Call Center First Call Resolution and Customer Satisfaction

SQM uses the Voice of the Customer (VoC) for helping call centers deliver sustained World Class FCR performance. We work closely with our clients to improve their FCR which is the fundamental driver of World Class customer satisfaction (Csat). We believe in the value of outstanding FCR performance and understand its impact on protecting existing customer revenue for the entire organization. SQM has a successful track record of helping call centers improve their FCR and Csat. 70% of SQM’s clients show improvement in their FCR and Csat as a result of working with SQM.

For our benchmarking studies, SQM uses VoC metrics such as FCR, Csat and Customer Protection CP SCORE™ to truly understand how your call center impacts the customer service experience, operating costs and the ability of the call center to retain customers. It is SQM’s belief that the call center’s main purpose is to resolve customers’ calls on the first call and to retain customers in order to optimize and protect the organization’s greatest asset – its customers.

FCR is More Than a Metric – It is an Operating Philosophy

FCR is more than a metric and should be viewed as an operating philosophy. The starting point is letting the customer be the primary judge of FCR performance. To be a world class VoC FCR performer, the call center support structure (e.g., call monitoring, call flow, recognition, performance appraisal, recruitment, career opportunities, salary, financial incentives, technology and training) must incorporate FCR in its operating practices. The bottom line is that all the call center’s people, processes and technology practices should be continually focused on improving FCR performance. FCR operating philosophy examples include:

• Call center has an FCR operating motto at all levels (e.g., ‘Who takes the call, owns the call’, ‘I own it’ or ‘FCR – every customer, every time’)
• Recognition for FCR and call resolution performance at all levels (i.e., CSR to SVP)
• New and existing CSR and supervisor training focuses on how to provide FCR
• Call center uses an FCR improvement team to reduce repeat calls (e.g., IDCA)
• Career advancement is based on FCR performance at all levels (i.e., CSR to SVP)
• New technology (e.g., KMT, unified desktop and CRM) is designed to improve FCR
• VoC FCR is incorporated into QA evaluations

Why Participate in SQM’s FCR and Csat Level 1 Benchmarking Study

Do you know…

• what your FCR, Csat and Customer Protection – CP Score™ rates are from a customer perspective?
• how your FCR, Csat and Customer Protection – CP Score™ performance compares to over 450 leading North American call centers?
• how your FCR and Csat performance is impacting your operating cost?
• how your FCR and Csat performance impacts your organization’s ability to retain customers and the financial impact of not retaining those customers?
• the reasons for your repeat calls?
• the best practices for incorporating FCR as an operating philosophy and improving FCR performance?

If you don’t have quality answers to these questions, let the experts at SQM Group assist you in benchmarking and improving your call center first call resolution and customer satisfaction performance.

All benchmarking participants are eligible for SQM awards Click here to learn more about SQM awards

Top 5 Reasons to Improve your FCR and Csat Performance

Reduce operating cost – for every 1% improvement in FCR, a call center reduces its operating costs by 1%. If a call center is performing at the FCR call center industry average of 70%, it is important to understand that, potentially, 30% of customers will have to call back because their issue was not resolved on the first call. It is also important to note that for the call center industry average, it takes 1.5 calls to resolve a customer’s inquiry or problem yet for customers who do not achieve FCR, it takes on average, 2.5 calls to resolve their call. This is an enormous opportunity to reduce a call center’s operating costs as repeat calls represent 23% of the average call center’s operating budget.

Improve Csat – for every 1% improvement in FCR, there is a 1% improvement in Csat (top box response). Clearly, FCR is highly correlated to Csat. In fact, of all the call center internal or external metrics, FCR is the metric with the highest correlation to Csat. The absence of FCR is the strongest driver of customer dissatisfaction. In fact, as previously mentioned, Csat (top box response) drops, on average, 15% every time a customer has to call back to get their initial call resolved. In other words, if a customer had to call in three times to get their call resolved their Csat (top box response) would be 30% lower than a customer who had their call resolved on the first call.

Improve Esat – for every 1% improvement in FCR there can be a 1% to 5% improvement in Esat. Call centers with high FCR tend to have high Esat. Conversely, call centers with low FCR tend to have low Esat. The level of stress is very high for the CSR who handles the second or third call from a customer whose issue was not resolved on the first call. Increasing FCR improves both Esat and Csat. The bottom line is that when customer calls are consistently resolved on the first call, Esat can increase substantially, especially for low FCR performing call centers. Most call center managers connect to the concept that high Esat can provide high Csat/FCR, but it also goes the other way in that high Csat/FCR can provide high Esat.

Increase opportunities to sell – when a customer’s call is resolved, it increases the customer cross-selling acceptance rate by up to 20%. SQM’s research shows that the customer’s needs must be resolved before the CSR has earned the right to move on to any type of sales activity. If the CSR cross-sells before the inquiry or problem is resolved, the customer typically becomes irritated and feels that the organization is pushing its needs, rather than serving the customer’s needs. As a result, the fundamental customer relationship is undermined.

Reduce customers at risk – only 2% of customers who have their call resolved on the first call expressed their intent not to continue to use the organization’s products and services as a result of their call center experience. However, if the call is unresolved, 19% of customers expressed their intent not to continue to use the organization’s products and services as a result of their call center experience. The cost of customer defections as a result of their call center experience tends not to be understood by call centers because it is not often measured. For many call centers, retaining customers represents the biggest opportunity to add true value to their organization. Resolving calls is the key to reducing customers at risk. In fact, for every 2% improvement in FCR there is a 1% improvement in call resolution which results in helping the call center retain customers.

FCR and Csat Level 1 Benchmarking Study Methodology

The FCR and Csat Level 1 Benchmarking Study takes key aspects of your call center’s FCR, Csat and operational performance and brings them together for a deeper insight into your first call resolution performance.

There are two surveys:

1. Post-Call Customer Survey
A random sample of 400 post-call surveys are conducted with customers who have had a transaction with your call center within 1 business day of their call. SQM’s post-call phone surveys are conducted by SQM’s telephone survey representatives. The post-call survey is an in-depth interview and is 4-8 minutes in length and is based on up to 20 rating and open-ended questions. SQM’s call center post-call survey has a proven track record for measuring the attributes that accurately assess your FCR, Csat performance and CP SCORE™.

2. FCR Operational Survey
Call center management complete an FCR operational survey which has over 45 metrics covering areas such as speed of answer, talk time, number of calls a CSR handles per day, CSR salary and CSR turnover.

The data from these two surveys are collected separately. However, the benchmark study report combines the data so that you gain greater insight into what really drives your FCR and Csat performance.

FCR and Csat Level 1 Benchmarking Report Deliverables

A 50 page FCR, Csat and Customer Protection – CP Score™ benchmarking report will be delivered to you and your management team via a conference call with a senior SQM consultant outlining your call center first call resolution, customer satisfaction and operational performance.

Specifically, SQM’s FCR and Csat benchmarking study will provide the following:

Click here for the
FCR Book excerpt

• Benchmarking comparison to over 450 leading North American call centers
• Benchmarking comparison to peer group, call center industry and world class call centers
• Customer Protection – CP SCORE™
• High level and detailed FCR and Csat ratings
• Amount of revenue the call center protected and lost
• Unresolved calls impact on operating cost
• Top 5 repeat call reasons and their improvement opportunity for financial savings
• Targeted opportunities for reducing repeat calls
• Operational benchmarking data for over 45 metrics
• Best practices for reducing repeat calls
• One copy of SQM’s book, First Call Resolution
• Entry into SQM’s Service Quality Excellence Awards Program

What’s Next

Option 1. Take SQM’s FCR/Csat Demo Self Tour.

Option 2. Contact SQM Group via email OR phone us at (800) 446-2095 to schedule a time where an SQM representative can walk you through the details of our call center benchmarking study.

Your Investment

The total investment for the Call Center First Call Resolution and Customer Satisfaction Level 1 Benchmarking Study is $10,000 plus applicable taxes. If on-site consultation is requested, the only additional charge would be to cover travel and accommodation expenses for the SQM consultant to deliver the results to you and your team on-site.

Additional customer surveys for 15-20 questions is $10 per survey. Surveys with more than 20 questions have an additional charge of $1 per question.