Remember when organizations would ask customers to fill out feedback forms? That used to be the only way to track customer satisfaction in those days.
Fast forward to today, the way organizations deal with customer satisfaction has entirely changed. Everything from how data is collected to the various metrics used for tracking customer satisfaction has changed.
It can get quite difficult to keep up with these changing metrics. Let’s look at the top metrics you should be keeping track of.
But before that, let’s have a glimpse at customer satisfaction and its importance in a contact center.
What is Customer Satisfaction?
Contact centers measure customer satisfaction to identify how satisfied customers are with the products and services provided by them.
Organizations use surveys to measure customer satisfaction directly. They also use metrics like customer churn rate and net promoter score to measure customer satisfaction as they’re linked to each other.
Why is it Important to Measure Customer Satisfaction?
It becomes easier to improve customer experience when organizations know how satisfied their customers are. Let’s understand the direct impacts of measuring customer satisfaction.
1. Evaluate Agent Performance
A study by Thomasnet found that 31% of consumers consider talking to a knowledgable agent to be one of the most crucial factor in having a positive customer experience.
Measuring a customer’s satisfaction after interacting with a support agent is the best way to assess an agent’s performance. Agents that can handle customers in a smooth manner are able to perform well in the long run.
2. Improve Customer Loyalty
An organization that prioritizes customer satisfaction will provide the best experience to every customer.
Customers who are satisfied with each of their interactions with the organization tend to be loyal to the organization. A Zendesk study found that three out of five customers reported that great customer service is vital for feeling loyal to the brand.
3. Understand Customer Happiness
When organizations understand their customers’ satisfaction level or happiness, it is easy to make decisions that focus on their happiness.
With customer satisfaction having many impacts on an organization, it’s no wonder that many organizations have begun prioritizing it.
Let’s look at the top customer satisfaction metrics that every organization should track.
Top 5 Customer Satisfaction Metrics to Focus On
1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
Customer satisfaction score is the only metric that directly measures a customer’s satisfaction.
A study by Harvard Business Review discovered that around 80% of organizations plan their experience delivery strategy on the basis of customer satisfaction scores.
This metric is usually evaluated using customer feedback. It is done primarily after a customer service interaction, but it can also be implemented after each experience on the customer journey.
2. Customer Churn Rate
Customer churn indicates the loss of customers.
Each organization calculates churn in different manners. It depends on the nature of their product/service.
For example, certain organizations in the EdTech industry consider customers who haven’t completed purchased courses as a form of churn.
It is easy to calculate the customer churn rate in your organization. It is the percentage of customers lost over a certain period of time to the total number of customers in the beginning of that period.
3. First Contact Resolution (FCR)
First contact resolution refers to resolving all of a customer’s concerns during their first interaction with customer support.
It is calculated as the percentage of interactions resolved in the first interaction to the total number of interactions.
Organizations that have a high FCR rate record better customer satisfaction. A study by the SQM Group found that every 1% increase in FCR resulted in a 1% increase in customer satisfaction.
4. Ticket Resolution Time
This is the average time that it takes for the support team to resolve a customer query.
The faster a customer’s query is resolved, the higher the customer satisfaction. Every organization needs to focus on resolving queries fast without compromising on quality.
A KMPG study conducted globally found out that 90% of consumers consider unresolved tickets to be their most critical customer concern.
5. Customer Retention Rate
A study by Invesp found that acquiring new customers is 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining existing customers.
Identifying the number of customers that still purchase from your brand is an excellent way to gauge customer satisfaction. Customers that stick by your brand imply that they’re satisfied with your brand.
Customer retention rate is calculated by calculating the percentage of retained customers (total customers – acquired customers) over a period to the number of customers at the beginning of the period.
Summing Up
Customer satisfaction has evolved a lot over time. The direct method of using customer surveys has moved over to using metrics that are more connected to customer satisfaction. Some of those metrics include customer churn rate and customer retention rate.
