7essentialsupportmetricsyoushould

startmeasuringtoday
ByTimWuMay26th,2015

Whatwordscometomindwhenwethinkofgreatcustomer
support?Empathy,patience,andpositivityperhaps.Butwhatabout
metrics?WhileIagreethatsupportisultimatelyaboutpeople,
metricsarehowwemeasureourperformanceandinform
improvements.Toboostyourcustomersupportstrategy,takea
leftandrightbrainapproachbytrackingtheseessentialsupport
metrics.
alt

Youreprobablyfamiliarwiththefirstfour.Considerthemthe
universal,timetestedmetricstomeasuretheeffectivenessofyour
customersupportsystem.Theycanbeidentifiedquicklywith
greathelpdesksoftware.
1)Responsetimes

Justfouryearsaftertechleadersdeclaredthatsoftwarewaseating
theworld,weveseensweepingchangesincustomerexpectations
andsupportpractices.Bytodaysstandards,speedisntabonus,
itsanecessity.Takethesestats:
Phone:53%ofcustomersfind3minutestobeareasonabletimewhilewaitingforasupportagent.
Email:Oracledeclaredin2011thatoneweekwasthelongestthatcustomerswouldwaitbeforeending
businesswithacompany.Bytodaysstandards,2448hourscanbeunacceptable.
Social:42%ofconsumersexpectaresponseonsocialmediawithinonehour,and32%thinkitshouldbe
within30minutes.

alt InfographicbyEdisonResearch

Withthatinmind,wecannaivelypushourteamstohavealltickets
answeredwithin12hours.Butassupportprofessionals,werealso
awareofthedelicatebalanceinsettingpoorexpectationsand
underdelivering.Speedisprioritymostofthetime,butnotwithout
context.
1.FirstreplySpeediskingforthefirstreply.Contrarytowhatwewouldassume,mostcustomersprefer
aquickbutineffectiveresponseoveracalculated,delayedanswer.Immediateyourinquiryhasbeen
receivedresponsesarestandard,sowowyourcustomerswithaquick,personalizedfirstresponse.
2.TimebetweenrepliesCadenceiswhatsimportanthere.Forcomplicatedissueswithlongerresolution
cycles,customersneedtoknowtheirrequestsarentdropped.Performregularcheckins,butmakesure
youareupdatingcustomerswithtangibleprogress.
3.ResolutiontimeTheidealtimetakentoresolvecustomerissuesshouldbeminimized.Setclearand
realisticdeadlineswithcustomersandconsidertrackingtimeundeliveredpromisestobettertrainyourteam.

4.NumberofrepliesperticketThisshouldbeminimizedintandemwithresolutiontime.Aimforasfew
repliesaspossibletogetyourcustomerstotheirresolutions.

alt DiagramoncustomersatisfactionovertimebyBuffer

2)Ticketvolume

Insomeways,moresupportticketscanfeelgood.Itmeansyour
supportnetworkofcollectionforms,livechat,etc.areaccessible
andthatcustomersareinvestedenoughtogetintouchinsteadof
jumpship.
Butbeingthatsupportticketsaredirectfeedbackforinstances
whereyourproductfellshortorwasconfusing,weshouldalways
aimtominimizethenumberofsupportticketsforthefollowing
reasons.
Gettingtoinboxzeroisaherculeantaskformany.Themoretimeyourcompanyspendsputtingout
fires,thelesstimeyouhavetobuildbetterfireproofing(i.eimprovingdocumentation,theproduct,etc).
Frequent,recurringticketsindicateissuesinhowcustomersderivevaluefromyouproduct.Togettothe
heartofproductfriction,maintainclearlabelingandtickettaggingschemas.

3)Channelattribution

Takeapagefrommarketingandusechannelattribution(i.etying
useractionsorsourcestooutcomes)togetmoreclarityon
customercomplaints.

Sayyour40supportticketsthisweekbrokedownto:
20fromlivechatwidget
10fromsupport@yourcompany.com
10fromknowledgebase

Findpatternsthroughoutyoursources.Maybeinquiriesfromthe
knowledgebasearemoretechnicalwhilelivechatrequestsare
simpleonboardingquestions.Usethisinfotodelivertheright
solutionsattherighttime.
4)Customerexperiencerating

Customerratingsarenecessarytogaugeyoursupportteams
effectivenessbutconsumersgenerallyholdbinaryoppositionswhen
promptedforfeedback(for/against,like/dislike,etc.).Alsoconsider
thefollowing:

Foreverycustomerwhobotherstocomplain,26othercustomersremainsilent.
Ittakes12positiveserviceincidentstomakeupfor1negativeincident.
Theaveragewrongedcustomerwilltell8l6peopleaboutit.Over20%willtellmorethan20.

Source:LeeResource,Inc.
Customersdontjustmakequickjudgementsabouthowthey
feel,theytendtobemorevocalwhenupset.Strivingforhigher
supportratingsisagiven,butdontdismisstheunhappycustomers
asalostcause.Smoothoutnegativeconversationsandtakethem
aslearningopportunities,eveniftheresnochanceofwinninga
customerback.
5)Knowledgebasetraffic

Gettingthesenumberswillrequirejointworkwithmarketing.Here
arethreebattletestedwebpagemetricsthatwillmeasurethe
effectivenessofyourknowledgeresources.
Bouncerateiswhensomeonevisitsyoursite,thenleavesitwithoutnavigatingtootherpageswithinit.
Logically,weassumepeoplewhoreadandleavefoundapagetobeineffective.However,itcanbeagood
indicatorwhencustomersgettheiranswersandcanmoveon.
Timeonpageisimportantwhencoupledwithbouncerate.Shortdurationspointtoclear,concise
documentation.Longtimesonapagecouldmeanyourdocumentationisdifficulttounderstand.Thisreally
dependsonthetechnicallevelofyourproduct.
Conversionratesareindicatorsofsuccesswhencustomersperformanintendedactiononawebpage
(signup,clickthrough,subscribe,etc.).Thinkaboutwhatthegoalofyourknowledgebaseis.Workwith
marketingtotrackactivitiesbeyondyourknowledgebase.Shouldcustomersreturntotheapplicationwhen
theyfindtheinfotheyneed?Oraretheyclickingthroughonthecontactusbuttonbecausetheyneedmore
help?

alt

6)Responselengthsandsentimentanalysis

Takeapagefromthefieldofdatascienceandperformsentiment
analysisonyourinquiriesandresponses.Andyes,youcandothis
withouthighlytechnicalmethods.Tostart,addsentimenttagsto
yourprocess(happy,unhappy,deadends,delighted,etc.)and
analyzeyourratios.
Goonestepfurther,takeasamplingofsupporttranscriptsand
analyzetheactuallanguage.Thinkofquestionsonimprovingyour
processandanswerthemwithdata.
Canyourteammaintaineffectivenesswithshorterresponses?
Howoftenareyoursupportrepsneedingtoapologize?
Howoftenareyourcustomersleftwithdeadendresponses?

7)Proactivesupporttally

Ourfinalmetricisnoteasilygleanedfromanyanalyticsdashboard.
Seeinghowmanytimesyoursupportteamgoesfromreactiveto
proactivecanbethedifferencebetweenhavingagoodvsgreat
supportteam.Whilethisencroachesintotheareaofcustomer
success,Ibelieveproactivereachoutishereforthelongrun.
Gobeyondmetrics.Getinsights

Asyoumayhavenoticed,thelastthreesupportmetricswereless
obviousthanthefirstfour.Insomecases,theymightrequireyouto
gooutsideyourscopeassupporttogatherandcombinedatafrom
differentdepartmentsandsources.
Butbybeingdatadrivenandbeingopentouniquestrategies,you
cangainnewperspectivestoimprovethequalityofyourcustomer
supportexperience.