If you are in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector, then you know how important it is to resolve customers’ queries and issues in the very first contact.
In the BFSI sector, first call (contact) resolution (FCR) is the king! That’s because the nature of queries and issues customers have are extremely time sensitive.
Just think about a customer who wants to connect with a bank’s customer care representative to stop a transaction that wasn’t initiated from their end. Or, a customer who wants to contact an insurance company to inquire about a policy that’s going to expire soon.
What would be the consequence if they are not able to get their issues and queries resolved on the very first instance? Will they be willing to make multiple contacts to get such sensitive issues resolved? Most importantly, can banks, financial institutions, or insurance companies afford not to resolve customers’ queries and issues on the very first contact itself?
These are some obvious questions that come to mind. But is it so easy for organizations in the BFSI sector to ensure a high FCR rate? Or are there some key challenges to it? This blog post discusses both the main challenges BFSI organizations face in maintaining a reasonable FCR rate and how they can enhance their FCR rate by leveraging the right contact center software.
Challenges BFSI Organizations Face in Ensuring FCR?
Organizations in the BFSI sector know how important FCR is for their business as well as customer satisfaction. A majority of them leave no stone unturned to ensure that most of customers’ queries and issues get resolved on the first contact itself. However, they face some unique challenges such as:
1. Complex Queries and Issues
If we compare the nature of issues and queries that the BFSI sector faces everyday versus, say, organizations in the retail sector, which one does deal with more complexities? The former, of course! The BFSI, as such, is a fast-paced, dynamic, and demanding sector. The nature of problems and issues are quite unique and complex. That’s why resolving those is more challenging than doing the same for any other sector.
2. High Call Volumes
Would you be surprised to know that the BFSI sector receives a huge volume of calls day in and day out? You shouldn’t. If you go to the contact center of any bank, financial institution, or insurance firm, you would be overwhelmed just to hear the buzz from the communication systems!
3. Legacy Systems
In the rapidly evolving digital world, using traditional communication systems is just similar to participating in a contemporary Formula One race with a vintage vehicle. However, many organizations in the BFSI sector still use legacy communication systems. That’s a sure-shot recipe for low FCR rate and sub-par customer service.
4. Changing Customer Expectations
In today’s age, a majority of contemporary customers are highly time sensitive. They can’t afford to wait for more than a couple of minutes. They also prefer solving minor issues and queries by themselves over dialing customer care numbers, waiting for the call to be picked up, and speaking with a customer service agent. Many customers today expect quick and efficient service. And they won’t bear anything less than that.
5. Skill Gaps
In a sector where complex queries and sensitive customer information are common, organizations need to be extremely careful about how adroit and skillful their employees are. Because in such sectors, a training period of three months or six months cannot guarantee that a majority of customer service staff have the requisite skills to sort customers’ queries and problems on the very first contact itself.
How the Right Contact Center Software Can Enhance FCR Rate in BFSI?
Organizations in the BFSI sector can enhance their FCR rate by adopting many tried-and-tested strategies as well as using some effective methods. One of those is by handpicking the right contact center software. Here are some ways the right contact center software can enable BFSI organizations to enhance their FCR rate:
1. Omnichannel Communication
A sophisticated contact center software solution provides omnichannel communication. That means customers aren’t restricted to using phone calls to call their banks, financial institutions, and insurance companies. They can contact via live chats, emails, text messages, instant messages, video conferencing, social media, and more. It enhances FCR as a customer can initiate a query over text message, continue it through live chat, and get it resolved over a voice call.
2. Skill-based Routing
This feature in sophisticated contact center software solutions is extremely crucial to connect customers with the right agents with the right skills, context, and lingual expertise to resolve issues and queries in the very first contact itself. Integrated with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, advanced contact center software solutions already have access to key customer information and details. When customers contact, it becomes quite easy for the skill-based routing feature to understand the most likely reason why the customer is contacting and finding the agent who is best equipped to handle the interaction. By doing that it increases the likelihood of high FCR.
3. Self-Service Options
We have already discussed how a majority of contemporary customers would prefer solving minor issues and queries by themselves instead of speaking with a customer service representative. Be it retail or BFSI, it’s across all sectors. In fact, renowned financial services company American Express conducted a study, in which it found that three out of every five customers prefer an automated self-service for simple customer service tasks over speaking with an agent. The right contact center software provides a wide array of self-service options that can help customers get their issues and queries sorted with just a few clicks of a button.
4. Real-Time Analytics and Reporting
Would it astonish you if you got to know that BFSI organizations that keep a close watch on real-time analytics and reports are better equipped to enhance their FCR rate? You shouldn’t. It’s one thing to try and enhance FCR rate by adopting proven strategies and leveraging sophisticated solutions. But it’s an altogether different thing to keep a bird’s eye view of the analytics that are vital in determining an organization’s FCR.
Everything Said and Done,
FCR is a critical performance metric for all types and sizes of organizations, including the ones in the BFSI sector.
By measuring how well an organization resolves its customers’ queries and issues on the first contact, it paves the way for efficient customer service.
If you are in the BFSI sector, then you must make sure that your organization has an FCR rate of over 75 percent. You can achieve that by adopting some effective strategies and leveraging the right contact center software.