Are you new to the world of KPIs used in the outsourcing industry? Get ready for an in-depth look at the FCR KPI. First Contact Resolution Time or FCR is one of the most used KPIs by businesses and organizations worldwide to monitor customer satisfaction. Continue reading to find out more.

• What is FCR?
• Why is FCR KPI important?
• What are the benefits offered by FCR?
• How is FCR KPI calculated?
• What is the difference between First Contact Resolution & First Response Time?
• What is a good FCR score?
• How do you analyze FCR data?
• How to Optimize FCR?
• Is FCR an important KPI?

What is FCR?

First Contact Resolution or FCR measures the percentage of customer support requests resolved within the first contact. Initially, this KPI was known as First Call Resolution. It was used to monitor only phone calls. This was then changed to First Contact Resolution in order to suit the different customer platforms. This is ideal for the digital age.

FCR KPI is a powerful metric. It helps track and improve customer experience as well as customer service efficiency. The FCR score differs among industries. Businesses need to do their research before setting baseline FCR scores.

A high FCR score is important to retain existing customers. After all, it costs five times as much to acquire a new customer. This is why most businesses use different KPIs. These KPIs help them track customer satisfaction. By tracking KPIs like FCR, organizations can make changes if there is a dip in customer satisfaction.

FCR KPI can lead to efficient customer interactions if used correctly.

Why is FCR KPI important?

In today’s world, customers prefer quick service. It doesn’t matter if they are contacting their bank, booking a doctor’s appointment, or changing their internet plan. They need a quick response and resolution to their problem at first interaction.

Hence businesses need to offer this service if they plan on winning over their customers. This is why FCR is an important metric when it comes to measuring customer satisfaction.

With so many metrics available today, FCR still plays a key role. One of the main reasons behind this is that customers prefer to get quick resolutions. In other words, a high FCR score is a clear indication of satisfied customers.

In fact, resolving the issue within the first contact plays an important role in good customer service.

A high FCR requires well-trained support staff. They should be skilled and experienced to handle customer queries. This enables them to offer quick resolutions.

Furthermore, a high FCR score drives other metric values also up. In other words, when businesses improve their FCR score, it is reflected in the other core metrics as well.

Customers prefer having their queries resolved within the first contact. Hence, improving FCR improves brand perception as well. If a business is unable to improve its FCR scores, it is time to consider outsourcing. Reliable outsourcing firms like Bobcares are skilled at maintaining high core KPI values.

What are the benefits offered by FCR?

FCR metric has a direct impact on a business’s overall success. Although other KPIs like Net Promoter Score and Customer Satisfaction Score are popular, FCR plays a key role. Let’s take a look at how improving the FCR score can impact a business:

• FCR KPI lowers operational costs.

  FCR has a hand in the number of repeat requests from customers. High FCR scores lead to operational efficiency. In other words, It brings down customer support costs.
• It improves customer satisfaction.

  Customers prefer quick solutions to their queries. In other words, solving customer queries quickly improves customer satisfaction drastically. To sum up, optimizing the FCR score is a sure-shot way of improving customer satisfaction.
• FCR improves customer experience.

  The customer experience includes every interaction that they had with the brand. Fruitful interaction with end-user agents will improve their perception of the brand. This leads to better customer retention rates. In addition, the brand can expect more referrals from existing customers.
• It helps create better strategies.

  By monitoring the FCR score, businesses can make changes to their existing strategies This involves breaking down the FCR score and analyzing which queries were not resolved on the first interaction. For instance, if certain queries are repeated, agents can be trained to offer quick responses.

How is FCR KPI calculated?

There are several ways to determine the FCR KPI value. Before we begin, it is a good idea to define what constitutes a First Contact resolution. For instance:

• Define what is a follow-up.
• Define what is an escalation.
• Decide who identifies the resolution
• Determine which channels to monitor.

After the guidelines are set, it is time to calculate the FCR metric value for a specific time period. We can collect first contact resolution data as seen here:

• The end-user agent checks a box at the end of the conversation indicating the query was resolved within the first contact.
• Customers are asked to fill out the survey at the end of the conversation. The survey includes questions about whether their issue was resolved within initial contact or if further follow-up is required.

The FCR scores are collated via one of the methods mentioned and the score is calculated as seen below:

For instance, suppose the support team has handled 180 customer support requests, if 110 of these were resolved within the first contact, the overall FCR score for that time period would be 61%.

What is the difference between First Contact Resolution & First Response Time?

Many people tend to use FCR (First Contact Resolution) and FRT (First Response Time) interchangeably.
While FCR measures the number of tickets solved within the first contact, FRT measures the time taken to offer the first response to the waiting customers.

A quick first response reduces the waiting time for the client, whole FCR reduces repeat conversations regarding the same query. Unlike FRT, FCR does not rely on how quickly a response is offered to the customers.

Businesses strive for a high FCR score and low first response time. This ensures the quality of the response does not deteriorate.

What is a good FCR score?

As per recent studies, an FCR score between 70 to 75% is considered a good score. In other words, about 25 to 30% of customer support demands require a follow-up.

Although a high FCR score is considered good, it shouldn’t be at risk of poor FRT scores either. In some cases, follow-up cases are considered necessary to resolve the issue. However, if a business finds it difficult to get a good FCR score, it is time to bring in the experts.

Outsourcing companies are well-versed in these KPIs, especially FCR. In fact, companies like Bobcares have a large pool of well-trained agents who are skilled in resolving issues quickly.

Although FCR s simple, defining what is an FCR is essential. This helps support teams strive for higher FCR scores, thereby improving customer satisfaction and experience.

How do you analyze FCR data?

Since improving FCR scores has a direct impact on operations and costs, analyzing FCR data is critical. For instance, a low FCR score indicates an increase in follow-up calls. This requires additional resources which leads to higher operational costs.

Additionally, the introduction of multiple customer support channels may cause clients to open tickets across different platforms. This places a strain on the entire system. Hence improving the FCR score is the best way to go.

An overall FCR score can be calculated across multiple support platforms.

Furthermore, FCR can be measured by internal indicators or through customer survey forms. Interestingly, the second method is preferred. The customer has the last word if a query was resolved or not.

In addition, businesses combine FCR with other metrics like FRT, CSAT, and so on. In other words, it is essential to analyze all core metrics to get the big picture.

How to Optimize FCR?

By this point, it is clear that FCR KPI is an essential metric. Let’s take a look at how we can optimize this score:

• Outsourcing

  Many businesses find themselves in trouble while managing an in-house support team. It may be due to a lack of resources like skilled local talent. Fortunately outsourcing is the solution in this scenario. Outsourcing companies like Bobcares have access to a large pool of skilled professionals.

  They are well-versed in different KPIs like FCR, FRT, CSAT, NPS, and so on. Hence we can easily optimize our FCR score by outsourcing support to a reliable outsourcing partner.
• Large Knowledge Bases

  Support agents need to have access to extensive knowledge bases. This improves their chances of resolving queries within the first contact. Outsourcing companies like Bobcares offer extensive knowledge bases to their agents. This makes it easier for agents to solve customer queries.

  In fact, it leads to an increase in FCR scores. An essential part of these knowledge bases is a list of frequently asked questions as well.
• Customer profiles

  Another way to improve FCR scores is by taking a closer look at the customer profile. This makes it easier to understand their needs. In addition, this makes it easier if the customer has created a ticket for the same issue across different platforms.

Is FCR an important KPI?

According to Harvard Business Review, reducing customer effort plays an important role in brand loyalty.

From the customer’s perspective, getting a solution to their issue on first contact means less effort. However, if they have to contact the business several times, it takes a lot more effort. This is why FCR plays a critical role in customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

The first step is to establish what is First Contact Resolution. After that businesses can easily calculate the FCR score for a specific time period. This KPI is also used to measure the performance of an outsourced supporting team.

Besides customer satisfaction, a high FCR score also brings down operating costs. For instance, if FCR is 70%, around 30% of support requests require further follow-ups. The number of follow-up discussions required goes down as the FCR score goes up. Hence, the business will be able to bring down operational costs.

Outsourcing firms like Bobcares are able to offer high FCR rates due to their highly trained end-user agents. This helps agents resolve support queries easily within the first contact.

It is no wonder that businesses prefer to outsource support in order to improve core KPIs like FCR. Furthermore, FCR also plays a role in support staff scheduling.

A high FCR is also a clear indication of how well the agents have been trained to resolve issues. The FCR score can be calculated for an entire support team or per individual for any given time period.

Final word

At the end of the day, First Contact Resolution is one of the core KPIs. It is used by organizations and businesses across the globe. A good FCR score shows that customers are getting their queries resolved within the first contact. This takes away the requirement for follow ups or further conversations.

A common mistake made by many businesses is assuming that a good FCR score is a one-and-done metric. By focusing on improving the FCR KPI score, businesses will be able to improve their customer service. This leads to an increase in customer satisfaction as well.

By implementing the best practices mentioned earlier, businesses can improve their FCR score without too much trouble. With customer satisfaction playing a key part in the success of a business, ignoring this key metric is not worth the trouble.

If your FCR score is low, experts suggest reaching out to reliable outsourcing firms like Bobcares. They have the expertise and resources to offer support services and deliver high KPI scores as well.

To conclude, First Contact Resolution plays a key part in the growth of any business. With customer satisfaction being the cornerstone for success, businesses need to pay attention to core KPIs like FCR. Let us know in the comments how FCR KPI helped your company boost customer satisfaction.