a good typing speed, but if an agent with low typing speed handles the chat volume than it is obvious that he would fail in every metrics.

5. Feedback and Coaching :

One of the common ways to improve FCR is to continuously sharing feedback and provide coaching to outliers. This way , however is a  lengthy way but can be executed when there is a continuous dip in FCR metrics and the chunk of outliers is high.

The right strategy to executive Feedback and Coaching action is to share Feedback  1:1 with the outlier every day i.e. post shift, mid shift or pre shift.

While the Coaching can be conducted once a week with the group of outliers.

In addition to above mentioned ways there may be other tips which can be varied as per the process and client requirement.

*******************ENDS*****************

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