10 Effective KPIs for Customer Service

Successful customer service is essential for success. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos believes that customer focus is by far the most important key to building a successful business. Even companies like Netflix, Disney and Apple believe that satisfied customers are the fundamental element of a successful business. To ensure high quality and a positive customer experience, it is therefore important to measure and evaluate performance. With well-defined key performance indicators (KPIs), companies can objectively assess their customer service effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. So, which customer service KPIs are worth measuring?

10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Customer Service

1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

A customer satisfaction score allows you to measure how satisfied your customers are with the customer service they receive. CSAT is typically measured by asking customers to rate their experience on a scale, often from 1 to 5 or from 1 to 10, where higher scores indicate greater satisfaction.

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Measures customer loyalty by asking how likely the customer is to recommend your company to others. NPS provides an overall picture of customers’ experience with the company.

3. First-contact resolution (FCR)

This KPI measures how often customer service resolves an issue on the first contact. A high FCR rate indicates competent agents and effective solutions.

4. Average Response Time (ART)

ART shows the time it takes for customer service to respond to inquiries. Reduce response times to increase customer satisfaction through faster and more proactive customer service.

5. Self-Service Effectiveness

Self-Service Effectiveness shows how many customers use self-service options such as FAQs, knowledge bases, or chatbots. Effective self-service reduces the workload on agents and provides customers with faster responses.

6. Customer Effort Score (CES)

Measures how much effort your customer had to expend to resolve a specific issue. CES depends on a variety of factors, such as time spent, the total number of back-and-forth interactions, and the number of times a person had to reach out.

7. Agent Productivity

Shows the number of cases an agent handles per day or per hour. This KPI indicates workload and efficiency, while also providing valuable insights that can be used to improve processes.

8. Ongoing customer interaction

This KPI measures how many times a customer needs to contact support for the same issue. Fewer repeat interactions indicate that issues are being resolved correctly the first time.

9. Cost per resolved case

To calculate the cost per case, take your total monthly operating costs (salaries, technology, training, licenses, overhead, office supplies, etc.) and divide them by the total number of cases. If you have a high cost per case, or notice that it is increasing, you need to look for ways to improve your team’s efficiency.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

By identifying frequently asked questions, you can find solutions to prevent and proactively address them in the future.

It’s important to carefully select a few KPIs rather than trying to track them all. By focusing on the KPIs that deliver the most value to your business, you’ll pave the way for successful customer service—just as Jeff Bezos and other business leaders have done.

Check out our guide, “How to Implement a CRM System Your Employees Will Love”