What is first contact resolution (FCR)? Benefits + best practice

Imagine you just bought a new device you’re excited to use. You follow the set-up instructions to a T but it’s not working. Eventually, you’re left with no option but to call customer service. The agent pinpoints the problem and boom – you’re on your way.

There’s something to be said about the relief you feel when a customer service rep helps you resolve an issue quickly. You pick up the phone expecting the worst – a long hold time and multiple transfers – and you hang up feeling grateful for the great support you received.

Create similarly positive experiences for your audience by tracking first contact resolution. Monitor this key CX metric to spot ticket patterns and make adjustments to your support experience so you can increase customer satisfaction and retention.

Why is first contact resolution an important metric?

Call centre metrics like first contact resolution are beneficial for everyone involved. Tracking FCR is a good way to get feedback on how your company is doing.

Many consumers use self-service channels – like chatbots and knowledge bases – to solve their problems without any help from an agent. But when they do need to reach out to customer service, buyers want their issues handled promptly and effectively. According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2022, 76% of shoppers expect someone to engage with them immediately when contacting a company.

FCR allows you to determine whether you’re helping or causing additional frustrations for your audience. By tracking FCR, you can gauge how well your support team is meeting customer expectations.

How do I measure FCR?

To calculate your company’s first call resolution, take the number of customer tickets resolved in a single interaction (email response, phone call, chat session, etc.) and divide it by the total number of tickets received.

• First contact resolution formula

  
  Make sure the interactions being counted fall within the same time frame.
  Many businesses get tickets that are impossible to resolve in one interaction (software bug reports that aren’t considered solved until the bug is fixed, for example). If this is the case for your company, you can limit your calculations to the interactions that could have theoretically been solved on the first attempt.

• What is a good first contact resolution rate?

  
  According to the Service Quality Measurement (SQM) Group, the industry standard for a good FCR rate falls between 70% and 79%, which means about 30% of tickets take more than one interaction to resolve.
  A first contact resolution rate of 80% or higher is considered “world-class,” according to the SQM Group. But only 5% of call centres achieve that distinction.
  The industry benchmark average for FCR is 70%, so most businesses should strive to hit that number.

Pros and cons of tracking first contact resolution rate

FCR is a great tool for measuring success but it isn’t without its ups and downs.

• Pros

  
  The SQM Group’s first contact resolution guide indicates that for every 1% improvement in FCR, operating costs are reduced by 1% because less time is spent providing support.
  Perhaps unsurprisingly, a high FCR rate is tied to higher customer satisfaction. For every 1% improvement in FCR, there’s a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction, according to the SQM Group. Customer referrals and retention also positively correlate with the FCR rate.
  Employee satisfaction rises at the same rate as FCR – even higher in some cases – according to the SQM Group. If agents need to deal with repeat customer calls regarding the same issue, they’re likely also dealing with many frustrated or angry customers, which can be stressful.

• Cons

  
  While a high FCR rate is worth celebrating, it isn’t a surefire sign that your support experience is perfect.
  A high FCR rate could indicate that your self-service resources are lacking. If customers frequently reach out to you with simple issues or basic questions, you may need to add more content to your website so they can handle more things on their own.
  Agents might also drive up your FCR rate by finding quick, band-aid fixes that aren’t helpful in the long run. They look for the easiest solution rather than diving deeper to find the “why” behind the issue. When this happens, customers may need to reach out again after some time to start a new ticket about the same problem.

4 best practices to improve first contact resolution

You can improve FCR by implementing training and tools that focus on FCR and next issue avoidance (NIA), a metric that helps agents predict problems that may arise.

1. Empower your team with agent training and role-playing

   
   Sometimes, agents know how to resolve an issue but they stumble on their words and make a few mistakes because they’re not familiar with the problem. Help your team solve problems fully and efficiently by role-playing customer scenarios that could be resolved in one interaction.
   A good scenario to role-play includes dealing with a customer who is frazzled or emotional. If an agent can tell a customer is stressed – maybe because they’re being abrupt or there’s a crying child in the background – achieving FCR is especially important. It helps the customer mark one thing off their to-do list without taking up their entire day.
   Once you’ve completed a few practice scenarios with agents, record tips from the training in an internal knowledge base. You might create a document with call centre scripts or you could share video or audio recordings of agents in role-play training.

2. Use self-service to improve FCR customer support

   
   When a customer calls with a fairly straightforward issue or question, direct them to your online help centre so they can read a blog post, guide or FAQ page that details the problem they’re facing as well as solutions.
   This gives them the independence to understand and solve problems on their own. If they face the same issue again, instead of making repeat calls, they can reference your online knowledge base or help centre to troubleshoot their issue.

3. Make customer information accessible with a CRM

   
   “Let me look into that for you and I’ll call you back in a few hours.”
   When a support agent says that, they’re often having a hard time finding customer information. Enable agents to get the details they need by investing in a customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
   A CRM stores all customer data in one centralised hub for easier access and analysis, which means agents are better able to solve issues in one interaction. This not only boosts customer satisfaction but also facilitates collaboration between different departments.
   Beyond improving FCR rates, a CRM helps support teams meet customer expectations, too. According to our CX Trends Report, 71% of consumers expect a company to share their information internally so they don’t have to repeat themselves.

4. Set up automated ticket routing

   
   Say a customer reaches out to your support team with a niche problem. There’s a good chance the average agent won’t be able to solve it but there are a few people on your support team who specialise in this type of issue and can find a solution.
   Automated ticket routing connects customers to the agent who’s best equipped to handle their issue, increasing the likelihood of first contact resolution. Ticket-routing strategies also help support teams stay organised and deliver high-quality customer service.

From first contact resolution to next issue avoidance

Improving FCR is a great way to keep buyers happy and gauge how things are going in your call centre. But this metric is just one piece of the customer experience pie. Your goal to improve customer satisfaction and team efficiency has to stretch a bit further.

Train your support agents how to anticipate a customer’s next question or an issue that will likely come after their first interaction, so they can follow up and address the problem before it balloons. This will prevent some follow-ups and help you understand your customers better.

Customer service software like Zendesk can enable you to achieve next issue avoidance and strengthen your team’s ability to help buyers – all while boosting customer and employee satisfaction.