A question SQM is often asked is…’what are the best ways to drive down cost?’  The most common practice used to drive down cost is for call center management to focus on improving Customer Service Representative (CSR) productivity and reducing telecommunications and technology cost. However, it is SQM’s opinion that one of the best ways to drive down operating cost for most call centers is to achieve first call resolution (FCR). It is also SQM’s belief that achieving FCR for most call centers is the most important performance metric that the call center can positively contribute to reducing organizational cost. In addition, for every 1% improvement in FCR, you get a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction. FCR is highly correlated to customer satisfaction. In fact, FCR is the highest correlated measure to customer satisfaction of all the call center measures. It is also important to mention that the absence of FCR is a huge driver of customer dissatisfaction. SQM’s assessment of FCR being one of the best ways to drive down cost is based on our 2007 benchmarking study of over 300 leading North American call centers. Our 2007 benchmarking study has surveyed over 1 million customers who called a call center and also surveyed over 22,000 employees who work in a call center. It is also important to mention that SQM has been conducting call center benchmarking studies for 12 years. This article explains how to measure FCR and why achieving FCR will drive down call center and organizational operating costs.