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What’s a customer service KPI?
A customer service key performance indicator (KPI) is any measurable value that helps you track support team efficiency, customer satisfaction with service interactions, and the overall success of your customer service operations.
Tracking these metrics equips you to identify areas for improvement and deploy better solutions to enhance the customer experience.
15 most important customer service metrics to track
There are numerous customer service KPIs, but they don’t hold the same weight. We’ve carefully selected 15 of the most impactful ones to help you unlock valuable insights.
Let’s dive in!
1. Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
CSAT is a key metric that gauges how happy your customers are with a specific interaction or their overall experience with your company. To get the most accurate measure of satisfaction, it’s best to collect CSAT feedback immediately after a customer interacts with your service.
For instance, after a customer finishes a live chat with a support agent, you could automatically send them a survey asking, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with our support team?”
How to calculate: Divide the number of satisfied customers by the total number of respondents and multiply by 100. Any score above 50% is good. Excellent if you can get 70%+.
Practical use: Use customer satisfaction scores to identify areas where your service excels, such as consistently high ratings for specific agents or positive feedback on particular service features. This allows you to replicate successful practices and acknowledge top performers.
Conversely, CSAT can highlight areas needing improvement. For instance, if customers regularly complain about unhelpful support agents, it’s a clear sign that you need to provide better service team education or revise your communication guidelines.
2. Average customer effort score (CES)
CES gauges how easy it is for customers to interact with your business and get their issues resolved.
Like CSAT, this KPI is tracked through surveys triggered after customer interactions. The survey questions typically go something like: “How easy was it to get your issue resolved today?” (with response options ranging from “Very Easy” to “Very Difficult”).
How to calculate: Divide the number of responses that agree your service is easy by the total number of responses, then multiply the result by 100. Per Gartner’s CES benchmark, scores less than 70% indicate a need for improvement.
Practical use: Identify friction points in the customer journey and implement contextual solutions. For example, if customers struggle to find answers in your knowledge base, consider reorganizing its content, improving search functionality, or adding more visual guides.
3. First contact resolution rate (FCR)
FCR measures the percentage of customer inquiries resolved during the first interaction without needing escalation or follow-up.
To accurately calculate your FCR, focus on direct engagements between customers and your human support agents. Including automated responses or self-service interactions can skew the results because these interactions don’t always represent a complete resolution that fully satisfies the customer’s needs.
Also, it’s generally best to consider interactions that occur during regular business hours, unless your company provides round-the-clock support.
How to calculate: Divide the number of customer issues resolved on first contact by the total number of cases and multiply by 100. The average FCR across industries is 70%.
Practical use: High FCR means faster resolution, happier customers, and reduced support costs. You can improve your first contact resolution rate by having a robust knowledge base that service team members can quickly use to find information.
It also helps to create a decentralized customer service department where agents have the authority to make decisions and resolve customer queries without escalating to supervisors.
4. Average first response time (FRT)
This customer service KPI measures how long it takes for a customer service representative to respond to an initial inquiry on any support channel.
Don’t confuse FRT with FCR. While FCR is about resolving an issue during the first interaction, FRT focuses solely on the speed of the initial response.
How to calculate: Decide on a specific time period (e,g minutes, hours, or even days). Then, divide the total time taken to send the first response during that period by the total tickets your agents responded to in the same period. As always, multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
Benchmarks for the average response time vary depending on the support channel you’re considering. In general, customers expect the following:
- Phone: 2-3 minutes.
- Live Chat: 2-5 minutes (preferably less).
- Social media: 1 – 24 hours.
- Email: 1 – 12 hours.
Practical use: FRT shows how responsive your customer support team is. Faster response times generally lead to more satisfied customers, and that’s what you should try to aim for.
If your FRT is consistently high, investigate potential causes like understaffing, inefficient workflows, or inadequate tools.
5. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS measures customer loyalty and their likelihood to recommend your business.
To determine your NPS, conduct surveys asking customers, “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [company name] to a friend or colleague?”
Divide customers into three based on their responses:
- Promoters (9-10): Loyal customers who are likely to recommend your brand.
- Passives (7-8): Satisfied but not enthusiastic customers.
- Detractors (0-6): Unhappy customers at risk of churn.
How to calculate your NPS: Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. After analyzing data from over 200 SaaS companies for our 2024 benchmark report, we found that the average NPS for SaaS is 35.7%.
Practical use: Analyze feedback from detractors to understand their pain points and address their concerns. Then, track your NPS over time to measure the impact of customer experience initiatives.
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6. Ticket volume by channel
This KPI tracks the number of support tickets your customer service teams receive across different channels (e.g., email, phone, live chat, social media).
How to calculate: Decide on a specific time frame, then count all the tickets opened from each customer support channel. If you use a help desk system, you can easily pull this data from it; otherwise, you may have to compute it manually. Once done, divide the channel volume by the total number of tickets received across all channels, then multiply by 100.
Practical use: Use the data from this KPI to understand customer channel preferences and allocate service resources accordingly.
7. Cost per conversion
The cost per conversion KPI reveals how much it costs your business to acquire a new customer or achieve a desired outcome through your support interactions.
To track this value, begin by determining what constitutes a “conversion” in the context of your customer service (e.g., successful product setup, resolution of a complex issue, upselling a new product).
Then, sum up all associated costs, including expenses related to agent salaries, training, software, infrastructure, and any other resources used to facilitate customer service interactions.
How to calculate your cost per conversion: Divide the total number of customer service costs by the number of conversions in a specific period. (There isn’t a universal benchmark for cost per conversion, as it varies across industries and business models).
Practical use: Evaluate the ROI of customer service efforts and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
8. Average resolution time
This customer service KPI tracks the average time it takes to resolve a customer issue from initial contact to final solution. Different support channels often have varying resolution times. For example, phone support and live chat typically offer faster resolutions compared to email or social media interactions. The complexity of the issue also plays a significant role in determining resolution time.
How to calculate: Choose a specific period (e.g., 8 hours, since your customer service department likely works eight hours a day/eight-hour shifts). Add up the resolution times for all resolved tickets and divide by the total number of tickets resolved within that period.
The average resolution time hovers around 24hrs for most industries. However, it’s essential to consider the specific context of your business and customer expectations. For urgent issues, aiming for much faster resolution times is crucial.
Practical use: Reduce resolution times by equipping your support team with the necessary tools and streamlining internal processes to eliminate unnecessary steps.
9. Self-service rate
This KPI is often tracked in two ways, depending on what you’re looking for:
- Self-service utilization rate: the number of times customers access your self-service knowledge base or help center articles.
- Self-service completion rate: the percentage of customers who successfully resolve their issues using your self-service resources, such as your knowledge base, FAQs, online forums, or chatbots, without needing to contact a support agent.
How to calculate: Trigger post-interaction surveys asking customers if their issues were resolved. Then, divide the number of successful self-service resolutions by the total number of customer issues and multiply by 100. Gartner’s research found that the average self-service success rate is only 14%.
Practical use: Regularly track this KPI and always make an effort to enhance the customer experience by expanding or updating support resources.
10. Abandoned call rate
The abandoned call rate measures the percentage of inbound calls that are ended by the caller before they connect with a customer service agent.
How to calculate: Divide the number of abandoned calls by the total number of inbound calls in that period and multiply by 100. It’s standard practice not to include calls abandoned within the first five seconds because it’s possible the customer hung up after realizing they dialed the wrong number or inputted incorrect details.
A 2021 benchmarking report by Talkdesk found that the average abandoned call rate across industries is 5.91%. However, acceptable rates can vary depending on your industry, call volume, and customer expectations.
Practical use: Analyze abandoned call rates to identify periods of high call volume and potential staffing shortages. Reduce customer frustration by ensuring your IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system is user-friendly and provides clear options.
11. Customer retention rate
The customer retention rate measures the percentage of customers who continue to do business with your company over a specific period.
How to calculate: Subtract the number of users acquired in a specific period from the number of paying customers at the end of that period. Divide by the number of users at the start of the period and multiply by 100. Confusing? Check the image below for visual clarity.
The customer retention rate is one of those metrics that varies greatly by industry, but we found that the average one-month retention rate across all industries is 46.9%.
Practical use: A declining ability to retain customers may signal issues with your product, service, or overall customer experience. Pair your retention rate data with analytics reports and customer surveys to pinpoint the exact issue.
12. Number of tickets resolved
This customer service KPI tracks the total number of support tickets resolved within a given timeframe. It’s a general measure of customer service team productivity and workload.
How to calculate: Most help desk systems have built-in reporting that automatically records resolved tickets. You can filter by date range, agent, team, or other criteria. If you don’t have a help desk system, you’ll need to manually count resolved tickets from your records.
Practical use: Analyze trends in ticket resolution and try to identify factors that affect this metric.
For example, do you have lower rates during holidays or weekends? If so, adjust staffing levels accordingly to ensure timely resolution. Additionally, monitor this KPI to assess the impact of new tools, training programs, or process changes on your team’s efficiency.
13. Ticket re-opens
This KPI measures the number of support tickets that customers reopen after they have been initially marked as resolved. It indicates potential issues with product quality, service effectiveness, or customer communication.
How to calculate: Divide the number of reopened tickets by the total number of resolved tickets and multiply by 100. An average ticket reopen rate of around 5% or less is good enough.
Practical use: Make re-opened tickets an opportunity to gather feedback from customers and identify areas where your service can be improved.
14. Customer churn rate
The customer churn rate is the opposite of the customer retention rate: it tracks the percentage of customers who stop doing business with your company over a specific period.
How to calculate: Divide the number of customers lost during a specific period by the number of customers at the start of the period and multiply by 100. The average annual customer churn rate for SaaS is around 1-7%, depending on the industry.
Practical use: Use exit surveys to analyze why customers are leaving. Then, deploy relevant solutions to re-engage at-risk customers and improve your overall customer experience.
15. Occupancy rate
This customer service KPI measures the percentage of time that customer service agents are actively engaged in handling customer interactions (e.g., on calls, responding to emails, chatting with customers). It’s a key metric for measuring agent productivity and optimizing staffing levels.
How to calculate: Determine the total time agents spend actively engaged in handling customer interactions. Divide that by the total available working time and multiply by 100. According to SQM Group’s benchmarking report, the average standard for this KPI is between 75 and 85%.
Practical use: Use this data to identify peak hours or periods of high demand and optimize your staffing accordingly. For example, if your occupancy rate consistently spikes when new features are released, you might consider adding extra support staff during that time to minimize customer wait times.
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How to improve customer service KPIs: 6 actionable strategies
It’s okay if you’re not yet where you want to be for some of the key performance indicators above. This section will show you actionable strategies to implement and boost your overall performance.
1. Identify the root causes of churn
To effectively address churn, you need to go beyond simply observing the numbers and delve into the underlying reasons why customers are leaving.
Start by analyzing your customer data to identify patterns and trends. Look for common characteristics among churned customers, such as demographics, subscription history, or engagement levels.
Complement your data analysis with direct customer feedback through cancellation surveys and customer interviews.
Userpilot can help facilitate all these. For example, here’s how easy and intuitive it is to build a churn survey in Userpilot:
2. Segment customers and prompt contextual in-app messages at the right time
Customer segmentation allows you to divide your customer base into distinct groups based on shared characteristics. This enables you to tailor your communication and support to their specific needs and preferences.
Use a tool like Userpilot to segment new customers and trigger a greeting message with helpful resources to get them started.
Or, you could segment your power users (AKA “VIP” customers) and provide exclusive offers to appreciate their engagement.
3. Set SMART goals for your customer service teams
SMART goals provide a system for establishing objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Here’s how to use this goal-setting framework:
- Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve. Instead of a vague goal like “improve customer satisfaction,” aim for something specific like “increase CSAT score by 5%.”
- Measurable: Ensure your goals can be quantified and tracked. Use specific metrics, such as CSAT, FRT, or resolution time, to measure progress.
- Achievable: Set goals that are challenging yet attainable. Unrealistic goals can demotivate your team.
- Relevant: Align your goals with your overall business objectives and customer service strategy.
- Time-bound: Establish a clear timeframe for achieving your goals. This creates a sense of urgency and accountability.
Once you’ve established SMART goals, communicate them clearly to your team and provide them with the resources and support they need to succeed.
4. Choose the “right” number of customer service KPI metrics to focus on
Trying to monitor too many KPIs can lead to information overload, making it difficult to identify meaningful trends and prioritize improvements.
How do you know what to focus on?
Start by identifying your key customer service objectives. What are you trying to achieve? Are you focused on improving customer satisfaction, reducing churn, increasing efficiency, or something else? Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, select the KPIs that are most closely aligned with those objectives.
It’s also helpful to consider the stage of your business. Early-stage companies might prioritize KPIs related to customer acquisition and satisfaction, while more established businesses might focus on retention and loyalty metrics.
5. Actively collect customer feedback
Don’t wait for feedback to come to you; actively seek it out through various channels, such as in-app surveys, feedback forms, and social media monitoring.
For direct customer surveys, ensure you get the timing right. For instance, don’t ask a new user what they think about your core feature when they haven’t had time to explore it.
Here’s some practical advice from Ashley Cheng:
6. Maintain clean, accurate, and up-to-date data
Data integrity is crucial for making informed decisions and accurately measuring your customer service KPIs.
These strategies will help:
- Data validation: Implement rules to prevent errors and inconsistencies during data entry.
- Data cleansing: Regularly cleanse your data to remove duplicates, correct errors, and standardize formats.
- Integration: Integrate data from various sources to create a unified view of your customers and their interactions.
- Data governance: Establish clear data governance policies and procedures to ensure data quality and compliance.
- Data security: Implement appropriate security measures to protect your data from unauthorized access and breaches.
You can effortlessly maintain relevant data with custom real-time dashboards in Userpilot:
Customer service KPIs: FAQs
What are the most important key performance indicators for a customer service team?
The specific KPIs you choose will depend on your goals, budget, and customer journeys. However, some of the most common and valuable ones include:
- Customer satisfaction.
- Net Promoter Score.
- First response time.
- Average resolution time.
- Customer churn rate.
Why are customer service KPIs important to monitor?
Customer service KPIs are worth monitoring because they help you track the effectiveness of your customer service efforts. By analyzing these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into customer needs and expectations, identify areas for improvement, and ultimately take targeted actions to enhance customer happiness and loyalty.
What’s the core principle of customer service?
While customer service involves many important elements, its fundamental principle is empathy. This means putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, seeing the situation from their perspective, and understanding their needs and emotions.
What makes a “good” customer service KPI?
A “good” customer service KPI is relevant to your business goals, provides quantifiable data, is easy to calculate and track, and is easily communicated and understood by your team. It should offer clear insights that can be used to drive meaningful improvements in your customer service and contribute to a better overall customer experience.
Conclusion
It’s time to put your knowledge of customer service KPIs into action. Start by identifying the metrics that are most relevant to your business goals and implementing the strategies that will have the biggest impact on your customer experience.
Need a tool to help you track and improve each customer service KPI? From understanding your customers’ needs to optimizing your support processes, Userpilot provides the insights you need to fine-tune your strategies and deliver exceptional service. Book a demo today to get started!
Leverage Userpilot to Track and Improve Your Customer Service KPIs
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