Customer Service Metrics

“Good customer service” is pretty subjective. To some, it may only mean quickness, to some only niceness, while others may have even higher expectations. One thing is for sure though, whatever it is that your customers are expecting of you, their loyalty and retention will increase if you provide them with their desired customer service. Luckily, there are ways to measure the state of your customer service and to understand what is making your customers happy and what areas need improvement. 

Below, we will list some of the most crucial metrics that may help businesses move forward in their endeavors. We can separate two main categories of these metrics: customer satisfaction metrics and operational metrics. Customer satisfaction metrics use formulas about the overall perception of your brand. Operational metrics dive deeper into customers’ minds and focus on specific attributes & functions of your customer support team.

Customer Satisfaction Metrics

Customer Satisfaction Surveys (NPS, CSAT, and CES)

These are the three most commonly used standard surveys that identify the level of customer satisfaction with your brand. 

• Net Promoter Score (NPS) shows how likely a customer is to recommend your company to others. The survey is usually pretty short and easy to respond to and can be filled anytime during customer interaction. The results can also predict customer loyalty and customer churn rates. 

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is calculated through optimized surveys and usually asks for general feedback about a certain feature or a product. A CSAT survey should be compared with other conducted surveys to understand the full picture. 

• Customer Effort Score (CES) speaks for itself: how much effort customers make to interact with your brand. The results help determine whether customers have faced difficulties when interacting with your customer service and come up with solutions to eliminate them. 

Operational Metrics

First Response Time

One thing that would make even the most demanding customer happy is a quick response rate. That is why most companies are trying to focus their customer service resources on the most responsive channels. Live chat is a perfect example of how to answer your customers’ inquiries as fast as possible. To calculate your average of “first response time”, measure the amount of seconds/minutes/hours it takes for your customer service representative to answer once a question comes in. Try to play with this number, and see for yourself whether shortening your first response time benefits customer satisfaction rates.

Average Handling Time

If a fast response time is where you get closer to the customers, rapid handling time is how you can bond with them. Average handling time is the amount of time it takes for a customer service representative to open a ticket, work on it, and resolve it. By calculating this time, you can understand where your customer service is lagging. After you’ve identified the main issues, come up with strategies to minimize this number. The trick here is to make sure not to get rid of core processes for the sake of quickness. Customers need a productive and eloquent solution rather than an unfinished one.

Preferred Interaction Channels

To know how to allocate resources efficiently, the customer service team needs to know which channels are customers most likely to use to contact them. While some customers may prefer communication via email, others may think that live chat is better. Different companies and industries have diverse customers who have different preferences. Current technologies, such as omnichannel customer service, allow businesses to have a centralized platform for incoming inquiries. However, finding out the most popular channel helps prioritize and optimize customer service.