What is resolution rate?

Why it matters

Resolution rate is the headline number in every AI support sales conversation and the number most vulnerable to definitional games. A vendor counting abandonment as resolution can quote a rate double that of an honest vendor while delivering worse outcomes. Always ask for the denominator and the exclusions.

What to know

• Ask three questions: does abandonment count, do handoffs count, and does a reopen retract the resolution?
• Rates vary enormously by issue mix, so a benchmark from another company tells you almost nothing.
• Pair it with reopen rate. A high resolution rate with rising reopens is a measurement artefact.
• A rate that jumps after a configuration change is usually a definition change in disguise.
• Segment by topic. The aggregate hides that you resolve ninety percent of one topic and ten percent of another.

How to calculate it

An example

Example: two vendors both quote seventy percent. One counts any conversation the customer did not escalate. The other counts only conversations with a confirmed answer and no repeat contact in fourteen days. These are not the same product.

Common mistakes

• Comparing vendor resolution rates without comparing definitions
• Reporting resolution rate without reopen rate
• Using one aggregate rate across incomparable topics
• Accepting a self-reported rate with no audit path

Questions