How Do You Evaluate Customer Service

When your customers are satisfied and happy with your customer service they tend to promote your business and recommend it to others.

‘If a customer likes you and continues to like you, they will do business with you. If they don’t, they won’t’.- Paul Greenberg

Measurement of customer satisfaction is important as it helps in gathering information, likes, and dislikes of the customers.

This can be evaluated and can help in providing tailored customer service for the customers.

Customer service employees do their utmost to resolve customer issues as quickly as possible.

Customer satisfaction evaluation may aid in evaluating agent performance and assisting them in areas where they are falling short.

Nowadays, Customer service CRM software is there which allows you to collect feedback from the customers about the agent and get a detailed insight into your customer support team.

Evaluation of Customer Satisfaction

Customers are a company’s most valuable asset. Customer satisfaction is the fundamental driving force that drives a firm forward and ensures customer loyalty.

Knowing your customer’s attitude towards your business can help you in understanding them better and provide them with more personalized customer service.

Customer-centric organizations make it a habit to evaluate customer satisfaction levels regularly. Using this data, marketing teams may enhance their plans.

Such procedures safeguard businesses from falling behind in terms of service and put them ahead of the competition.

A Service CRM system helps you in evaluating and personalizing the customer service experience in a better and easier way.

According to an Accenture survey, 33 percent of clients who abandoned a business connection last year did so due to a lack of personalization. 

The Metrics to Measure Customer Satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction is based on different metrics and indicators. Customer satisfaction metrics help in gaining a better understanding of the customers and their expectations from the company.

Microsoft says, when calling customer support, 72 percent want the representative to “know who they are, what they have purchased, and have insights into their prior encounters.”

Here are some key metrics used to measure customer satisfaction scores.

1. Average first response time

The time taken between receiving an issue and providing the first answer is called average first response time. Whether you’re attempting to answer a product inquiry, deal with a dissatisfied client, or clinch a sales transaction, replying quickly can make all the difference.

2. Average handle time

Average handle time is the average time it takes to handle a chat or operation from beginning to end – from call initiation through wait time, talking time, and any related matters an agent must undertake post-phone call to resolve that issue.

3. Churn Rate

The customer churn rate is the percentage of customers that leave a company in a certain period.

The higher your turnover rate, the more clients discontinue purchasing from you. The lower your customer churn rate, the more clients you keep. 

According to a report by Oracle, following a terrible customer experience, 89 percent of consumers moved to do business with a competitor.

Churn rate in different industries due to poor customer service. Graph Source

What Are the Methods to Measure Customer Satisfaction?

You work hard on your business and try your best to keep your customers happy and satisfied so that they never leave you.

Customer satisfaction cannot be quantified but can be measured with the help of certain methods.

A lot of quantitative and qualitative methods are used to measure customer satisfaction which helps businesses to improve their quality of customer support.

Customer feedback helps to evaluate service quality provided to customers.

Methods  to measure customer satisfaction

1. Net promoter score
2. Customer Satisfaction Score
3. Customer satisfaction surveys
4. Customer effort score
5. Social media monitoring

1. Feedback with the help of a survey

Taking honest feedback from the customers is one of the most effective ways to determine how satisfied they are with the service.

Surveys help in collecting quantitative information which can be later analyzed to evaluate customer satisfaction levels.

There are different types of ways in which surveys can be conducted and from which customer satisfaction can be measured.

• In-app surveys

 You as a customer may not feel like voluntarily giving feedback to a company. The ideal time to gather honest feedback is while they are using your app and using your services. Begin a survey after a purchase or after a service. The response rate is unquestionably higher, and the opinion is more likely to be genuine.

You should try to keep the feedback form at the end so that it does not hinder the purchase or browsing experience of the customer.

• Post call survey

A caller may give an honest opinion just by pressing a few keys which are convenient for them just after the end of the service call.

• Email surveys

An email sent to the regular customers asking their honest opinion about the customer service they get from your company can be useful in determining the customer satisfaction level.

2. CSAT score

Satisfaction ratings are key performance indicators that evaluate how satisfied a consumer is with a company’s products or services. 

A simple questionnaire is used to evaluate a client’s satisfaction with a service, product, transaction, or contact. The consumer can select from several options, including:

• A numerical rating ranging from 1 to 10.
• Emojis indicate happiness or sadness with the service.
• Stars and other symbols are also used to provide a rating.

These methods help in concluding a CSAT score of the customers.

3. Net Promoter Score(NPS)

The Net Promoter Score indicates how likely your consumers are to promote your company’s product or service to their friends, family, or colleagues. Businesses compute this by sending out NPS questionnaires at various stages of the customer lifecycle.

You must have seen questions in a survey like, “how likely are you going to recommend us to your friends and family?” now the answer to this question helps the company calculate the net promoter score.

4. Customer Effect Score (CES)

Another popular customer satisfaction indicator is the Customer Effort Score, which measures the efforts made by consumers to interact with your products/services or business.

The Customer Effort Score (CES) determines how easy it is to use your products or services. CES surveys are designed to reduce work while improving loyalty.

If a customer has to constantly call the customer service team to get help, then your CES is very high and it needs to be reduced immediately.

5. Customer Health Score

You simply cannot overlook the Customer Health Score while researching customer satisfaction KPIs.

Customer Health Score (CHS) is a prominent statistic used by customer success teams to predict whether customers are likely to stay or churn. 

This allows you to properly categorize your audience and refocus on at-risk clients.

Setting up, analyzing, and responding to a customer health score for individual users and/or accounts assists customer success managers in identifying and addressing risk before it worsens.

It also assists businesses in recognizing tendencies that lead to dissatisfied consumers so that they may mitigate early on, whether in the product or through services.

6. Customer Service Satisfaction

Selling a product or service is not enough, companies need to make sure that the customers get a good customer service experience post that and all their queries are answered.

This statistic, which is a key indicator of customer satisfaction, is calculated by sending suitable questionnaires to consumers immediately following their customer support service interaction.

The survey helps in determining how satisfied are the customers with your customer service department.

A ticket management system can make the task of the agents simpler which can lead to more satisfied customers.

Graph Source

Best Practices to Measure Customer Satisfaction

The customer is king, is not a hackneyed phrase. This is why keeping them happy and satisfied is the key goal of every business. 

Knowing your customer’s views of your company may help you make critical business decisions. 

The only way to truly know if your customers are happy is to ask them.

Different methods can be used to measure customer satisfaction smoothly and seamlessly.

Surveys are the most effective way to determine customer satisfaction levels and formulating an effective questionnaire is the key.

1. Be clear about your goals and objectives

You need to be clear about what kind of feedback you want from your customers. 

Your answers will be inaccurate if customers are unsure what your customer feedback questionnaires are asking.

 Avoid unclear questions like “How do you rate our web page and the agent’s behavior you talked about on this call” If a consumer disliked the web page but liked the customer service, they will be unsure how to respond.

2. Clear response options 

A multiple-choice question is convenient and easy for the customers to answer. 

The answers provided in the survey should be clear and understandable so that customers don’t get confused while choosing them.

3. Choose a proper medium

People consider surveys a waste of time and so it is necessary to convey the survey through an effective medium so that they respond to them.

The customers may not prefer to answer a survey voluntarily while they are working but they may spare a moment while they are browsing through the site.

Placing the surveys in the proper place is important to get effective responses through them.

4. Short and simple 

Responding to a long survey makes it boring and the customer may lose interest in filling the responses. 

It is always preferred to keep the survey short and to the point so that you get accurate and complete information through it.

5. Make it visually appealing

Reading can be boring sometimes and customers may feel lazy in reading the questions asked.

It is better to make a visually appealing survey with a lot of graphics that will keep the customer interested and make them answer the questions.

As we all know “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

These are some best practices to measure customer satisfaction with ease and comfort.

Keeping your customers satisfied is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. The rewards are vast, but to obtain them, you must first gather feedback from your customers.

Several measures must be considered while measuring customer happiness. The more consistent your company is in tracking such indicators, the closer you will be to knowing your audience’s requirements and expectations.