Every organization (irrespective of the industry they operate) is into one business – to create customers. In other words, the purpose of every organization is to create customers. Without customers, no business can survive. That is why it’s crucial to prioritize your company’s customer services. Having a good customer service culture is one of the most effective strategies to stand out from a crowded niche.
As a business owner, it’s important to promote a customer-centric culture across your organization. It helps you build an impeccable reputation in your niche and grow your business exponentially.
Again, remember that your customers can always take their business to your competitors. For this reason, you have to continuously innovate, offer excellent products, and give them exceptional value for their money.
But you can’t achieve all these if you aren’t tracking your customer satisfaction metrics.
Companies that measure or track their customer service always build an endless list of loyal customers. And that is because whenever a customer is happy, they tend to come back again, and again, for repeat business.
Unfortunately, one dissatisfied customer could smear your reputation in the industry you operate. So, try to interact with your clients regularly.
During such interactions, you will identify unhappy customers. Try to take further steps to know what went wrong and fix it immediately.
So, here are 5 key metrics to measure your customer service;
Read Also: 5 Subtle Art of Winning Back Lost Customers
#1. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net promoter score is one of the metrics to measure your customer service. It’s an index for measuring your customer’s willingness or likelihood to recommend your product or services.
NPS usually ranges from -100 to 100. The higher your Net Promoter Score, the more likely your customers will recommend your product or services.
When measuring your NPS, you need to ask your customers straightforward questions regarding their willingness to recommend your product. Such questions are usually rated using a 10-point scale of 0 to 10.
When using the 10-point scale to measure your NPS, you have to classify customers into 3 categories which are;
Detractors: They rate their willingness to recommend your product at 6 or less. Even though they are satisfied with your services, they aren’t interested in spreading positive words about your company.
Passives: These customers rate their likelihood to recommend your service at 7 or 8. They are likely to recommend your products to other people, but they aren’t particularly loyal to your company. Passive customers won’t hesitate to switch brands when the need arises.
Promoters: Promoters are customers who rated your company product at 9 or 10. They are your brand evangelists who would happily recommend your products or services to other people.
#2. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Your customer acquisition cost is also one of the best metrics to measure your customer service.
Ordinarily, the customer acquisition cost is more of a sales and marketing term. But it’s an excellent metric for measuring your customer satisfaction.
Your customer acquisition cost value is derived by dividing your marketing expenses by the number of customers gained during the period.
If your customer acquisition cost is low, it shows that your customers are satisfied and your marketing strategies are effective.
However, if the value is too high, you should reconsider your customer satisfaction factors and marketing strategies.
Sometimes, it takes critical observation and deep interaction with your customers to improve your brand experience, decrease customer acquisition costs, and keep your customers happy.
#3. Churn
Churn is one of the best metrics to measure your customer service. It helps you to predict good times, challenges, and possibly prevent negative customer experiences.
It shows your company’s situation at a glance and how you can handle customers who are opting out of your services.
When any of your customers are dissatisfied, churn will indicate it.
In the past, several companies have been able to reduce their churn rate as a strategy to retain more customers and keep them happy.
For instance, a SaaS startup, GROOVE conducted a study to know why customers were quitting their companies.
And the research enables them to use more data-driven tactics to reduce their churn rate by 71%.
#4. Customer Satisfaction Score
Your customer satisfaction score is one of the most important metrics to measure your customer service. It helps you determine whether your products or services are meeting your customers’ expectations.
And you can get your customer satisfaction score by asking your clients questions like – “how would you rate your experience with our services?”
The response to the question should be on a 5-point scale ranging from “Very unsatisfied to “Very satisfied.”
Your customer satisfaction score can help you identify areas that need improvement in your products or services.
But generally, you can easily improve your customer satisfaction score when you set clear expectations for your customers and exceed them.
In my opinion, nothing frustrates customers more than wandering around and not knowing what to experience from your company.
#5. Customer Effort Score
Customer effort score is among the metrics to measure your customer service. It’s a blend of your Net Promoter Score and your Customer Satisfaction Score. It measures the amount of effort your customers have to put in to interact with your company.
The customer effort score survey asks only one question which is “Did our support team make it easy for you to handle your issues?”
The survey is a 7 point scale ranging from “strongly disagree to strongly agree”. After the survey, calculate the average of all the collected answers. Whatever value you get is your customer effort score.
These are the 5 key metrics to measure your customer service. If you want to build an endless list of loyal customers and brand evangelists, you should take these metrics seriously.