Timeliness is a critical factor in customer satisfaction. Indeed, a study conducted by researchers at MIT found that long wait times result in less satisfied customers, regardless of the service quality they receive.
Fortunately, first response time allows contact centers to monitor wait times. Here is how.
What Is the First Response Time KPI?
First response time (FRT) measures the average time it takes for a service agent to respond to a customer after they first raise a ticket.
Contact centers often target an FRT within their service level. For example, many will try to answer 80% of calls in 20 seconds. This 20-second goal is the target FRT, which planners build staffing calculations around.
By tracking how close they come to hitting this target, FTR helps measure the success of staffing plans while ensuring that customers do not have to wait for too long a time.
If contact centers fall short of the target, customer satisfaction takes a hit, while the customer may spam other channels to get the fastest possible response - sometimes leading to duplicate conversations.
Of course, these channels will have different FTR targets. For the voice channel, live chat, and messaging, it is often around the 20-second mark. Yet, traditionally, customers that contact via email and social channels must wait longer.
Yet, should a contact center stick to these conventions? Not necessarily. Best practice dictates that customer satisfaction and contact abandon research should guide service level targets.
How To Calculate the Average First Response Time?
The formula for average FTR is:
Most helpdesk systems - such as Zendesk - will automate the process across the various contact center channels and periods.
For those that do not have this luxury, ACD reports will likely provide the data that allows analysts to gather figures for every contact and its FRT across a specific period. They can then utilize the formula to calculate an average.
By calculating an average across various reporting periods, resource planners can track schedule efficiency and use the data to inform workforce management processes.
There are three considerations for calculating FRT: