Resolution Clarity Score

Resolution Clarity Score

Most teams obsess over resolution confidence. But clarity? That’s where the silent churn lives.

Resolution Clarity Score measures whether customers understand what happened at the end of a conversation — not just whether their issue was marked “resolved.”

It’s the difference between a customer thinking, “That seems handled…” and “I know exactly what’s been done, what to expect next, and what I need to do (if anything).”

Why Clarity Matters

High confidence without clarity is dangerous. It creates a mirage of satisfaction — right before the second call comes in, the survey tanks, or the customer quietly defects.

Examples of low resolution clarity:

  • The agent processed a refund, but didn’t explain when it will hit the account.
  • The issue was escalated, but the handoff details were vague.
  • A policy was enforced, but the “why” wasn’t made clear.

Lack of clarity leads to:

  • Repeat calls
  • Missed expectations
  • Lower trust
  • Higher handle times on follow-up interactions

And because it feels like the call ended fine, these problems often fly under the radar.

How to Measure It

Resolution Clarity is best measured through post-conversation signals. You’re looking for indicators that the customer left the conversation in the dark, even if they didn’t sound overtly negative.

🧠 Ways to calculate:

1. Direct measurement via QA or post-call survey:

You can ask:

“Do you feel you understand what happens next?”

Or, on QA scorecards:

  • ✅ Did the agent clearly summarize the resolution?
  • ✅ Did they explain any next steps or timelines?
  • ✅ Did they confirm the customer’s understanding?

2. Indirect detection via conversation signals: Using conversation intelligence, you can flag risk of low clarity based on:

  • Lack of resolution summary
  • High customer silence at the end of call
  • Phrases like “I think that covers it?” or “Okay, I guess that makes sense…”

These can be structured into a Resolution Clarity Score on a 0–100 scale, where:

  • 100 = clear explanation, confirmed understanding, documented next steps
  • 0 = no explanation, no confirmation, vague or absent follow-up info

Sample Formula

Resolution Clarity Score =
(Resolution Summary Present × 0.4) +
(Next Steps Clearly Explained × 0.3) +
(Customer Understanding Confirmed × 0.3)

Each component is a binary or scaled flag (e.g. 1 = yes, 0 = no), often QA-reviewed or LLM-extracted.

Questions to Self-Check

  • Are your agents trained to summarize resolution, not just execute it?
  • Do you review how often customers express confusion or ask “So what happens now?” at the end of a call?
  • Are callbacks or repeat contacts being tied to lack of clarity from prior interactions?

Vitalogy Principle in Play

Design for Action.
If a conversation doesn’t equip the customer to act — or know what’s coming — then it wasn’t resolved with clarity. The job isn’t just to fix the issue. It’s to make sure the customer knows it’s fixed and what’s next.

Further Reading