Call resolution

The primary goal of each call center is to provide the best customer support experience possible. This means resolving customer requests quickly and efficiently in compliance with given service level agreements (SLAs).

Is call resolution an important KPI?

Yes, it is. Furthermore, it is a vital indicator of customer satisfaction. It is used to assess your contact center agents’ customer service standards.

Analyzing the call disposition allows center leaders to get insights into how effectively their support teams handle customer calls.

Poor contact resolution may lead to a dissatisfied customer taking their business elsewhere. Therefore, you must consider this metric when assessing the overall center performance.

How to measure call resolution?

To calculate call resolution, divide the total number of resolved cases by the total number of received cases during a certain time period (can be calculated annually, monthly, weekly, etc.). Multiply your result by 100 to get a percentage of your center’s call resolution.

Call resolution= (Total resolved cases/ Total received cases) x 100%

Of course, this calculation method is not an end-all-be-all and it is important to consider various factors when it comes to measuring call resolution. This formula provides a basic understanding of how effectively your center agents do their job but do not forget to consider your customers’ opinions as well. Be sure to ask for customer feedback every chance you get. You can do this by a follow-up email, or simply ask them during a call. Tailoring call centers’ approach to clients’ needs is what makes excellent customer service.

Challenges of call resolution

As with all customer service efforts, call resolution has some challenges you and your team need to handle.

• issue complexity – Customers can contact you with very basic inquiries that take seconds to solve. But sometimes, a very complex issue can occur that requires a lot of expertise and time to solve.
• inaccessible/insufficient information – Even the most productive agents may find it difficult to provide support to customers when they are unable to access all the information they need.
• high agent turnover – Call centers are known for their level of agent turnover which can prevent delivering high-quality service.
• lack of agent authority – Support agents may be unable to solve customer issues quickly and efficiently if they lack the authority to perform certain actions. Therefore, the issue can needlessly escalate.

Improve your call resolution

Continuously improving customer service should be at the forefront of every customer support center. Any project manager should strive to create the most efficient environment for their team as well as for their clients.

Here are a few steps you can take to improve call resolution:

• define your goals – You need to outline clear goals in order to follow them.
• create an improvement plan – Once you know what your desired outcome is, create a plan which defines how you will get there. This is important in order to stay accountable.
• create an accessible knowledge base – Have an internal knowledge base that your agents can refer to any time they need. This will help call resolution rates dramatically. The best way to do this is by equipping your support representatives with reliable customer service software like LiveAgent.
• provide training – Provide your employees with training and seminars on the company’s products and services as well as on how to deal with various customer requests. These training sessions can be internal or external. The important thing is to keep your agents up-to-date and ready to tackle any issue thrown their way.
• empower your customer service agents – Allowing your staff to perform certain tasks ( for example giving a discount) tremendously helps with customer satisfaction. Review your company policies and procedures and identify areas where you can give more authority to the agents.
• utilize speech analytics – These analytics identify trends in customer interaction. They are able to recognize patterns and emotions in the speaker’s voice.
• monitor your center’s performance – Utilize quality monitoring to keep track of call center metrics. Doing so will help you identify where you need to make further changes.

Benefits of improved call resolution

Improving call resolution results in better customer retention rates. The better service you provide, the more loyal customers your business has. Improved call resolution is directly linked to higher customer efforts scores.

Better call resolution also has an impact on your center’s agents’ performance. Empowering them to solve problems themselves keeps them engaged and satisfied with their job.

Having improved call resolution is also a part of your differentiation strategy. Being able to stand out from your competitors by providing exceptional customer service is one of the most significant attributes of a successful call center. In this day and age, you don’t want to be regarded just as another average call center. Use all the tools available to you to create the best customer experience possible.