You’re trying to evaluate customer support performance. What metrics should you use?

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a quite valuable metric as it brings up information on how quality has been leveled within the operations teams that have been interacting with customers through different channels (chat, phone, email etc). After support interactions, a previously defined amount of customers will receive a question asking “from 1 to 5, how would you evaluate my support?”, having the opportunity to explain in around 150 characters why they felt like that (this info is compulsory for internal teams to understand customer sentiment later). *Important: CSAT and NPS are different metrics. While CSAT checks the prompt evaluation of operational supporting teams, NPS is used to look over how the brand is evaluated by the market.

One of the most direct and simple ways to measure customer support performance is to ask your customers how satisfied they are with the service they received. Another one is the first response time(FRT),which is the average time it takes for your support team to respond to a customer's inquiry.

In a bustling tech support center, the team faced a daunting challenge: elevating our customer satisfaction from good to exceptional. As the Manager of Client Support Services, I spearheaded a transformative initiative, focusing on streamlining response times and enhancing our after-hours support. By redesigning our training programs and optimizing support workflows, we achieved a significant breakthrough, leading to a remarkable improvement in our CSAT scores. This journey not only reshaped our approach to customer service but also strengthened our team's resolve to exceed expectations, proving that with the right strategy and dedication, elevating customer satisfaction is within reach.

En el marco de la métrica de satisfacción del cliente, es esencial destacar la distinción entre la satisfacción respecto a la atención proporcionada por el operador y la satisfacción con el servicio en su totalidad. Esta diferenciación cobra relevancia, ya que los resultados pueden verse afectados si la encuesta a nuestros clientes no se lleva a cabo de manera clara o si no se les brinda la oportunidad de evaluar ambos aspectos por separado al concluir el contacto.

In the competitive landscape of tech support, the significance of First Response Time (FRT) cannot be overstated. Leading a pivotal initiative, I aimed to set a new industry standard for FRT. By meticulously analyzing our workflows and harnessing the power of data analytics, critical bottlenecks that impeded our agility were identified. The implementation of an advanced training program, coupled with the adoption of cutting-edge support software, enabled us to dramatically reduce our average response time. This strategic shift not only enhanced our customer satisfaction ratings but also bolstered our team's morale, proving that with the right approach, exceptional customer service is within reach.

We realized that one of the best ways to gauge our support team's efficiency and effectiveness was through RT. It's not just about how quickly we can address issues; it's about ensuring that we're delivering solutions that truly meet our customers' needs. So, we made it a priority to track our resolution time closely. By dividing the total time spent on resolving all issues by the number of issues, we were able to calculate our average resolution time. But here's the kicker – RT isn't just a number on a spreadsheet. It's a reflection of our commitment to customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. We knew that by reducing our RT, we could enhance the overall support experience and strengthen our relationships with our customers.

Focusing on Resolution Time (RT), I led efforts to enhance our support efficiency, recognizing quick, effective solutions as key to customer satisfaction. By refining our training, analyzing inefficiencies, and promoting constant improvement, we significantly reduced RT. This not only boosted customer approval but also fostered team pride. Our journey demonstrated the profound effect of efficient problem resolution on customer loyalty and team morale, proving strategic innovation and dedication can lead to service excellence.

First Call Resolution (FCR) is a crucial metric in customer service. It measures the percentage of customer inquiries or issues resolved during the initial contact with a customer support representative, without the need for further follow-up. It is a key indicator of the efficiency and effectiveness of a company's customer service operations

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an excellent metric to be used in customer services field. It simply checks what is the impact of the brand in the market after the customer uses any product/service from the company. That brings a notion on how this relationship (customer x business) has been working. The customer just needs to give a score from 1 to 10 as a response to an usual question “from 1 to 10, what is the probability that you would recommend our business to a friend?”. However, it is quite important to be aware that the score itself will not be the key-information extracted from the metric. Businesses will need qualitative information to grow and correct mistakes. It is necessary to also ask customers “Why you gave this score?”.

La métrica de puntuación del esfuerzo del cliente a menudo se pasa por alto, pero su consideración es crucial. Si un cliente tuvo dificultades para comprender el menú de opciones al contactarnos por teléfono y luego experimentó un tiempo de espera de 30 minutos, es probable que no haya quedado satisfecho. Facilitar el acceso a los canales de atención y garantizar una comunicación rápida y sencilla son elementos clave para mejorar la experiencia del cliente.