First call resolution is a vital step when it comes to CRM (Customer Relationship Management). It involves the timely and appropriate addressing of customer’s needs the first time that they call, thereby completely eliminating the customers’ hustle to get in contact with the company and follow up again. There are no two thoughts about it that first call resolution is a necessity when it comes to seeking satisfaction in customers and is extremely beneficial in delivering good services to customers.
There are various mediums through which a company might get in touch with customers or vice versa. A company might be extremely competent while servicing its customers. Right from the moment of generating a lead to delivering the product, everything is good but if it fails to help the customer in the moment of need and isn’t able to resolve the issue in the first instance, then every other thing would go in vain. That is how important first call resolution is. Below there are mentioned a few ways which will enable an organisation in improving its services, especially in context of first call resolution.
- Understanding the issue:
The basic step in first call resolution is to do a root cause analysis. It is essential not just to understand the issue of the current caller but even those calls need to be analyzed in which the customers weren’t able to get resolutions in the first go only. A due analysis of the trends and the inefficiencies in the previous unresolved calls will enable the organisation in understanding the issues and will facilitate them in solving these issues so that none of the disputes concerning to the same subject matter are repeated in the future. Identification of the issues is as essential as identifying the factors contributing to those issues. Once these common issues, knowledge gaps, inefficiencies, etc. are identified, an organisation should engage in mending its actions and taking necessary preventive measures in order to improve first call resolution in the future. - Analyzing customer behavior to anticipate their needs:
It is imperative to understand here that the better an organisation is acquainted with its customers’ needs, expectations and issues, the better will it be able to service them and thereby adequately meet up with their needs. Customer profiling is an easier method of achieving first call resolution in telephone answering service. By segregating the customers on the basis of various demographics and characteristics, an organisation is able to bring in homogeneity within those groups which further helps in resolving the issues at a greater level. The customers can be segmented on the foundation of various factors like age, gender, reason for the call, etc. - Investing in efficient call centre software technologies:
Another way in which first call resolution can be ensured in telephone answering service is by using efficient and competent call centre software. It is essential to equip the team of executives with the right tools. But financing the latest technologies are extremely costly especially when they are added up with other business necessities. Thus, the best thing to do is outsource the telephone answering service to the experts in that domain. By doing so a company will be able to save its capital costs, improve the quality of services provided and thereby increase customer satisfaction levels. - Optimizing the support structure and streamlining the internal processes:
Once there is a good understanding of the customers’ behavior, issues leading to a decrease in first call resolution and having the right tools at its disposal, an organisation can entirely change its support system in order to accommodate the needs of its customers in a better manner. In addition to this, when the inefficiencies in various facets are identified, an organisation can start to work on them and thereby eliminate them completely. It is essential to streamline the internal processes, eliminate red tape and empowering executives to solve the issues in a better manner.
First call resolution is imperative to telephone answering service and by means of that, extremely important for customer satisfaction. By the help of these methods, a company will be able to achieve first call resolution in the first go and eliminate the pain of the customer to follow up again. Addressing customer needs in order to maximize their levels of contentment towards the company is paramount in CRM and therefore, necessary steps should be taken in the same direction.