8 customer service KPIs to boost your business

At first, it may seem like customer service KPIs aren’t as important as traditional key business objectives that focus on sales, profits and overall costs. However, customer service metrics give a bigger picture of how successful a business really is. 

Your operation depends on satisfied customers. If they aren’t happy, you won’t be either. With the right customer service KPIs, you can find out just how well your organisation is doing in relation to customer satisfaction. This information will give you clues on how to improve so that you can have happy, returning customers.

In this article, we’ll explain customer service KPIs, how you can set them in your business and some examples of customer service metrics.

What are KPIs for customer service?

Customer service KPIs are measurable values used by customer service teams. The aim of these values is to track progress and see if teams are hitting certain business objectives and goals. These key performance indicators help determine how well your customer support team is doing and how satisfied customers are with your brand or company. 

By measuring your customer service performance, you can track key KPIs, see the areas where your company can improve and manage your customer service team more efficiently. 

How do I set KPIs for customer service?

We suggest you choose at least two KPIs that align with each of your key business objectives and company goals. The more customer service metrics you measure, the better you can analyse customer relations and satisfaction. 

Three crucial areas where KPIs will have the most impact on your customer success team are customer retention and satisfaction, operational efficiency, and business value. So, consider those areas when setting customer service KPIs. 

Setting the right customer service KPIs will also help you measure team performance, boost customer satisfaction, and increase customer retention – three goals that every business should have. 

What are some examples of KPIs for customer service?

Some customer service KPIs measure metrics like resolution time, and others look at how your customers feel about your company and their interaction with customer support. 

Let’s take a look at some of the most important customer service KPIs that you can use to track and measure customer satisfaction. 

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Also called the customer satisfaction rate, CSAT is one of the most popular ways to measure customer satisfaction. With this KPI, you can determine how satisfied a customer is with your company or a particular interaction, like a purchase or service call. CSAT allows you to gain valuable insight into what your customers think about your business and staff. 

To track this customer satisfaction KPI, you can survey your customers and ask questions like:

• On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied were you with our product or service?
• Were you satisfied with our product or service? (Yes/No)

Customer Effort Score (CES)

The Customer Effort Score measures how much effort it takes for a customer to get in touch with you, answer a specific question, or resolve an issue. This KPI depends on factors such as back-and-forth interactions with customer support, the total time spent and how many times a customer needs to reach out. 

To measure the CES, you can ask your customers how their experience was with customer service agents on a scale of very easy to very difficult. Customers don’t like disruption or much effort on their end to get things resolved, so you should aim for this metric be on the “very easy” side. 

First Response Time (FRT)

FRT is how long a company takes to initially respond to customer calls and support tickets. Your company’s average first response time should be as fast as possible so as to not keep customers waiting. Their time is valuable, so speedy support is critical to customers’ overall satisfaction. 

Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT)

If employees are quitting their jobs or leaving your organisation, you may want to measure employee engagement, as it directly affects customer support. Gauging employee satisfaction can highlight any issues and allow you to fix them. You should aim to have a high satisfaction score because if your employees are not happy, they might just leave the company. 

To measure this customer service KPI, you can conduct surveys, talk to employees one-on-one, and encourage open lines of communication. 

Customer Retention Rate (CRR)

Customer retention metrics measure the rate at which customers continue to use your product or service within a given period. A higher CRR means more customer loyalty. If you deliver consistent, predictable products or services and meet customer expectations, your CRR will improve. 

This is one of the most important key performance indicators, as retaining existing customers is necessary for a company’s short- and long-term success. 

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS assesses the likelihood that customers will recommend your product, service, or business to others. This customer service metric looks at the customer’s overall, long-term perception of your brand. 

You can measure NPS by asking customers this question: on a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or family member?

Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT is the average time for a support agent to resolve a customer issue. Nobody likes to wait, especially an unhappy customer. Thus, you should aim to have a low average handle time. 

To minimise AHT, work to decrease the waiting time and optimise the back-and-forth interaction with your customers. You may want to consider purely human support agents to establish good customer relationships. 

Cost Per Resolution

As a business, you need to understand how much it costs to solve a single support ticket. This is crucial to staffing and operating costs, as well as measuring the efficiency of your customer support team. 

You can calculate the cost per resolution by taking your monthly customer support costs —  like employee salaries, training, and technology — and dividing it by the number of tickets solved per month. If you don’t have a low cost per ticket, you should look at how to improve efficiency across the customer service team. 

Final thoughts

It’s essential to implement and track these important customer service KPIs so that you can deliver outstanding customer service to your clients. With happy customers, your business will grow exponentially. 

Ready to add some accountability to your customer service KPIs? With Tability, you can set goals and monitor your most important customer service metrics. Get started for free today.