Years ago measurement was all talk - talk time anyway. Short talk time meant more calls could be handled so there would be shorter call queues and customer satisfaction would rise - right? Wrong. If anything metrics such as these helped to drive down customer satisfaction as real customer insights and detailed problem resolution were sacrificed at the altar of corporate cost-cutting.

Now the holy grail of inbound is first call resolution, but how long should it take? Three minutes? Time itself is not the issue, the ability of the inbound call centre to find an answer the first time the customer calls is. Industry reports indicate fast call resolution was responsible for nearly 50% of customers' positive satisfaction ratings while lengthy or no resolution led to a third of dissatisfied customers.

Sounds like a good metric but the factors affecting this are variable and depend on the complexity of the problem or call. Having said that there are a number of steps you can put into place to boost first call resolution or at least empower your people to do their job efficiently.

Why should you bother?

Not only will it improve the customer experience, it has a knock on effect to customer retention and cross-sell and, as call centres are increasingly viewed at profit centres (not cost centres), it is a must. It also drives call centre efficiency so can also assuage the cost-cutting gods as well.

But first of all, what is first call resolution? There's two definitions:

1. One call is made and the issue is resolved there and then by the agent
2. One call is made, and though the customer may be passed through a number of departments their issue or query is resolved on that call

Key to both definitions is the concept of ‘resolved'. The most accurate definition of resolution is when the customer perceives the issue to be resolved - and that's the real catch. To understand customer perception, you have to get inside their head or at least get them to tell you what's going on in there.

Consulting firm Ascent Group, undertook a benchmarking study of 100+ companies to evaluate First Call Resolution performance and measurement. Some interesting outcomes include:

• 67 percent have been measuring first call resolution for three years or less;
• first call resolution rates from 30 percent to 98 percent were reported;
• 60 percent of companies measuring FCR performance for more than one year reported improvement in their performance;
• Research identified four primary ways of measuring-three of which are internal approximations (repeat-call calculations, agent logging and tick sheets, and call quality-monitoring) and the other, relies on external customer feedback and perception

So there is a benefit in measuring and acting on measurements. Internal measures are easiest (and inexpensive if you have flexible call centre reporting that's common in hosted solutions) to setup and monitor. External feedback is sometimes an expensive exercise, so infrequently included, but clever technology might just relieve the expense burden - more on this later.

But before we get to the monitoring stage, consider the tools and responsibilities you provide to agents. However you look at it, access to information is KING and the easier it is to access, the more likely you'll achieve first call resolution. You can spend a fortune on achieving this or you can work with smaller budgets to achieve a similar result. In achieving first call resolution potentially you are not only improving customer service but reducing problem handling time and therefore reducing cost.

Power to the people

First step is to ensure your people are empowered to resolve problems themselves. It is human nature, especially in call centres, for agents to often ask questions even when they have the information at their fingertips and often ask the same question twice. If you're the type of leader who instantly provides an answer, seeing it as an opportunity show your expertise, you are encouraging your agents to rely on you rather than take personal ownership. Not only do you deny them the opportunity to learn and take personal responsibility but potentially you are increasing your workload unnecessarily. When you're not there it could mean the customer issue is not solved there and then and if you have several agents waiting with queries for you, how does this impact resolution time.

What's the prognosis, doc?

Correctly understanding the callers issue or query is possibly the most important first step. I'd be amazed if anyone reading this article hadn't had one of those dreadful experiences where you get passed from pillar to post as you are told you've been transferred to the wrong department. Ideally your IVR should be equipped with skills based routing smarts to deliver the call to the agent ‘most skilled to resolve the issue'.

Once the call reaches an agent, make sure your people know what diagnostic questions to ask and know who the right people are to call if a specialist or different department is required -the next section looks at some tools that can help you with this. If there is a doubt as to where the call should be transferred the customer experience can be greatly improved by effective hand-off. This means putting the customer on hold or bringing the expert on a three-way call to verify they are the correct person. If they have called the wrong department, the customer knows they haven't been palmed off to someone else and the original agent can continue to help or the call can be passed on.

The tools to aid access

Technology enables access to information and access to experts. Consider instigating the following:

Help made easy

Index help files on your agents systems so that they can easily access information whilst on calls

Help made accessible

Take the help files to a new level on an intranet or extranet, giving broader access and even the possibility of showing the caller where to find the information for themselves.

Information made dynamic - Dynamic Knowledge Repository (DKR)

As agents learn or find out new information they can add to the DKR. This significantly increases their personal ownership in resolving customer issues. It's wise to have an administrator for this who checks content before it is entered, otherwise you could wind up with contradicting information.

Relating it all - CRM Systems

There are a number available but make sure you choose one which allows you to make changes simply and software updates are not time consuming e.g. a SaaS system means you always have the latest and greatest. Good implementation is vital and when done so a CRM system will allow all aspects of the business to make and see updates on customer details and therefore dramatically improve the ability to address needs and issues quickly.

Webchat for instant access

Webchat or other Instant Messenger systems can mean that several experts can be on standby to answer questions which can then be relayed to customers. Such systems allow you to see which expert is on line and who to either call or contact. Efficient access to this expert knowledge can be key in reducing call length and the need to ‘get back' to a customer.

Virtual experts at call

With high-speed broadband increasingly common combined with the no client footprint of SaaS call centre systems, experts previously impossible to be part of the local call centre can be woven into a virtual world of experts. Geographic location becomes irrelevant as experts at home, in rural areas, in state office or in international locations can be used to efficiently resolve issues.

Effective hand-off - "Don't make me say it again!"

There's nothing worse than having to repeat your problem, or worse having to give all your customer details again. Good technology will allow you to seamlessly pass on the notes or call details, so the customer isn't punished.

External feedback

Lastly, the cost effective external feedback option can to some degree be addressed by outbound IVR surveys. Customers recorded as having their call resolved are called with a recorded voice message and invited to partake in a post-call survey. The survey is completed by using the buttons on a touch tone phone with the option of recording specific spoken responses as required. If integrated to your call centre system the surveys can be automated to deliver better first call resolution feedback with very little effort.

You can listen to an outbound IVR survey example (powered by IPscape's Call to Action) here.

By Jason Hime

Jason is Alliances Director at IPscape and runs the alliance program group who assist and support alliance partners in pre-sales, marketing, training and sales.

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