Top 5 Customer Service Metrics for 2014-15

There is measuring and there is managing.

Given the ease with which today’s businesses can collect, store and analyze performance metrics, organizations have little reason to refrain from measuring as many as possible. Because business environments change, data that seems unimportant in the short term can prove critical in the future. If cost and operational efficiency are not at stake, why choose to be sorry when you can be safe?

Data, after all, is always capable of providing a window into how a business is functioning for its employees, stakeholders and customers.

Only select data, however, speaks directly to an organization’s performance against meaningful objectives. Intelligence loosely or unrelated to such objectives might be worth capturing as a reference point, but it should not serve as a central driver of operations. It should not dictate how leadership manages its employees and position within the market.

In an attempt to understand how certain businesses will go about managing customer service efforts in 2014, Call Center IQ’s annual Customer Experience survey asked respondents—who largely possess senior customer care, operations and call center titles—about the metrics of particular importance for the next 6-18 months.

A full look at that data—and all information resulting from the comprehensive survey—will be available in CCIQ’s upcoming Executive Report on Customer Satisfaction. For now, here the five metrics of greatest importance to respondents and to their C-level leadership.

Top 5 Metrics According to Respondents

1) Customer Retention Rate

2) Customer Satisfaction Score

3) Customer Effort

4) Net Promoter Score

5) First Call Resolution

Top 5 Metrics for the C-Level (as defined by Respondents)

1) Customer Retention Rate

2) Customer Satisfaction Score

3) Customer Effort

4) Accuracy of Agent Information

5) Time to Resolution