Data has become an invaluable resource for CX leaders who want to achieve peak customer service performance. After all, 60% of companies that proactively use CX metrics saw their main CX metric climb year on year.1
And luckily, you don’t have to move mountains to find the data you need to drive effective change.
However, with tons of data available at your fingertips, it’s important to not lose time and effort in just calculating these metrics. Knowledge is power but useless without action: You also have to understand how to use these insights to implement effective and lasting positive change.
In this article, we’ll explore a comprehensive set of 15 all-important CX metrics to track the success and performance gaps of your CX strategies.
1. First Response Time (FRT)
First Response Time (FRT) measures the average amount of time your company takes to send an initial response to your customers’ queries.
Why is it important?
Customers don’t see swift and prompt responses from businesses as a nice-to-have anymore. It’s a straight-up demand. 90% of customers believe it’s incredibly important that they get immediate responses as soon as they have a customer service question.2
So, the shorter your FRT, the more likely your customers will have a positive image of your brand and services.
How do you calculate it?
Total time taken to respond to all enquiries / Total number of enquiries
2. First Contact Resolution (FCR)
First Contact Resolution (FCR) tracks the percentage of customer queries resolved in the first interaction.
Why is it important?
A high FCR rate has the double advantage of improving your customer satisfaction levels and reducing your total number of tickets. This avoids tickets snowballing out of control, freeing up your agents to concentrate on more pressing matters.
How do you calculate it?
(Number of issues resolved on first contact / Total number of issues) x 100
3. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) assesses how satisfied your customers are with your products or services. It assumes that customers who rated your product or service a 4 or 5 (out of 5) were satisfied.
Why is it important?
Keeping an eye on customer satisfaction levels is vital to keep customers coming back for more.
And Harvard Business School found that the cost of acquiring a new customer is typically between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining one.3 So why solely focus on acquiring new customers when satisfying current customers is so financially rewarding?
How do you calculate it?
Number of positive customer responses (ratings of 4-5) / Number of survey responses
4. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) gauges the likelihood of customers recommending your company to others. It tends to only focus on the Promoters (customers who have scores of 9-10) and Detractors (customers who have scores of 0-6), but not Passives (customers who have scores of 7-8)
Why is it important?
Word-of-mouth marketing drives a whopping $6 trillion in global spending per year, so it’s a given that 64% of marketers agree that it’s the most effective marketing tool, beating even modern AI tech solutions.4
Keeping an eye on your NPS is incredibly important if you want to:
- Grow your business
- Expand your customer base
- Maintain high levels of brand awareness and brand trust
An excellent customer service outsourcing partner can help you make the most of your NPS metrics and analytics by matching you with expertly trained customer service agents that immediately boost your services. After all, getting people to recommend your business starts with giving them ample reason to be satisfied by your services.
How do you calculate it?
(% of Promoters (ratings of 9-10) — % of Detractors (ratings of 0-6)) x 100
5. Customer Effort Score (CES)
Customer Effort Score (CES) evaluates how easy it is for customers to get their issues resolved or interact with a business.
Why is it important?
Minimising the amount of hoops for your customers to jump through, such as being transferred multiple times to different departments, will vastly improve your CES, and prevent you from facing the 96% of customers that become disloyal to your business after giving low CES scores.5
How do you calculate it?
Sum of individual customer effort scores / Number of responses
6. Customer Churn Rate
Customer churn rate measures the rate at which customers stop doing business with a company.
Why is it important?
Losing customers is always alarming, but factors like if it’s happening over time or within a short time period is incredibly valuable knowledge to have. Calculating customer churn rates allow you to flag problematic areas in your business and create a lasting solution.
How do you calculate it?
(Number of customers lost during a period of time / Number of customers at the start of the period of time) x 100
Suggested reading: Check our guide on how to reduce customer churn in your business!
7. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Customer lifetime value (CLV) predicts how much you can expect to earn from your average customer across the entire business-customer relationship.
Why is it important?
Let’s say your customers are spending big and spending regularly. From that, you can retrospectively see what worked in your marketing campaign and do more of exactly that.
On the flip side, if your customers are spending little and infrequently, you can adjust your CX strategy to produce a more loyal customer base and improve your products or services to loosen your customers’ purse strings.
How do you calculate it?
Average Purchase Value x Average Purchase Frequency Rate x Average Customer Lifespan
8. Average Resolution Time
Average resolution time measures the average time taken to resolve customer issues.
Why is it important?
Knowing resolution times can help you evaluate:
- How efficiently your agents are resolving issues.
- The kind of issues your customers are facing.
- Common pain points in your customers’ journeys.
All of the above can help you identify the gaps and growth opportunities in how your business is currently carrying out its customer service.
How do you calculate it?
Total time taken to resolve issues / Total number of resolved issues
9. Customer Retention Rate
Your customer retention tells you how many customers your business is retaining during a specific period of time.
Why is it important?
Like we’ve covered, advertising for and marketing to new customers is costly. Improving your customer retention rate is a tried and tested way to keep margins high without placing too much emphasis on continuously acquiring new customers.
How do you calculate it?
((Number of customers at end of period of time — Number of new customers during the period of time) / Number of customers at start of period of time) x 100
10. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) calculates the cost of acquiring a new customer for your business.
Why is it important?
Acquiring new customers is paramount to any business. Finding out exactly how much it costs can help you understand the cost effectiveness of your marketing strategy. It can also highlight processes that could be streamlined or areas where savings could be made.
How do you calculate it?
Total cost of sales and marketing / Number of new customers acquired
11. Customer Engagement Score
Customer engagement score is a multi-tiered metric measuring the level of customer engagement with your brand.
Why is it important?
This metric can give you vital insight on customers who are about to churn, giving you a window of opportunity to save them before they walk away. It’s also great for identifying customers for potential upsells or cross-sells.
How do you calculate it?
Customer engagement scores are usually the weighted average of multiple engagement indicators, like website visits, social media interactions and purchase frequency.
12. Social Media Sentiment Analysis
Social media sentiment analysis helps you understand how your customers talk about your brand on social media.
Why is it important?
What other people are saying about your brand online is extremely powerful in the digital age. And why not let your customers do some of your marketing for you? Getting a strong, positive message out online will improve your brand’s:
- Authenticity
- Trust
- Reputation
How do you calculate it?
(Number of positive mentions — number of negative mentions) / Total number of mentions
13. Brand Loyalty Index
Brand Loyalty Index measures the strength of your customers’ loyalty to your brand.
Why is it important?
Brand Loyalty Index allows your marketers to determine the overall health of your brand and if you’re primed for growth. Armed with this insight, you can make CX strategy decisions to ultimately improve your customers’ loyalty.
How do you calculate it?
(Number of repeat purchases / Total number of purchases) x 100
14. Service Quality Index
The Service Quality Index evaluates the perceived quality of the service you’ve provided.
Why is it important?
There’s a host of reasons why Service Quality Score are worth their weight in gold, such as:
- Painting a clearer picture of the quality of your service.
- Highlighting areas for improvement for individual customer care advisors.
- Identifying customer pain points.
How do you calculate it?
Similarly to the Customer Engagement Score, this metric is based on weighting and aggregating a range of customer feedback sources.
15. Customer Complaint Rate
Customer Complaint Rate measures the frequency of customer complaints.
Why is it important?
In an ideal world, your product and service would be flawless, and complaints will be a thing of the past (we can dream)! But ultimately, customer complaints are a great source of feedback for improvement.
Identifying a rise or fall in complaints can help you identify what’s working well for your company and what requires immediate attention.
How do you calculate it?
(Number of customer complaints / Total number of transactions) x 100
The most important customer experience metrics summarised
To help you out, we’ve compiled all of the above metrics and formulas into this handy table!
| Metric | Explanation | Formula |
| First Response Time (FRT) | Measures the average time to send an initial response to customer queries. | Total time taken to respond to all enquiries / Total number of enquiries |
| First Contact Resolution (FCR) | Tracks the percentage of customer queries resolved in the first interaction. | (Number of issues resolved on first contact / Total number of issues) x 100 |
| Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) | Assesses customer satisfaction with your products or services. | Number of satisfied customers (4 and 5 ratings) / Number of survey responses |
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | Gauges the likelihood of customers recommending your company. | (% of Promoters (rating 9-10) – % of Detractors (rating 0-6)) x 100 |
| Customer Effort Score (CES) | Evaluates the ease of resolving issues or interacting with the company. | Sum of individual customer effort scores / Number of responses |
| Customer Churn Rate | Measures the rate at which customers stop doing business with a company. | (Number of customers lost during a period / Number of customers at the start of the period) x 100 |
| Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) | Predicts the net profit from the future relationship with current customers. | Average Purchase Value x Average Purchase Frequency Rate x Average Customer Lifespan |
| Average Resolution Time | Measures the average time taken to resolve customer issues. | Total time taken to resolve issues / Total number of resolved issues |
| Customer Retention Rate | Indicates how many customers remain engaged over time. | ((Number of customers at end of period – Number of new customers during the period) / Number of customers at start of period) x 100 |
| Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) | Calculates the cost of acquiring a new customer. | Total cost of sales and marketing / Number of new customers acquired |
| Customer Engagement Score | Measures the level of customer engagement with your brand. | Weighted average of multiple engagement indicators (e.g., website visits, social media interactions, purchase frequency) |
| Social Media Sentiment Analysis | Measures customers’ attitudes towards your brand on social media. | (Number of positive mentions – Number of negative mentions) / Total number of mentions |
| Brand Loyalty Index | Measures the strength of customers’ loyalty to your brand. | (Number of repeat purchases / Total number of purchases) x 100 |
| Service Quality Score | Evaluates the perceived quality of the service provided. | Based on customer feedback scores on various service attributes. |
| Customer Complaint Rate | Measures the frequency of customer complaints. | (Number of customer complaints / Total number of transactions) x 100 |
Why metrics aren’t enough for great customer service
These metrics are an excellent starting point for understanding how well your brand, products or services are performing. However, calculating and knowing what these metrics indicate is just the first step. Having support and direction on how you can use the insights gained are the next and final steps.
This is where a customer service outsourcing partner comes in. While your metrics may change over time, the end result is and always should be that you have to find ways to improve your customer service delivery. With the right partner guiding you, you can have assurance that your customer service agents and strategies are always working at the highest level of efficiency possible.
But remember that not all partners are made alike. Some outsourcing partners often use offshore outsourcing methods, don’t have staff trained in your specific industry and aren’t flexible to your changing business needs.
But working with a provider that specialises in onshore customer service outsourcing can help you:
- Reduce customer service costs.
- Get matched with quality, experienced agents in your field.
- Scale your delivery to shifting demands, quickly and effectively.
- Boost your customer satisfaction levels.
Suggested reading: Still unsure about what makes onshore outsourcing so profitable? Check out our head-to-head guide on Onshore vs Nearshore vs Offshore Customer Service.
Enhance your customer experiences with Odondo
We at Odondo are seasoned experts in the world of customer service outsourcing. Dedicated to matching our clients with expertly trained, local agents, we also offer a pay-as-you-go model that ensures you’re only ever paying for the services you use.
Our adaptable yet always-effective ways of working mean we’re ready to adjust to any changes made to your customer service strategies — including changes based on key metrics that you’ve found about your customer experience.
Curious to know more about how we can help boost your business’ customer experience today? Get in touch with one of our experts today!
1 Customer Experience Trends and Stats
2 50 Customer Service Stats to Know in 2023
3 The Value of Keeping the Right Customers
4 Word of Mouth Marketing: Stats and Trends for 2023
5 Effortless Experience is Key to Customer Loyalty
Aamir Baloch
Aamir is one of the Co-Founders at Odondo, where he obsesses over the details to deliver a strong and compelling proposition for each of his clients.
Prior to Odondo, he was CTO at one of the UK's largest price comparison websites, with contact centres in the UK and India. In his spare time, he loves reading, politics, tennis, and playing the piano (badly).
Start improving your customer experience today!
