2

9 Secrets to Boosting First

Call Resolution

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 3
Customer Care as a Key Priority................................................................................................ 4
Metrics That Matter ..................................................................................................................... 5
Why is Measuring FCR Important? ............................................................................................ 6
Cost Savings ............................................................................................................................... 7
So, Why Don’t More Contact Centers Track FCR? ................................................................... 8
Causes of Repeat Calls .............................................................................................................. 9
Best Practices ........................................................................................................................... 11
9 Secrets to Boosting FCR Using NICE inContact CXone Workforce Optimization............. 13
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 15

ABOUT NICE inContact .................................................................................... ………..15

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Introduction FCR is an essential metric

In a challenging economic environment, holding on to existing customers for any contact center for
is just as important as attracting new ones. Customer retention is one of two simple reasons:
many reasons that satisfying customers has become a key priority
among progressive enterprises. • It drives customer
satisfaction
The practical impact at the contact center is to take a fresh look at the
metrics that drive performance. First call resolution (FCR) has garnered • Reduces operation
a lot of attention lately; while it is widely recognized that FCR is one of costs
the top drivers of customer satisfaction, actual usage of this important
metric is surprisingly low.

In this whitepaper, we will explore the reasons why contact centers should implement FCR as
an essential key performance indicator (KPI), discuss some of the challenges associated with
definition and measurement, and suggest practical steps contact centers can take to capture
this metric and improve performance.

One of the major points of contention surrounding FCR is what the acronym stands for: is it first
contact resolution or first call resolution? A purist would contend that first contact resolution is
the proper metric, and while tracking all contacts is most reflective of the true customer
experience, it is often impractical, expensive and sometimes impossible to develop meaningful
metrics that encompass all touch points. For these reasons, we will limit our discussion to first
call resolution.

The good news is that you can measure and manage first call resolution. Implementing sound
practices coupled with an appropriate technology solution makes it possible to measure,
understand, evaluate and improve this essential performance metric.

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Customer Care as a Key Priority

Have you noticed how companies tout their high customer satisfaction ratings through various
media and advertisements? Winning a J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction award
is the corporate equivalent of an Olympic gold medal, unleashing a flurry of press releases and
executive chest-thumping. Chief executives regularly talk about the importance of customer
care in their annual reports. ADT Security Services, Vonage America and Cox Communications
are just a few of the many companies that have created VP-level positions directly responsible
for the quality of customer care in their enterprises. “Caring for our customers” has gone beyond
a popular management catch phrase to a serious corporate priority. Consider that almost two-
thirds (64 percent) of US firms said that customer experience played a critical role in their
strategy in 2008, according to the management consulting firm Peppers & Rogers Group.
Clearly, customer satisfaction has taken its place among the core metrics that measure an
organization’s accomplishments against its stated goals.

As seen in Figure 1, when senior-level managers were asked which metrics they would like to
have in addition to traditional financial measures, customer satisfaction ranked second only to
employee commitment. While a customer-centric perspective impacts the entire organization,
the contact center – as a primary entry-point to the enterprise – is often tasked with more than
its fair share of responsibility for achieving high-quality customer care. This requires a fresh
examination of the metrics used to measure performance.

Figure 1: What Areas would Senior Management Benefit From Higher-Quality

Information? (Top Five)1

Employee commitment 58%

Customer Satisfaction 48%

Innovation 36%

Quality of governance/management processes 35%

Impact on society/environment 32%

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Metrics That Matter

Traditional, or first generation, call metrics have been around since the 1970s when automated
call distributors (ACDs) first came on the scene. They include service level, answer time,
adherence, occupancy, abandonment, queue time and about 100 others. First generation
metrics have very specific meanings and, for the most part, are calculated in the same way.
They can be charted over time and benchmarked against peer groups.

The main drawback of first generation metrics is that they speak to processes, rather than
outcomes. This leads to management by and for the numbers, even if they bear little or no
relationship to the goals of the enterprise.

In recent years, there has been a growing debate about “metrics that matter.” The discussion
centers on defining and calculating metrics that are more closely aligned with the objectives of
the enterprise. Where the primary mission is sustaining and growing revenue, metrics like
revenue per call and customer retention rates are the most pertinent. If the mission is to keep
costs down (perhaps at the expense of revenue growth or customer satisfaction), then
traditional metrics like calls per agent, average handle time (AHT) and occupancy rate are more
appropriate. This requires a fresh examination of the metrics used to measure performance.

When the corporate mission is to be the best-of-breed in customer care, a new set of metrics is
required. Customer satisfaction data cannot be readily churned out by the ACD. Lowell Bryan, a
McKinsey consultant and co-author of Mobilizing Minds: Creating Wealth from Talent said,
“Metrics make the intangible more tangible.” The intangible in this case is customer satisfaction.
Although challenging, measuring satisfaction is possible through some inventiveness on the part
of the contact center.

A growing practice is direct measurement via customer surveys. Callers are asked to rate their
level of satisfaction on some form of scale. Another way is to get at the issue more obliquely by
examining the drivers of customer satisfaction. More work needs to be done, but at this point the
two metrics that have shown the closest correlations are time to answer and FCR. Time to
answer should not be a surprise; callers don’t like to be held in queue. The longer they wait, the
more impatient they get. Often, all that time waiting is spent making a mental list of all the things
they can ask when the agent finally comes on the line. FCR is known to be a direct driver of
customer satisfaction. Very simply, it means to the caller that their question has been answered
or issue resolved. Having to call back usually means the issue festers longer and the caller may
once again have to wait in queue. FCR should be measured by every contact center that strives
to maintain loyal customer relationships.

“When the mission is to be the best-of-breed in customer care, a new set of

metrics is required.

- Scott Liebs, “Measuring Up,” CFO Magazine (June 2007)

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Why is Measuring FCR Important?

First call resolution is an essential metric for any best-in-class contact center for two simple
reasons: it drives customer satisfaction and reduces operating costs.

Customer Satisfaction
SQM Group has been conducting FCR benchmarking studies since 1996. Based on findings
from a 2008 study of over 400 leading North American contact centers, every 1-percent gain in
FCR directly translates into a 1-percent gain in customer satisfaction. According to Mark
Desmarais, SQM Group president, “The metric we believe is most important for measuring and
managing contact center customer service and cost performance is...you guessed it...FCR!” Dr.
Jon Anton and his team at BenchmarkPortal found that “first/final” (another term for first call
resolution) had the strongest positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Finally, strong
anecdotal evidence comes from Dr. Jodie Monger, president of Customer Relationship Metrics,
a recognized leader in customer satisfaction measurement. According to Dr. Monger, “Field
experience in measuring customer satisfaction indicates that caller satisfaction – both with the
customer service representative and with the company in general – will be 5 to 10 percent lower
when it takes more than one call to resolve the issue than it is when the issue is resolved on the
first call.”

Extensive academic and commercial research shows that gains in customer satisfaction and
retention translate into economic value for the firm. Poor customer care has just the opposite
effect.

A 5% reduction in customer defections leads to a boost in profits of up to 85%.2

A 1% change in the American Customer Satisfaction Index is associated with a 1.016%

change in shareholder value (approximately $275 million for Fortune 500 firms).3

Satisfaction is a leading indicator of future behavior and financial performance.4

86% of customers indicate if they had a bad service experience, they would very likely switch
to another company in the future.5

Nine out of 10 U.S. adults agree that companies need to work harder to provide a better
customer experience than they have in the past.6

2. Frederick F. Reichheld and W. Earl Sasser Jr., “Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services,” Harvard Business Review (September 1990).
3. Eric Anderson and Duncan Simester, “Long-Run Effects of Promotion Depth on New Versus Established Customers: Three Field Studies,”
Marketing Science (2004).
4. Sunil Gupta and Valarie Zeithaml, “Customer Metrics and Their Impact on Financial Performance,” Marketing Science (November–December

2006).
5,6. Harris Poll on behalf of inContact, inContact Consumer Research (2015).

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Cost Savings
Increasing first call resolution rates has direct economic benefits to the enterprise. For example,
when FCR increases, the total volume of calls declines, meaning fewer customer service
representative (CSR) hours are required.

As illustrated in Figure 2, an inbound contact center with 250 agents can save nearly $235,000
annually (or the equivalent of seven full-time agents), by increasing FCR by only 5 percentage
points, from 75 percent to 80 percent. This analysis considers only direct labor costs. Factoring
in network services costs, seat licenses, service contract fees, hardware, training, internal IT
support costs, facilities and supervision adds substantially to potential savings. In addition,
repeat calls often require supervisor or subject matter expert (SME) intervention at a
substantially higher labor cost than agents.

It is also important to consider the opportunity costs. If one out of five calls is a follow-up to a
previous call, precious talk time is being diverted from higher-value activities such as generating
revenue through cross-sells, up-sells and lead referrals.

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So, Why Don’t More Contact Centers Track FCR?

Good question. The facts supporting the need to track and monitor are compelling. Yet
according to ICMI and other sources, only about half of contact centers currently measure FCR
for phone calls handled by live agents.

Beyond the basic difficulty in even defining FCR is finding a mechanism for accurately
measuring the metric. The methods in use vary widely, as shown in Figure 3:

Call monitoring

FCR application

Post-call live phone survey

Agent judgement

Post-call automated survey

Agent ask caller if query was fully resolved

Post-call automated email survey

Post-call mail survey

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

The most common approach is call (or quality) monitoring. In this method, a supervisor reviews the call and
judges whether or not the issue was fully resolved. This is a reasonable approach. In addition to collecting the
FCR metric, the supervisor is able to identify causes of repeat calls. Armed with that knowledge, he or she can
develop action plans for agents that have problems with FCR. The most significant problem with the call
monitoring method is small sample size. Only about one-half of 1 percent of calls.

are actually evaluated, and these are rarely selected on a random basis. Additionally, it may be
difficult to determine whether or not the issue was fully resolved from the recorded interaction.

Increasingly, contact center management is using voice-of-the-customer surveys to measure

FCR. Many experts in the field believe this is the most accurate approach because only the
caller knows for sure if the issue was completely resolved. Early practices were to conduct
telephone surveys of a random sample of callers. This approach proved costly, time-consuming
and error-prone in that the caller may not clearly remember the interaction. Today, automated
post-call surveys capture the callers’ opinions immediately after the interaction. FCR data can
be tracked to individual agents and included as rating criteria in quality evaluations. If all calls
are recorded, it may be possible to retrieve specific calls to determine why the issue was not
resolved on the first call.

A method practiced by about 10 percent of contact centers that measure FCR is requiring
agents to ask “Is there anything else I can help you with?” or “Have I fully resolved the reason
for your call today?” at the conclusion of each call. Agents enter “yes” or “no” in the CRM
system and results are tabulated by the software.

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This method is easily implemented and requires no investment in specialized software or

automated surveys. However, this method presents several shortcomings, such as:

• The agent may forget to ask the question.

• The agent may be tempted to enter “yes” when the answer is actually “no.”
• Increased handle time as the agent obtains the information and enters into the CRM.

Causes of Repeat Calls

Measuring FCR is only the first step. The greater task is finding ways to reduce the frequency of
repeat calls. This requires an understanding of why customers felt they had to contact the
company more than once about the same subject. Some of the most common causes of repeat
calls include:

• Absence of information
• Poor call control
• Lack of authority to solve problems
• Agents are unaware of recent events
• Agent provides unclear or incorrect information
• Long holding times
• Corporate policies
Absence of Information

The greatest impediment to FCR improvement is the lack of quick access to information. The
agent needs to know as much as reasonably possible about the caller when he or she takes the
call. An important piece of information often lacking is the call history. Re-treading old ground
frustrates the caller and adds unnecessarily to handle time. It is very important for the agent to
know if this is a repeat call – and what actions have already been taken to resolve the issue. It is
also essential that the agent have quick and easy access to a knowledge base. Finally, agents
need to be able to quickly reach SMEs.

Poor Call Control

Agents must have the requisite skills to keep the caller on point. This means quickly identifying
the reason for the call and focusing the discussion on that specific topic. If the caller wanders off
on tangential points, the probability of having all the answers declines, which leads to agent
callbacks or repeat calls.

Lack of Authority to Solve Problems

Issues get escalated for two reasons: the agent does not know the answer or does not have the
authority to solve the problem.

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Agents Are Unaware Of Recent Events

One of the top priorities of contact center management is keeping up with what is going on
around them. Agents should not be caught off guard by surprises such as new campaigns,
major press releases, delivery or quality problems, or new product or service announcements.

Agent Provides Unclear or Incorrect Information

If the caller receives erroneous or ambiguous information, he or she may have to call back for
further clarification. This problem is fully addressable through the tools and resources available
at the contact center. It helps if your software can track repeat calls and examine call history.
Managers can then go back to the call recording system and isolate the interactions that
account for the majority of callbacks.

Long Holding Times

Callers that have been holding for what (in their view) is an excessively long time aim “to get
their money’s worth” when they finally connect to an agent.

Corporate Policies

The policies are what they are. Customers can call back as often as they want but there is not
much that can be done at the contact center level. However, senior management needs to know
if certain policies are contributing to customer defections. An effective way to dramatize the
issue is to share selected recorded interactions with management. Hearing the customers in
their own voice makes a powerful impact.

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Best Practices
Management can drive down the frequency of repeat calls through process and technology
solutions.

Following is a summary of actions that can help increase FCR rates:

• Agree on a data collection method

• Establish reasonable goals
• Reward achievement
• Include FCR as an evaluation metric
• Train agents on call control techniques
• Provide advance information on new products, services, prices, policies, etc.
• Revisit policies that are a major source of repeat calls
• Empower agents to make small concessions
• Provide quick and easy access to knowledge base
• Compile a list of SMEs
• Solicit feedback from agents on ways to improve FCR

Agree on a Data Collection Method

Choose a method that works for you. Don’t get so caught up in the details that they prevent you
from implementing data collection. What’s most important is that the method is consistent.
Changes and individual variations are more important than absolute numbers.

Establish Reasonable Goals

It is very important that FCR targets not unduly impede the achievement of other objectives.
Like all metrics, goals need to be tailored to the situation. For example, there will be a trade-off
between FCR and AHT. You don’t want to annoy callers and drive up costs by keeping callers
on the phone for an extended period while the agent looks up documents and contacts
SMEs. Depending on the priority of the situation, it may be preferable to promptly call
back or send an email message after the agent has researched the answer. Targets
must be realistic and reflect a balance of multiple objectives.
Reward Achievement

Recognition often means more to people than modest financial incentives.

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Include FCR as an Evaluation Metric

Adding FCR as an evaluation metric underlines its importance to the enterprise and encourages
agents to seek training and develop their own best practices.

Train Agents on Call Control Techniques

It is important to isolate the reason for the call and stay on point.

Provide Advance Information

A very basic step that is too often overlooked is making sure contact center management is
informed of any changes or events that could catch agents off-guard if they are not given
instructions on how to deal with the situation. Contact center management should maintain on-
going communications with the marketing department to make sure they are aware of new
promotions, price changes, new products and services, and other initiatives or events that could
cause an increase in call volume.

Revisit Policies That Are a Major Source of Repeat Calls

Business policies can be a source of repeat calls. Credits, returns, shipping charges, billing
cycles, late charges, promotions and warranties are all examples. If certain policies are causing
a disproportionate number of repeat calls as well as engendering ill will on the part of
customers, contact center management needs to escalate the issue. The data in this document
clearly demonstrates the importance of customer satisfaction to the health of the enterprise.
Senior management may not be aware of some of these facts and figures. If changes cannot be
made, then every agent must fully understand the policies and be able to clearly explain them
without having to consult others.

Agent Empowerment

One of the most common reasons for repeat calls is the agent’s lack of authority to amicably
resolve disputes on the spot, without escalating the call up the chain of command. Empowering
agents to do something as simple as granting some free minutes or waiving shipping charges
costs the company little and does wonders for both customer satisfaction and agent morale.

Provide a Knowledge Base

Providing agents with the information they need when they need it will cut down on handle time
while boosting FCR rates. All contact centers should provide agents with some form of
knowledge base. This could be as simple as collections of paper files and stacks of binders.
Providing this information in a searchable electronic form makes it much easier for agents to
quickly locate answers. Another advantage of electronic databases is control; supervisors can
be assured that everyone has the same information and it is up to date.

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Compile a List of Subject Matter Experts

Another helpful practice is to provide agents with a list of SMEs, including their areas of
expertise and preferred method of communication. According to research conducted by Aspect,
about 10 percent of calls require consultation with a supervisor or subject matter expert.

Solicit Feedback from Agents

Agents likely know the most common reasons for repeat calls and agent call backs. Tap this
resource. Discuss with your agents why this is so important, show them how you are calculating
FCR, set reasonable objectives and identify corrective actions with them. Agent commitment is
essential.

9 Secrets to Boosting FCR Using NICE inContact CXone Workforce Optimization

While there are a number of advanced customer relationship management (CRM) and
interactive voice response (IVR) systems that can increase FCR rate, they are often out of
reach for the small to midsize contact center. We are intrigued with the power of the inContact
Workforce Optimization solution. The suite consists of a robust recording platform and add-on
modules for quality monitoring, creating evaluation forms, desktop recording, customer
feedback surveys and speech analytics.

SECRET #1: Locate Repeat Callers, Establish Current FCR Rate

• From the query tool within inContact Workforce Optimization, establish search rules to
capture and count all calls from the same calling number, account number or case
number that occurred within a specified time interval.
• Specify how the calls will be tabulated and reported; e.g., by agent, team, site, etc.
• Divide the number of repeat calls by total inbound calls. This will provide an idea of calls
which may have been repeat.
• Define how you want the data reported.

SECRET #2: Implement a Closing Code Protocol and Assess the Results

• Train agents on how to recognize a repeat call.

• Instruct them on how to code or tag repeat calls so they can be identified for reporting
and QA purposes.
• Use the search tool to capture and quantify tagged repeat calls.
• Define and run reports.

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SECRET #3: Employ Post-Call Survey Questions that Indicate FCR

• Add a couple of yes/no questions such as, “Was this the first time you called about this
question?” and/or “Did the customer service representative completely answer your
questions?”
SECRET #4: Leverage Speech Analytics to Identify Repeat Calls

• Use the speech analytics module to search for keywords or phrases such as “called
before,” “last time I called,” etc.
SECRET #5: Utilize QmM to Pinpoint Issues Contributing to Repeat Calls

• Have supervisors or quality auditors listen to sample of repeat calls to identify recurring
causes.
SECRET #6: Use Survey Questions to Identify Common Causes of Repeat Calls

• If the caller indicates that it was a repeat call, provide a short list of known common
causes to which they can provide a yes/no touchtone response.
SECRET #7: Identify Calls Requiring Additional Follow-Up or Resources through
Keyword/Phrase Spotting

• Using speech analytics, build categories around common words or phrases such as
“billing problem,” “return policy,” “advertising,” etc. to receive notification of terms that
may indicate a repeat call.
SECRET #8: Track FCR as a QM Evaluation Metric

• Include FCR as an evaluation metric and weigh it accordingly to underline the

importance of resolving queries on the first call.
SECRET #9: Incorporate FCR Techniques into Your Coaching Program

• Use examples of superior agent performance as a teaching and coaching tool.

• Based on evaluation sessions, supervisors can provide coaching assistance on call
control, new products, corporate policies and other factors that drive repeat calls.
• Use screen capture functionality to determine if agents understand how to use the
knowledge base tools at their disposal.

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Conclusion
Today, few businesses can increase prices without risk of losing customers. New products and
services can produce short-term gains but are quickly matched by competitors. Senior
management now understands that the quality of customer care is a significant differentiator
that is not easily replicated by others. They are demanding metrics that measure the quality of
customer care. First call resolution is a major driver of customer satisfaction and a metric that
every contact center that seeks to be best-in-class should monitor and manage. There are
challenges in capturing the metric and understanding how to drive improvement. The good
news is that technology solutions are available to ease the pain and products like CXone
Workforce Optimization make them affordable.

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Transforming One-on-One Experiences in the Contact Center

NICE inContact CXone, the world’s #1 cloud customer experience platform, helps organizations
be first in their industry by powering exceptional experiences for customers and employees.
CXone is the first and only platform unifying best-in-class Omnichannel Routing, Analytics,
Workforce Optimization, Automation and Artificial Intelligence –all built on an Open Cloud
Foundation. CXone helps organizations of all sizes be first and stay first, empowering your
teams to move faster and work smarter. Be the first choice of customers, first to innovate, first
choice employer. Only CXone delivers one unified experience, on one cloud native platform,
along one proven path, from one leader.

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ABOUT NICE inContact

NICE inContact is the cloud contact center software leader, empowering organizations to provide exceptional customer experiences
with the world’s #1 cloud customer experience platform, NICE inContact CXone™. CXone combines best-in-class Omnichannel
Routing, Workforce Optimization, Analytics, Automation and Artificial Intelligence on an Open Cloud Foundation to help companies act
smarter and respond faster to consumer expectations. NICE inContact, a NICE company, is recognized as a market leader by Gartner,
IDC, Frost & Sullivan, Ovum and DMG, and serves customers in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100
companies. www.niceincontact.com

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