9 Tips to Improve First Call Resolution using HoduCC

With increasing means of communication (read chat, email, text and social media) First Call Resolution is soon becoming the First Contact Resolution. One of the important statistics a contact center can offer to measure is FCR or first call resolution or First Contact Resolution. HoduCC – free switch-based call center software has the best solution to offer.

First Call Resolution is the rate that examines whether or not a customer had his/her issue resolved on the first interaction with contact centre team. Considering the growing competition, any industry would like to offer the best services and solutions possible. Rightly so, contact centers want to keep this percentage as high as possible. It shows a consistent ability to route customers to the right agent and indicates that you are supplying your agents with sufficient information. It also shows that your team members are well-equipped and empowered to solve customer issues.

On the other hand, a rather frequent pattern of multiple calls or contacts from the same customers means customer service isn’t handled properly. This reflects poorly on both the contact centre and the company it is representing. In addition to this, for the company it is adding to cost, meaning the more contacts coming in, the more resources needed to cover them. Of course, from the customer’s perspective, it is frustrating for having to make a second or third contact about the same problem.

Getting a grip on your contact centre’s first call resolution rate can successfully help achieve these…

• Improve customer satisfaction
• Reduce operating costs

Here are 9 tips to Improving First Call Resolution with HoduCC – Contact center Software that we have outlined based on the latest call center trends that the world’s leading contact centers are using to boost their FCR. Read these already tried and tested successful nine sure-shot tips to use with HoduCC software to improve your first call resolution.

1. Find Repeat Callers and Evaluate the Current FCR Rate

The query tool lets you establish rules to capture and count the amount of calls from the same phone number, account number or case number within a specific time frame. From there, you can specify how the calls should be summarized and reported (by agent, team, site, etc.)

2. Start a Closing Code Protocol and Review the Results

Agents should be well-trained on ‘how to identify a repeat call’ and report the same. When a repeat call is received, they should tag it. So, it can be collected for future reporting and QA purposes.

3. Use Post-Call Survey Questions that Indicate FCR

Poll can offer another great way to identify repeat callers, especially ones that may have phoned in before you started measuring FCR. Upon the completion of calls, for example, ask questions to customers – like, “Have you previously called about this issue” or “Has our customer service representative completely answered your questions today?”

4. Search and Frame Survey Questions which Help Find Frequent Causes of Repeat Calls

Quality surveys can also be a good opportunity to collect responses from customers about first call resolution. If a caller indicates they’ve phoned in before about the same problem, give them a list of common issues to choose from that may be causing the issue. That can help you identify some common threads in the calls.

5. You Can Also Use Speech Analytics to Discover Repeat Calls

More like word-search, Speech analytics tool can help improve first call resolution. With the speech analytics module, you can search for caller keywords like “called before” “last time I called,” “spoke with” etc.

6. Leverage QM to Locate Issues Contributing to Repeat Calls

One can easily research for common reasons for repeat calls can also help you get to the root of the problem. Go figure, what are some of the biggest causes.

7. Mark Calls Requiring Additional Follow-Up

With the speech analytics feature, create categories around ‘frequently-used’ words or phrases in calls such as “return policy,” “billing problem,” etc. Then, you’ll receive notifications when the terms appear and shall reveal a repeat call.

8. Keep Track of FCR as a QM Evaluation Metric

Once you’ve all the data, include FCR as a metric for call quality evaluations for staff and help them understand and stress upon the importance of resolving calls on first attempt.

9. Integrate FCR Techniques to Training Modules

While training new hires, make sure they understand the importance of FCR. Train new agents on call control, new products, and other factors that can contribute to repeat calls.

Also Read: Top 5 Tips to improve your customer experience in Call Center

Increasing your FCR – First Call Resolution / First Contact Resolution – rate is extremely important if you want to provide the best customer service. With advanced contact centre software features of HoduCC – a robust voice recording platform, add-on modules for quality monitoring, evaluation forms, desktop recording, customer feedback surveys and speech analytics – your contact centre should be able to improve first call resolution significantly.