Driving Continuous Improvement
The Ascent Group recently completed its 10th benchmarking research study to evaluate first contact resolution measurement performance. The main objectives of the study were to:
Evaluate first contact resolution measurement approaches,
Identify best practices and opportunities for improvement,
Understand the range of FCR performance across industries,
Review the role of FCR metrics in frontline compensation,
Identify FCR-focused process improvement strategies.
Study Highlights
Voice-of-the-customer is the primary driver of FCR focused improvement in 2019. FCR measurement has evolved since we began benchmarking First Contact Resolution in 2003. Based largely on agent- and systems-gathered data in our initial study, our most recent FCR research study confirms a shift to customer-driven FCR measurement. A growing focus on the customer experience over the past 5 to 10 years has necessitated the gathering of customer feedback and input, which has also strengthened FCR measurement.
Improvement in FCR is most closely tied to detailed FCR measurement & root cause analysis, process improvement, and increased FCR awareness and communication. Our benchmarking research confirms that first call resolution performance is a key driver of continual improvement efforts. Participants reporting improvement in FCR performance indicated that they had recently implemented focused initiatives aimed at root cause analysis and process streamlining. Additionally, our research panel stresses the importance of increasing FCR awareness through focused communications to improve agent, team, and center-level performance.
Companies are promoting the importance of FCR through internal communications, training and coaching, and through the inclusion of FCR as a component of front-line employee performance. Actively promoting FCR importance increases agent awareness and involvement. Agents have a better understanding of FCRT and how it impacts the customer experience and the bottom line. Training and coaching efforts can respond to individual agent capabilities and improvement needs. Those companies reporting the biggest gain in FCR performance measure FCR at the agent, team, and center level and include FCR performance in the annual review (compensation).
Measuring FCR by contact type provides more actionable data. Companies measuring FCR performance by contact type report a better ability to identify process improvement targets and to focus efforts. More than 60 percent of our participants actively survey FCR performance by call type but only 14 percent measure based on web/email self-service transaction type. More granular data is more actionable, especially in this era of customer analytics.
First Contact Resolution (FCR) is one of the more powerful customer care metrics because it can influence improvement in both customer service efficiency and effectiveness. Improving FCR performance raises the quality of service provided to customers, reduces operating costs, and improves customer satisfaction, all at the same time. Our benchmarking panel reported significant benefits achieved through a focus on first contact resolution—80 percent reported improvement in customer satisfaction, with an average gain of 4 percent. Thirty percent reported a reduction in operating costs while 20 percent realized improvement in self-service utilization.
The 10th edition of Achieving First Contact Resolution is 156 pages of insightful analysis, benchmarking results, lessons learned, and winning strategies to increase FCR performance.
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