When does a business deliver exceptional customer service?
It is when the volume of incoming calls handled by their customer service department is nil. To be more elaborate, it is when none of its customers are facing any inconvenience with regards to the company’s products or services and as a result of which there is no need for them to interact with the customer service department.
But in a not so ideal world, hick-ups do happen, and many a time’s customers will have to call you to complain. In such cases, at least you have to make sure that customers’ issues are resolved on a single call.
In case you are not aware of where to start, here are some of the hacks that you can use to keep your first call resolution rates high-
1. Set-up a Consistent Data Collection Method
The journey to improve your FCR rates starts with streaming your data collection methods. Make sure that this method is customer-centric and consistent across the organization. Start designing the system around customer’s needs, and then incorporate a tracking system that is consistent across your whole organization.
2. Provide Incentives for Agent
After setting up a consistent method for tracking first call resolution, the next step in your journey is to make sure that the customer service team understands the importance of helping customers on the first call. Motivate them by providing incentives and push them to make this metric a priority. Also make sure that you round off this initiative by providing appropriate training regarding how to ensure that the customers’ needs are being met the first time they contact your call center.
3. Make Sure Every Department is Talking to Each Other
Many a times, the various call center departments’ work as silos and information from one department will not trickle down to the other. As a result there will be disparity in the kind of service offered and the quality of service offered will take a beating. Avoid this problem by make sure that every department is funneling information to the customer service team so that they are well-informed and knowledgeable when they speak with customers.
4. Make Sure You Understand the Issues Behind Repeat Calls
Leverage tools such as speech analytics to identify and keep a track of the most frequent reasons behind repeat customer calls. Couple this data with customer feedback results and share it across departments so that the employees get a clear picture of the short comings and mold their strategies to improve individual performance. Once you manage to accomplish this, you will be able to not only save both employees and customers’ time, but also build agent confidence and improve FCR through greater customer experiences.
5. Empower Your Agents to Be a Part of the Solution
Do bear in mind that the agents are the eyes and ears of your organization. Hence empower them. Encourage them to share their views and make them a part of the solution process. Create an open environment for agents to honestly provide their input and feedback so that together, everyone in your organization is committed to improving first call resolution.
The Bottom-line
Achieving higher first contact resolution rates is the first and arguably the most important step in your journey towards building a long lasting customer relationship. Hence make sure that you do the needful to keep this rate high.
