The last time we talked about how to approach the measurement of efficiency and what principles to be guided in order not to waste time on the shoveling of useless numbers. We found out that the content of the reports depends on our goals and the audience with which we present the report. What we believe should change over time and fit into context. By themselves, the numbers do not tell and do not sell. They only help to tell you the story and convince the guide that your methods and suggestions are valid. Especially those that cost money :)
Today we will get closer to the metrics and consider what the response rate is and FCR - the percentage of problems solved from the first call.

Response rate

Once I called the bank and got on the standard IVR: if you want to, then press 1, if you want this, press 2. Of the options I didn’t want, I had to contact the operator as soon as possible, because I didn’t have an ATM gave the money, but came sms about write-off. Finally, a polite woman robot declassified the key to the operator, and I pressed the number zero. “Unfortunately, all operators are busy, your call ..” Well, you know how it happens. I resigned myself: halfway, I think I will wait. But then a completely wonderful thing happened - the woman-robot did not want to leave me alone with the music and began to offer options again: if you want to know the balance, click ...

The story ended happily: the next day, in the branch of this bank, my application for closing an account with a card lay.
')
Neither the lowest interest on the credit card on the market, nor the limit of 200 thousand, nor the ATM and the branch at home, or even the cute card design saved. The speed of response in the contact center ruined everything.

Need to answer quickly

Yes, cap, you say. But what does fast mean? To find the boiling point of a client is that maximum of expectation that he can endure without a spoiled mood. This point in different channels is different.
I expect the answer from the bank for:

• by phone - 5 seconds
• by email - 30 minutes
• in chat - up to 1 minute
• in social networks - 15-40 minutes

How much a customer is willing to wait depends on the business. If it's a taxi, the bill goes on for minutes. But calculations on complex equipment or verification of documents for a visa take up to several days - the client will not be offended.
Therefore, you set the level of service, and as a special case - an acceptable waiting time for an answer - not from the ceiling, and not even “like the competition”, but considering the expectations of customers.

Find out the “point” of the average client. For the first line, it will tell the percentage of lost calls - from those poor fellows who psihanuli and hung up. Ideally, it tends to zero. Survey customers after consultation by e-mail and see how many customers were waiting, who gave you triples and twos.

Well, we found out that the acceptable wait on the phone is 5 seconds, and the response to the e-mail is 1 hour - 90% of customers are satisfied. What to do with the rest of the impatient ten?

Play with the rules of queue processing and serve demanding customers on an individual basis. Just do not confuse whimsical with demanding, consider the value of the client for the company, so that your efforts are not in vain.

FCR

It stands for First Contact Rate. Contact centers consider the percentage of problems solved since the first call using a simple formula:



The number of all hits shows any statistics. And to determine how many of them are repeated, we need a history of the reasons for appeals. I share two considerations that will help get closer to a reliable figure.

1. Consider calls on all channels. If the client has not been answered properly by phone, he will write to the chat or mercilessly mention the company in a post on Facebook. You will receive a beautiful, but not reflecting the real state of affairs, figure, tying the FCR to one channel, and not to the history of the client as a whole.

2. Consider the treatment of similar meaning. Repeated - does not mean literally with the same question.

I went abroad and called my operator to find out which tariff would be valid. A specialist quickly and accurately called the cost of a minute of a call and SMS and said goodbye. Formally, the answer to the question is, but the problem has not been solved. I wanted to know about the options to save, additional services and connect them to call my mother directly from Trafalgalskaya Square, not counting the seconds. And I didn’t have to pull out the solution options from a specialist, it was expected that she herself would offer them. But I had to call again with new questions. The contact center has 2 solved problems in statistics, but not one on my scale.

Look at the appeal not as individual issues, but as an event involving a set of questions and problems. The client does not know if “you can help with something else”, but you know all the possible outcomes, foresee future problems and related issues.

3. In addition to the dry numbers from the systems, ask the clients themselves whether the problem has been resolved after calling IVR or using feedback via email or chat.

Behind FCR, the company's internal processes are hidden. A low value indicates one of these diagnoses or a bunch of diseases:

• Operators poorly taught
• Operators are not given authority
• Appeals do not immediately get the right specialist
• Scripts and procedures do not take into account possible scenarios.
• Communication between departments in the company is not established
• The system does not show all customer data and call history.

Therefore, the main work begins after you have counted the number of repeated calls. Analyze each re-appeal to get to the bottom of the point - why we do not know how to solve problems right away and how to fix it.

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That, but not that.

In the relationship of FCR and the speed of responses with an indicator of satisfaction is not all simple. If you force a client to wait a long time for a response and re-apply - I bet 100 to 1, customers will not be satisfied. But you can't say the opposite: neither quick answers, nor 100% solution of problems from the first time does not mean that the client will hang up the phone after contacting you or close the chat window with a great mood.

Imagine:

The client looked for an answer on the website in the FAQ or in the documentation, did not find it, and only after that, disappointed and tired, dialed your number.

During the conversation, the client had to look for a passport so that the operator carried out a standard identification procedure.

The customer fought an IVR (like me) before reaching the operator.

In all cases, the client had to expend efforts that we did not take into account in our metrics. We get a bad rating and do not understand why, because we instantly solved the problem.

How to calculate and reduce these efforts? We’ll stop at this intriguing moment and move the answer to the next article. Stay with us :)