The average Desktop Support organization tracks fewer than 5 KPI’s. However, there are literally hundreds of KPI’s that have been defined for Desktop Support. The vast majority of these metrics, however, are only marginally relevant – at best! When it comes to KPI’s for Desktop Support, less is more!The eight Desktop Support KPIs that really matter are the following:Cost per TicketCustomer SatisfactionTechnician UtilizationFirst Contact Resolution Rate (incidents)Mean Time to Resolve% Resolved Level 1 CapableTechnician SatisfactionBalanced ScorecardThese eight metrics represent the 80/20 rule when it comes to Desktop Support: 80% of the value you receive from performance measurement and management in Desktop Support can be derived from these eight simple metrics!In today’s blog, I discuss Incident First Contact Resolution Rate.Incident First Contact Resolution Rate is the percentage of incidents that are resolved on the first visit to the customer. Incidents that require a second visit, or are otherwise unresolved on the first visit for any reason, do not qualify for Incident First Contact Resolution.Much as First Contact Resolution on the Service Desk drives customer satisfaction at level 1, Incident First Visit Resolution Rate is one of the biggest drivers of Customer Satisfaction for Desktop Support. A high Incident First Contact Resolution Rate is almost always associated with high levels of Customer Satisfaction. Desktop Support groups that emphasize training and have good technology tools generally enjoy a higher than average Incident First Contact Resolution Rate.Incident FCR is typically measured in one of two ways: 1) the desktop technician checks a box on the trouble ticket at the conclusion of the incident to indicate if the ticket was successfully concluded on the first visit to the customer, or 2) customers are asked in follow-up customer satisfaction surveys whether their ticket was resolved and concluded on the initial contact with the desktop technician. The first method requires periodic audits to ensure that technicians are accurately reporting Incident FCR on the tickets they handle. This is done by reviewing a representative sampling of tickets each month to determine if the tickets designated FCR by a technician are, in fact, being resolved on the first contact with the customer.Incident First Contact Resolution is strongly correlated with the following Desktop Support KPIs:Customer SatisfactionNew Technician Training HoursAnnual Technician Training HoursAverage Incident Work TimeMetricNet’s benchmarking database shows that the average Incident First Contact Resolution Rate for Desktop Support organizations worldwide is about 84%. This number varies widely, however, from a low of about 70%, to a high of 97%. Those performing at the upper end of this range generally have highly trained and experienced technicians that are capable of resolving more than 90% of incidents on the first interaction with the customer.Given the impact of Incident First Contact Resolution Rate on Customer Satisfaction, every Desktop Support organization should track and trend Incident First Contact Resolution Rate on an ongoing basis. You can register for MetricNet’s free webcast on Desktop Support Best Practices by visiting our webcast page.In my next blog on Desktop Support KPIs I will discuss Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR), a critical Service Level Metric for Desktop Support.MetricNet conducts Desktop Support Benchmarks for organizations worldwide. For more information, please visit our benchmarking store, or contact MetricNet.
