Customer Service Metrics Skills Training.
what you need to know, grow & measure in today’s dynamic environment
Why Choose this Training Course?
When it comes to measuring customer service performance, many organizations rely on customer surveys to gauge their success.
Yes, surveys are solid indicators of customer satisfaction. However, there are other customer service metrics that help you get a deeper understanding of your teams efficiency and effectiveness. The best customer service teams care about metrics. They recognize that quantifying their efforts is the best way to maximize their potential.
Every company uses data to determine if they are succeeding in customer satisfaction. Metrics are used to provide this information. Customer service metrics are simply methods of obtaining information on the customer service aspect of any given area of a business. For example, customer service operations focus primarily on customer satisfaction, so they use metrics like surveys to determine how satisfied their customers are. Many different businesses use these tools – Michael recently took his car in for an oil change, and after completing the service he received an email asking him to fill out a survey regarding his experience. This is an example of a metric in customer service.
Course Objectives
- The value for the customer: Metrics include the time it takes forsuccessful implementation and growth of the programfor the customer, whether the customer is capturing and maximizing value or not.
- The value for the company: This meansbreaking down the commercial value of customer service via metrics likemonthly recurringrevenue (MRR), bookings, referrals and references, etc.
- The value forother teams: Quantifying howtheCustomer Success organization helps theproduct team, the sales team, the marketing team, etc. This is important because the Customer Success team maintains the interface with the customer,which is so valuable to so many other teams, Maor explains. It only makes sense that we dontonly measure our own goals, but also how we help other teams to achieve and deliver value with acustomer.
- Practice improvement:In addition, Maoralso believes its important to encourage continuous, rapid improvement. We want tomake sure that on an every day, every week, every month basis we not only do things,we also invest in our people, invest in our process, and improve the way we do whatwe do, he says. So we have a set of criteria we look to andinitiatives for improvement andtraining forour people.
Course Content:
Customer Satisfaction
There’s almost always a very strong correlation between the health and growth of an organization and the satisfaction of its customers, and that makes customer satisfaction a metric that every business should track and commit to improving.
The question is, what are the most effective ways to track this metric? Generally, it’s best to use a mixture of methods, including those that track individual customer service interactions, and those that track customer satisfaction at regular intervals.
Using Metrics to Link Customer Satisfaction & Success
Metrics can also be used to measure the link between customer satisfaction and financial aspects of a company. Most companies have caught on to the trend of measuring customer satisfaction, and as a result they have realized that their customer’s satisfaction directly relates to their company’s success. For example, David, the local owner of a bookstore, saw a decrease in his revenue over the past month. After looking at his customer surveys, he noticed a decline in satisfaction as well. If customers are not happy they will not return and they will be less likely to recommend your business to someone else. This is why it is so important to understand the direct link between customer satisfaction and success.
A good customer support metrics system is like a well-planned brainstorming chart and detailed design/research before investing in an experimental design. It can save you time and money with future customer relations.
Your support metrics measure 3 main quality points; the customer experience, problem resolution and the call process/channel itself.
Interpreting Customer Service Metrics
After you have determined which metrics you want to use, next you need to have a plan for interpreting those metrics. Examples:
Customer satisfaction surveys: When using customer satisfaction surveys, make sure to compare your latest results to your previous results. Don’t just compare your metrics to your competitor’s metrics. If you only compare your metrics to your competitor’s, you will not be able to see any progress you have made. Also, make sure you are not just looking at the averages. It is important to look at all of the data to be able to interpret it accurately. If you look at just one week of customer satisfaction scores, it may not reflect an accurate result.
Call center metrics: Other metrics used in customer service can include call center metrics, such as wait times and response times for when customers call in. These types of metrics do not determine success, but can help to determine efficiency. These metrics can be used for customer satisfaction and should be used to improve customer satisfaction.
Here, you will learn all about which metrics you should be measuring, and why.
We divided these customer service metrics into four different categories:
- Rep Activity
- Team Efficiency
- Churn Prevention
- Product Development
*Bear in mind that some metrics are featured in multiple categories, but with different pivots.
Rep Activity Metrics
Without looking at the numbers, its difficult to know which reps are underperforming. You may intuitively know who your best reps are, but do you know what makes them great? By tracking the activity of each rep with customer service metrics, you can easily identify your top performers and weak links.
So, if you want to know how individual reps are performing, look at each employees:
Open Cases
- the number of open cases awaiting a response, segmented by time of last response
- What it tells you: How many open cases does each employee have?
- Ask yourself: Which reps are allowing cases to fall through the cracks?
Service Activities
- the number of activities performed, segmented by activity type
- What it tells you: How much work is each rep doing?
- Ask yourself: Does the amount of work each rep is doing align with the number of cases theyre closing?
Resolutions
- the number of cases resolved and the average number activities performed to resolve a case
- What it tells you: How much effort does it take each rep to resolve a case?
- Ask yourself: Who is able to resolve cases most efficiently?
Time to Resolution
- the average amount of time it takes to resolve a case, segmented by stage
- What it tells you: How long does it take each rep to close a case?
- Ask yourself: Who takes the most time to resolve a case?
First Response Time
- the average amount of time it takes to respond to a case after its submitted by a customer
- What it tells you: How long does it take each rep to respond to a case?
- Ask yourself: Is everyone hitting your SLA?
Backlog
- the number of cases opened compared to the number of cases closed
- What it tells you: How is the workload distributed?
- Ask yourself: Is each rep closing all of the cases they open?
Team Efficiency Metrics
Customer service is a team sport. In order to retain customers and resolve their problems quickly and effectively, your team needs to work together. Tracking the right customer service metrics will allow you to pinpoint areas where you are struggling. Once you know exactly whats slowing down your team, its up to you to rev the engine and speed things up.
So, to discover how you can make your team more efficient, look at:
Service Activities
- the number of activities performed by your team, segmented by activity type
- What it tells you: How much work is your team doing?
- Ask yourself: Does the amount of work youre doing align with the number of cases youre closing?
Resolutions
- the number of cases resolved
- What it tells you: How many cases is your team able to resolve?
- Ask yourself: Do you resolve more cases when there are fewer activities per case?
Time to Resolution
- the average amount of time it takes to resolve a case, segmented by stage
- What it tells you: How long does it take your team to resolve a case?
- Ask yourself: Is your team resolving cases faster over time?
- the average amount of time spent working on a case before resolving it
- What it tells you: How many person-hours does it take to resolve a case?
- Ask yourself: Is your team able to resolve cases more efficiently over time?
- the average amount of time it takes to respond to a case after its been submitted
- What it tells you: How long does it take your team to respond to customers?
- Ask yourself: Are you hitting your SLA?
First Contact Resolution
- the percentage of cases resolved in one response to a customer
- What it tells you: How often does your team resolve cases in a single response?
- Ask yourself: Do your customers frequently have complex issues?
Submissions
- the number of new cases submitted by customers, segmented by channel
- What it tells you: Is the number of submissions increasing over time?
- Ask yourself: Do you have enough reps on your team?
Submissions by Time Period
- the number of new cases submitted by customers, broken down by period of time and segmented by channel
- What it tells you: When do customers submit the most cases?
- Ask yourself: Should you optimize your shift rotations to be prepared for demand?
Backlog Inflow/Outflow
- the number of cases submitted compared to the numbers of cases closed
- What it tells you: Is your backlog growing or shrinking?
- Ask yourself: Do you need to hire more reps?
Churn Prevention Metrics
The ultimate goal of each customer service team is to retain customers. By tracking the right customer service metrics, you can get a deep understanding of the customer experience. This will help you gauge which customers are happy with your service and which ones are at risk of churning. Once you have this information, you can work towards improving the overall customer experience and check in with specific customers who may be tempted to leave your business.
To find out whether or not customers are happy with your service, check out:
Open Cases by Created Date
- individual cases displayed by created date, factoring in effort level and time of last response
- What it tells you: Which open cases have the highest account value?
- Ask yourself: Which cases should be prioritized?
Account Summary
- account displayed by number of case submissions and account value
- What it tells you: Who are your most active accounts?
- Ask yourself: Which accounts are at risk of churning?
Churn Rate
- the percentage of customers, or total number of customers, that have stopped doing business with you
- What it tells you: How many customers have stopped doing business with you?
- Ask yourself: Are you retaining enough customers to grow sustainably?
- a measure of how satisfied your customers are with your service, expressed as a percentage
- What it tells you: Are most customers satisfied with your service?
- Ask yourself: Which customers are not satisfied with your service?
- a measure of how likely your customers are to recommend your business to a friend or colleague, expressed as a percentage
- What it tells you: How likely are your customers to promote your business?
- Ask yourself: Which customers are at risk of churning?
Customer Effort Score
- a measure of the amount of effort customers expend when they interact with customer service
- What it tells you: How hard to customers have to try in order to have their problems resolved?
- Ask yourself: Are customers likely to purchase from you again and/or increase their spending?
Product Development Metrics
Customer service is a gold mine for product feedback. You receive feedback from customers on a daily basis, so you know best what areas of the product are causing problems for customers. Analyzing customer service metrics will allow you to explain the exact impact that product areas are having not only on your customers, but also on your team. This will allow you to provide your product team with data to show which product areas need to be improved.
If you want to know how your product can be improved, analyze the following metrics by reason:
- the percentage of cases resolved in one response, broken down by reason
- What it tells you: Which product areas are causing problems that are resolved easily?
- Ask yourself: Which product areas are hindering the efficiency of your team?
Time to Resolution
- the average amount of time it takes your team to resolve a case, broken down by reason and segmented by stage
- What it tells you: Which product areas cause problems that take a long time to resolve?
- Ask yourself: Which product areas are costing your team the most time?
Resolutions
- the number of cases resolved and the average number of activities performed to resolve those cases, broken down by reason
- What it tells you: Which product areas cause the most problems for customers?
- Ask yourself: Which product areas cause problems that take require the most effort to resolve?
Backlog
- the number of cases submitted compared to the number of cases resolved, broken down by reason
- What it tells you: Which product areas cause problems that are clogging your backlog?
- Ask yourself: Which product areas need to be improved to prevent backlog from piling up?
The only way you can truly maximize the performance of your customer service team is by tracking metrics and making data-driven decisions. Stop wondering what you could be doing better. Analyze your metrics and find out today. Your customers will thank you later.
Overall Customer Experience Rating
One of the most important feedback points weve discovered is how a customer would rate the overall customer experience.
What to Look for in Your Rating
- Measure the overall customer experience through relationship and transactional surveys to get a prioritized sense of what customers value most
- Understand the loyalty a customer has towards your company and the strength of your relationship
- Identify the most powerful experience opportunities for improvement at every interaction point
Customer experience and loyalty are important determinants in your hopes of business growth. Companies who have mastered the ability to manage the experience are capitalizing on a powerful marketing tool, simply because customers are more likely to believe what they experience and feel rather than what they read in an advertisement.
The Key to Improving Customer Experience Ratings
The ultimate support goal is to have a customers issue resolved in one phone call/email. Generally, if a customer or company must continue to make phone calls to get the issue resolved, the customers satisfaction decreases.
First contact resolution
How many issues are resolved upon initial engagement? Weve found that increasing this metric is a key factor as to whether your customer happiness rises over time. Happy customers tell 3 friends Unhappy customers tell GOOGLE!
There is a high degree of correlation between customers experiences and how likely they are to recommend a company and consider purchasing more products and services from that company in the future.
Keeping your customer experience rating high not only saves you from losing a single customer, it saves you the bad rep you get from word of mouth. Information is quickly passed on and bad support rumors are spread quickly. Get on top of your customer happiness and youll be bringing in new customers through referrals.
Contact Volume by Channel
The last crucial area that weve found to increase customer happiness greatly is to pay attention to volumes of calls and inquiries you receive. Stepping back and checking for any spikes that many indicate a rush of support traffic at certain times of the day. This is a great indicator of when you should be devoting the most amounts of service employees and resources to be on hold and waiting for customer interaction.
Having an appropriate bufferallows you to account for any unpredicted support demands and ensures you are staying on top of issue resolution.
This is one of the more custom metrics you should be monitoring. Each company has business hours at various times of the day and their customers run on very different time schedules.
Best Time to Reach Me
Customers tend to have a general idea of when they can call you and get ahold of a representative immediately. The rule of thumb is that the best times to call are early in the morning (8am-9am) and late in the day, before close (4pm-5pm)
Is that the case for you?
Most times the answer is no A customer calls immediately after a problem arises because they need immediate attention. Pay close attention to the most-frequently-called times, and prepare for it. You cant impress, unless you prepare.
Tracking the frequency of each channel gives you an idea of what YOUR customers prefer most and what kind of questions theyre asking.
If youre tracking the number of repetitive support emails (i.e. emails that come in with more or less the same question) you get an idea of how useful and cost effective it would be to implement a knowledge base and if its worth the cost.
Here is another list of mini-metrics which gives companies a great outlook as to how well they are doing:
- How easily was the customer able to access the information they were looking for
- How easy was the knowledge base/support page to navigate
- How helpful was the answer/Does it meet expectations
- Does the support page have relevant information
- Look at self-service page views to determine whether they are helpful
Course Summary and Personal Take Out
- Course Certificate
- Handouts used during the course
- New supportive material
- Recommended reading
- Links to our favorite videos
- Photos of the day
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