Customer Think, a “global online community of business leaders striving to create profitable customer-centric enterprises,” recently published a list of contact center metrics that matter in 2018. Among them was First Call Resolution (FCR), the percentage of customers whose problems your agents are able to solve the first time they contact you.

The Impact of FCR on Organizational Goals

ICMI reports a direct correlation between FCR and customer satisfaction, noting that “for every 1% improvement in FCR, you get a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction.”

And the benefits of excelling at FCR don’t stop there. ICMI also found connections between FCR and:

• Cost Savings, since customers calling multiple times to resolve a single issue increases call volume and adds congestion to the call queue, necessitating more agents
• Customer Retention, as research shows that customers are more than 10x more likely to leave you for the competition if your agents can’t solve their problem on the first call
• Happier Agents, because agents hate callbacks. It’s stressful to hear from frustrated customers multiple times and know you don’t have the tools to help them

Based on these findings, ICMI goes so far as to state that “no single KPI has a bigger impact on customer satisfaction than does FCR.”

Remarkable FCR Starts with Remarkable Communication

Talkdesk.com offers a list of tips for agents to improve FCR. The first point: Make sure you understand the customer’s needs.

But what if your agent can’t understand the customer?

One in five US residents speak a language other than English at home, and many struggle to make themselves understood in English, a number that's expected to grow in coming years. To complicate things further, the subject matter of calls to contact centers – financial dealings, insurance terms, troubleshooting a nonworking product, etc. – are often complex, challenging the communication skills of even native English speakers.

Contact centers committed to clear communication with non-English speaking customers can help bridge the gap by partnering with a language services provider for multilingual support.

Quality Multilingual Support from Voiance can Help Boost FCR

The benefits of using phone interpretation in contact centers depend heavily on the quality of the language services provider. Miscommunication between customers and interpreters may negatively impact FCR if confused customers have to call back a second time.

At Voiance, Our certified interpreters complete 120 hours of standardized, in-person training, including written and oral exams. Once trained, each interpreter receives regular quality monitoring to ensure clear, consistent interpretation.

Calls to Voiance route exclusively to interpreters in the continental US. Interpreters living and working overseas may be less familiar with US culture, leading to misunderstandings that force your customers to call back for clarification.

Want to learn more about partnering with Voiance for quality multilingual support? Email info@voiance.com or give us a call at 1-844 727-6739