Cost per resolution (CPR) measures the total cost a business incurs to fully resolve a single customer issue. Unlike cost-per-contact or cost-per-ticket, CPR focuses on the outcome — a resolved issue — rather than the activity.

CPR = Total support costs / Number of resolved issues

Total support costs include agent salaries and benefits, technology costs (CCaaS platform, ticketing system, AI tools), training, quality assurance, management overhead, and any outsourcing fees. The denominator — resolved issues — requires a clear definition of what constitutes "resolution" (customer confirmed satisfied, no reopen within 7 days, etc.).

CPR varies significantly by channel, complexity, and resolution method:

| Channel | Typical CPR |

|---------|------------|

| AI-resolved (chat/email) | $0.50 – $2.00 |

| Human agent (chat) | $5 – $12 |

| Human agent (phone) | $8 – $25 |

| BPO agent (offshore) | $3 – $8 | | Escalated/multi-touch | $15 – $50+ |

The strategic value of CPR is that it connects service quality to unit economics. A low CPR achieved through deflection (bouncing customers to self-service that doesn't actually resolve their issue) is illusory — those customers either come back (increasing total cost) or churn (increasing customer acquisition cost). A genuinely low CPR, achieved through efficient resolution, is one of the most powerful financial levers in a customer service operation.

CPR is also the natural metric for evaluating AI agent ROI. If AI can resolve issues at $1 that previously cost $12 through human agents, the business case is immediate and measurable — provided the AI is actually resolving issues, not just deflecting them.

Related terms: resolution rate, deflection rate, first contact resolution, per-resolution pricing