First call resolution tips form an important area for the success of any call center of any institution so it’s essential you are always improving.

First Call Resolution Tips to Follow

1. Understand Issues at Hand and Solve Them

This is the number one tip when considering first call resolution. There may be a number of issues with your call center which need to be ironed out in order to resolve customer’s issues upon their first call. Look at a number of issues such as; transfer of calls, who are the recipients of transferred calls, call escalation for instance to managers, why the interaction used more than one channel and reasons as to why the caller or callers may not be satisfied with whatever they are told.

Isolating such kind of issues is a sure way of ensuring that you come up with a strategy on how to make your calls profitable as much as is practically possible. This may include making a number of considerations such as company procedures and policies as they may be hindering call performance. Other areas to consider may include the products as they may be having problems and if engaging the services of an agent; do a critical analysis to ensure that the staff probably from an agent is well versed with the company policies and protocols. This may be one of the reasons of not having a successful first call resolution.

By identifying issues that are common with many of your clients or knowledge gaps within the staff then repetitive actions is recommended and also look for preventive measures to ensure that first call action is successful all the times. It is highly recommended that those dealing with clients have facts right in order to make the whole process of first call successful, otherwise all will be in vain. Dynamism is also recommended as it will help in handling a range of issues that come to the call center once and for all.

2. Training

Training is an elaborate subject which must be handled diligently in order to ensure that customers or clients get what they want when they make calls once. Training is not only restricted on how employees or an agent is able to utilize the call center or the products or services that they are dealing with. There are a number of other elements which must be brought into the picture in order for the first call resolution to work effectively and efficiently.

3. Use of Software

An organization may engage the services of an agent or employees in a call center. They must very well understand the software that they are using as this will enhance service delivery. They must be able to run the software themselves and also be in position to solve minor technical issues which may crop up when using the software. This may call for proper training as it is the only way that good results can be guaranteed. In some instances the software that the agents are using may be obsolete, ensure that it is up to date and that all agents are well versed with it. The software is also supposed to provide some call history information as this will go a long way in ensuring that the problems of clients are solved amicably. Other features that the software must provide include update of call logs, new ticket creation and updating all the integrated systems within the call center.

4. Knowledge of the Product or Service

Employees involved in the call centers must have knowledge on what they are dealing with and must be aware of any promotion that is conducted by the organization or company. Once they have all this information, then it will be easier for them to answer any of the questions that may be coming from clients. Just imagine a scenario whereby a client makes that call and the one who is supposed to answer the questions hangs to do some consultation. This kills the morale and even if the customer is given the correct answer later, trust fades. Confidence is another important attribute that is required when handling questions in respect to a particular product. Without confidence, clients may not take up the solutions that you give them seriously.

5. Tone

Training also includes the tone. The delivery of the message means a lot in first call resolutions. How was the tone of the agent who was answering the question? Was it friendly or it was rough and harsh? The agents must be trained on how to handle customers and remember some customers may be arrogant but as an agent working in a call center you must have all the wisdom to handle diversity. It is worth to note that some agents may behave like robots which are not recommended in a call center as it beats the logic of having live agents.

6. Provide the Necessary Tools to Your Agents

Tools that the agents use in the call center play a fundamental role in ensuring that first call resolution is successful. You may have super agents within the call center but if these great men and women do not have the necessary tools, it will be zero work. Just imagine a call center where the systems drop calls from clients. Or the system lacks a chat feature? This will be disastrous as agents will not be able to handle clients and this will put them in a bad corner. For first call resolution to succeed, never let your agents be confused in the call center with bad tools. Purpose that a streamlined call center is provided with all the necessary requirements. With such, agents will not have an excuse of underperformance or in efficiency in the call center. When agents have access to all that which they need, they will be able to spend more time on the phone and this will increase the volume of calls and also increased efficiency in first call resolution.

In conclusion therefore, first call resolution tips include a number of factors that must be fulfilled in a call center for better handling customers’ problems. If the above first call resolution tips are strictly followed, then the results will be enormous.