There is no single KPI upon which a customer service team’s performance should be measured, as there are many factors involved in running a successful contact center. Are customers happy? Are employees satisfied? Are costs under control?—just to name a few. But to formulate a manageable list of customer service metrics to monitor on a regular basis, supervisors must take a number of variables into consideration, including the company’s short and long term goals, competitive differentiators, who the data will be presented to (customer service managers, high-level executives, CSRs), and how the metrics balance each other out (cost vs. satisfaction: the “balanced scorecard approach”)—usually falling within three difference categories: Quality, Financial, and Operational. But to help get you started, we have formulated a well-rounded list of six metrics every customer service team should monitor.
1) Overall Customer Satisfaction: Gathering feedback directly from clients is a crucial step in understanding a customer service team’s performance, but one many organizations fail to take. This can be done quite simply and effectively by directing callers to an IVR-survey once an interaction is complete, which will ask questions regarding their satisfaction with a recent interaction, and seamlessly document the results within the contact center solution.
2) Customer Retention: The tell-all metric: customer retention. While it is not solely a reflection of a customer service team’s performance, as there are other reasons customers stop using a product or service, it is a pretty good indication of whether or not a business is delivering on its customers’ needs and expectations. Customers who are happy with the service you provide will likely stick around and do more business with you.
3) Net Promoter Score: Measured by using the answers to a single question, “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?” on a scale of 1-10, and subtracting the percentage of “Detractors” (score 0-6) from the percentage of “Promoters” (score 9-10), Net Promoter Score can be a strong indicator of growth. Organizations with a net promoter score higher than that of their competition typically outperform the market.
4) Average Resolution Time: Customers want their issues resolved in a timely and efficient manner—and if they’re not, operational costs can increase significantly, and customer satisfaction can plummet. By monitoring average resolution time, supervisors can better understand if there are any underlying issues with a product or service or reps need additional training, and address these problems before they affect a larger group of individuals.
5) Employee Retention/Turnover: Employee retention has been a long standing issue within the call center space, with some organizations experiencing annual turnover as high as 60%. Supervisors should diligently monitor their employee turnover to ensure operational that costs are under control, and they are creating a pleasant work environment for their employees—at the end of the day, employee satisfaction has a direct correlation with employee satisfaction.
6) Hold Time and Abandonment Rates: It is crucial for businesses to not only understand what happened during their calls, but also before. Long hold times are most of the most frustrating aspects of a service experience, with 57% of customers saying they will hang up if their call isn’t answered in under a minute. Businesses should be sure to set strict service level goals to measure against, and dive deep into long hold times to understand the root cause.
