FCR alone can increase customer retention by 5% and boost profits by up to 85%. That’s according to an infographic created by Flowtown. It did the math. The infographic also says it costs anywhere from 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one. Harvard Business Review agrees with this number. Keep in mind that the cost of finding a new client includes things like advertising, personal selling, setting up new accounts, and price sensitivity. With numbers like these as proof, it’s critical you retain customers. The statistics also show why customer retention should be your top priority. It is at many of the world’s top companies.

And the best way of retaining customers is to boost customer satisfaction by improving customer experience.

Increasing Customer Satisfaction Via FCR

Customer satisfaction is a leading indicator of a customer’s future behavior and your company’s financial performance. Customer satisfaction drives long-term survival.

Here are some additional statistics that might interest you. A recent survey on customer satisfaction indicates that

75% of the people polled said they would do business with a company based on a great inbound call center experience
50% said the last time they stopped doing business with a company was partly or wholly due to poor customer service
1 in 6 of your customers could be at risk because they’re not happy with their last contact center interaction

As with many companies, your inbound call center is probably the main contact point for customers. A customer’s experience with one of your call center agents often determines how a customer rates your customer service.

If they rate customer service high, they’ll probably rate customer satisfaction high as well. If they rate customer service low, they’ll probably rate customer satisfaction low as well.

Reduces Corporate Costs

Customer satisfaction, then, should be a top priority at your call center. How can you tell if customer satisfaction at your call center is a priority?

Check your FCR rates. FCR drives customer satisfaction because of its direct impact on customer service.

People want to solve problems in one call. If they can’t, your customer service rating may take a hit.

Boosting FCR can also reduce operating costs—a statistic that managers sometimes overlook. They shouldn’t.

An inbound call center with 250 agents can save over $235,000 annually by increasing FCR by 5%, according to one survey.

That’s a significant saving by any measurement. It’s also savings that can be devoted to other customer-related activities—activities that can boost customer satisfaction.

Improving FCR Rates

Technology can boost FCR by helping you measure, understand, evaluate, and improve this key metric.

That’s why updating inbound call center technology is one of the first things you should do to improve FCR. But technology can’t do it all by itself.

You must support technology by also implementing sound call center practices. This starts with determining the main causes for repeat calls.

Here are 6 common reasons for repeat calls:

Absence of information
Poor call control
Lack of authority to solve problems
Misinformed agents
Agents providing unclear or incorrect information
Long holding times

Once you’ve determined the causes for repeat calls, you can eliminate them—often through implementing sound call center practices.

Action Step: Talk with call center agents. Ask them what are the most common reasons for repeat calls. Once you know why people call back, list ways of eliminating them.

Implementing Sound Practices For Higher FCR

Implementing sound inbound call center practices is probably the single best way of boosting FCR rates. Here are 7 secrets to doing that.

Establish reasonable goals
Reward agent achievement
Train agents on call control techniques
Provide agents with advanced information
Revisit policies that cause repeat calls
Empower agents to make small concessions
Provide quick and easy access to the knowledge base

While these are among the most effective ways to boost FCR, they’re not the only ones. Others exist that may be more appropriate for you.

Outsourcing inbound call center services, for example, may work better for you. An experienced service provider can help you boost FCR rates, cut costs, and increase customer satisfaction all in one shot.

Let us put our proven experience in providing tech support for small and medium-sized companies to work for you. Contact outsourced IT help desk providers to discuss your specific needs & we can help your company scale new heights…