July 17, 2007
First Call Resolution and Offshoring Study Results
By Customer satisfaction is crucial to customer loyalty, positive word of mouth, and return on investment, as we all know. A new study released recently from CFI Group reports that (yet again) first call resolution has the most impact on customer satisfaction, and therefore, their loyalty and likelihood to recommend.
In this study, across all industries measured, almost a fifth of all callers hung up with their issue unresolved. Of those customers who didn’t have their issue resolved, 68 percent are at risk of defection (43 percent said they’d definitely defect; 25 percent weren’t sure).
The study further found that customers who think the contact center is located outside the US rate their satisfaction with their experience 26 points lower (on a scale of 100) and are almost twice as likely to defect compared to those who assume their support is in the US.
These results are interesting in light of a recent tip about outsourcing; this study says there is a negative impact on satisfaction because offshore customer service reps are less adept at solving customer problems, and are rate especially low on communication skills. Reps with poor communication skills are able to solve customer issues only 45 percent of the time, compared to 88 percent of the time when they speak clearly.
Certainly first call resolution remains the #1 driver of customer satisfaction. And we believe it is a training issue.
With regard to offshoring, you be the judge from your own experience and take all studies with a grain of salt.
To learn even more about offshoring, check TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP
communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents free to registered users.
communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents free to registered users. Rosanne D’Ausilio is an industrial psychologist, consultant, master trainer, best selling author, executive coach, customer service expert, and President of Human Technologies Global, Inc. She specializes in human performance management. Over the last 23 years, D’Ausilio has provided needs analyses, instructional design, and customized, live customer service skills trainings as well as executive/leadership coaching; she also offers agent and facilitator university certification through Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality. Additionally, D’Ausilio authors articles for industry newsletters, and is a much sought after dynamic, vibrant, internationally prominent keynote speaker.
