How Can Customer Experience be Measured?

In today’s competitive business environment, it’s crucial to be intentional and strategic in providing an exceptional customer experience (CX). Tracking CX metrics helps you understand how effective your company is at achieving your goals and how satisfied your customers are with your products and services.

There are various ways to measure CX and track customer satisfaction and loyalty. Here are some of the most common metrics:

As you’d imagine from its name, the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is a metric used to measure how satisfied customers are with a particular product or service. It’s one of the most common ways to answer how can customer experience be measured.

The process of determining your CSAT typically begins with asking customers to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10. The CSAT score is then calculated by taking the total number of positive responses and dividing it by the total number of responses. Consistently tracking this rating can be incredibly helpful in monitoring the overall health of a business.

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a CX metric used to measure customer loyalty and how likely a customer is to recommend a product or service to others. It’s typically measured by asking customers to rate the likelihood of recommending a product or service on a scale of 0-10.

Customers are then grouped into three categories based on their response:

• Promoters (score 9-10): customers who are extremely satisfied and likely to recommend the product or service.
• Passives (score 7-8): customers who are satisfied but not particularly enthusiastic and may be easily swayed by competitors.
• Detractors (score 0-6): customers who are dissatisfied and unlikely to recommend the product or service.

The NPS score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. For example, if 50% of customers are promoters, 20% are detractors, and 30% are passives, the NPS score would be 30 (50 – 20).

In today’s environment of reviews and instant sharing, the Net Promoter Score offers insight into how likely customers are to act as brand ambassadors.

The Customer Effort Score (CES) measures how easy it was for customers to resolve an issue or complete a task. It’s typically measured by asking customers to rate their level of effort on a scale of 1-5 or 1-7.

Similarly to the CSAT, the CES score is calculated simply by taking the average of all customer responses. It differs by instead of measuring satisfaction, the Customer Effort Score measures how much effort customers put into interacting with your business.

The Customer Retention Rate (CRR) measures how many customers continue to do business with a company over a specific period. It’s typically calculated by taking the number of customers at the end of a period and dividing it by the number of customers at the beginning of the period.

For example, if a company had 1,125 customers at the beginning of a year and 900 at the end of the year, the Customer Retention Rate would be 80%. While easy to calculate, maintaining and improving retention rates cannot be approached so simply. This particular metric requires both particularly consistent and flexible attention.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) reflects the total value a customer is expected to bring to a company over the course of their relationship. It’s calculated by taking the average revenue per customer and multiplying it by the average length of the customer relationship.

For example, if the average customer spends $100 per month on a product or service, and the average length of the customer relationship is two years, the CLV would be $2,400 ($100 x 24 months).

Understanding CLV is important because it allows an organization to maximize the value of every customer relationship. This promotes a better customer experience and overall retention.

The Average Resolution Time (ART) is another simple but critical CX metric. It shows how long it takes to resolve customer issues or inquiries, and it’s typically measured by tracking the time it takes from when a customer submits a ticket or contacts support to when their issue is resolved.

ART can be broken down into different stages, such as the time it takes for a support agent to respond, the time it takes to investigate the issue, and the time it takes to provide a resolution.

By tracking these different stages, companies can identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement in their support process.

The First Response Time (FRT) measures how quickly a support agent responds to a customer’s inquiry or ticket. It’s typically measured by tracking the time from when a customer submits a ticket to when a support agent responds.

FRT is an important CX metric because it can have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. Customers who receive a prompt response are more likely to feel heard and valued, while customers who must wait for a long time may become frustrated and dissatisfied with the support experience.

By tracking these, and any other appropriate CX metrics based on your unique industry and goals, you can gain valuable information about your customers as well as insights on how you can improve your products, services, and CX processes.

The specific CX metrics you should monitor are determined by your company goals and initiatives. So begin by looking specifically at your company’s systems and processes to uncover your individual answers to how can customer experience be measured in your company.

We’ve found that many business professionals find it helpful to discuss their options with an expert in CX monitoring and management.

ARC Quality Solutions offers you that kind of expertise. For more than 25 years, we’ve been helping companies empower and transform their CX teams. In fact, elevating your CX score is our key performance metric.

We invite you to get in touch with us to discuss your company’s goals and needs. Contact us by using this form to book a call or by calling 1-800-397-3515. If you prefer email, you can contact us at info@arcqs.com.

In the meantime, you may also find our Customer Experience Optimization FAQ helpful.