First Call Resolution - FCR

First Call Resolution (FCR) answers a simple question: Did we solve all the customer's problem the very first time they contacted us?

If a customer calls, gets an answer, hangs up, and never has to call back about that specific (or similar) issue again, that is an FCR Hit (Success). If they hang up, realize the fix didn't work, or now they have another issue, and call back an hour later, that is an FCR Miss (Failure).

Why is FCR so important?

FCR is unique because it impacts everyone involved in the business:

• For the Customer (CSAT): Nobody wants to spend their day on the phone with support. Solving an issue immediately is the #1 driver of high Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores.
• For the Business (Cost): This is about money. If a customer has to call 3 times to fix 1 problem, the company pays for 3 interactions instead of 1. Improving FCR saves millions of dollars in operational costs.
• For the Agent (Morale): Dealing with frustrated customers who are calling back for the third time is stressful and leads to burnout.

There are two main ways companies measure FCR:

Method 1: The System Check (The Most Common)

The software tracks the phone number of the customer. If the same phone number calls back within a specific "window" of time (usually 24 to 72 hours), the system assumes the first call failed. It works fairly the same for other channels, such as Chats.

For this method, the formula we follow is:

FCR Rate = (Interactions with no callback within 72 hours ÷ Total First Interactions) x 100.

Method 2: The Customer Survey

We simply ask the customer in the post-interaction survey: "Was your issue resolved completely?".

For this method, we will use a very similar formula:

FCR Rate = (Surveys with positive response ÷ Total surveys) x 100.

Let's do a quick example with Method 1: 

Imagine your Call Center took 1,000 calls yesterday. 800 of those customers did not call back within the next 3 days, and 200 of those customers did call back because their issue wasn't fixed. Now let's do the math:

FCR = (800 ÷ 1000) x 100 = 80%

Now, let's take a more visual approach with more scenarios. Please do the math on your own and then compare the results:

FCR can also be treated as a QA scored item. In some cases, agents will need to use their Active Listening skill to determine if further actions can be taken and to ensure the customer is all set before ending the interaction.

Let's see the following scenario: 

A customer can not access their account to retrieve the information about an item they just bought, and they call the retailer for assistance. The agent provides the information needed to the customer and ends the interaction.

In this case, the customer might be happy about the information provided; however, the agent did not provide any further resolution to the issue regarding the customer's access to their account. This will lead the customer to keep calling about any other information needed, and the agent will fail on several QA points.

On a future interaction, the customer contacts the retailer to check on the return policy of the item that they purchased, mentioning that they cannot go inside the account to check on that. The agent, before providing the information, investigates further into the issue the customer is facing when accessing his account. The agent discovers that the account has been locked due to several wrong password attempts.

In this case, the agent might be able to solve the underlying issue: ensuring the customer has access to the account. This will ensure the customer is able to check on the product information and return policy, and will not have to call due to similar issues. This is also First Call Resolution in action.