What metrics should you use to improve customer support?

I agree, CSAT is good score along with that we must see must see what customers has to say, there is always a chance of improvement so there should be an option for customers to express in words.

Yes, I agree with this.I found that once a customer experiences the product is good he becomes an advocate of it which attracts more customers than the actual product owner could have brought.

In my professional journey, I've observed that many companies miss a crucial step after collecting NPS data: the follow-up. Time and again, I've seen the transformative power of personally reaching out to detractors. Listening to their concerns and addressing their pain points doesn't just yield invaluable feedback – it's also a genuine opportunity to convert them into promoters, showcasing a company's commitment to customer care.

Something that I've observed in my career is that often companies make 3 mistakes when using NPS: 1) No customer walks on the street and think, "Oh, how likely am I to recommend the service provider "X" to my friends? " When surveying about NPS, companies should give context to the people. e.g "Based on your interactions with team "A" (which did "B" for you) and team C (which helped you with "D"), how likely are you to recommend us to a friend as a trustworthy company? " 2) trusting only the NPS score - the NPS score doesn't mean anything without getting into consideration the rest of the KPIs - CES/CSAT/CRR 3) not following up with the "promoters" users - although they can share great insights about what a company X does great!

FRT is useful but if FRC first resolution closure is provided or the first response contains resourceful information that adds higher value.

FRT is important, however, most companies overlook it and if the team is not committed to the goal, it can easily be "hacked" by support members replying like "We received your ticket and will get back to you." or similar. FRT demands a level of attention from leaders to keep it on track and avoid teams from artificially inflating it with useless first responses.

FRT plays a vital role in customer satisfaction, I know we cannot provide first hand solutions at once, however the sooner the client gets an acknowledgement that some is looking at his/her query they feel valued and taken care of. This very thought process triggers customer loyalty in return once they know that what they say or ask for is listened to and valued, However we should not be confined just to acknowledgement the resolution to the customer positive or negative has to be transferred in the way it should be on time and not after ages.

Yes, the shorter the ART the better the satisfaction metric. We must provide the details steps taken for resolution to empower the customer.

The Customer Effort Score (CES) stands as a pivotal measure within customer support, gauging the simplicity or complexity customers face when engaging with a company. Its influence on customer retention and satisfaction is remarkable. As customer effort diminishes, retention rates tend to rise while customer satisfaction climbs. Prioritizing the reduction of customer effort acknowledges the modern consumer's desire for seamless experiences. By streamlining support interactions, companies not only engender loyalty and advocacy but also adapt to evolving customer expectations. An efficient, hassle-free support process enhances a brand's reputation, fostering trust and setting the stage for enduring success.

Customer Retention Rate is a very useful metric, your customer works with multiple providers and products and hence they use their services and interact with the support. I observed that a very good support process always enables you to retain your customers. This shows the trust you build with your customer and vice versa

Average speed to answer (Chat and Phone) is essential to track, monitor, improve. It provides you the time that a customer is waiting for someone to answer that inbound request. It’s a good indicator for team size, level of effort, team throughput etc. improving this metric means your customers aren’t waiting a long time to get to someone in order to begin helping them. Speed to answer is something I’ve tracked, coached, and monitored since I started working in support many moons ago. Side benefit to improving this metric is that you will reduce the amount of customers racing support channels. For example: those that call and chat to see who answers first then abandoning that channel which kills your abandonment rate.

It is always useful to have a comparison between NPS and CSAT. Customers may be very satisfied with the level of support they receive, but not so much the product/service and vice-versa. It helps guide companies toward improving the product or its processes.