Top 30 Customer Support Metrics
Feb 4, 2022
A balanced portfolio of metrics gives you a comprehensive understanding of what is happening and what needs to be improved. With the right approach to tracking and analytics, the Customer support department becomes the growth engine, moving the entire organization toward customer loyalty.
Team Performance and Efficiency
First response time
The number of minutes, hours, or days passed from when a customer submits a ticket to when customer support responds.
Your customers need to know that someone is dealing with their problem, even if it takes time to solve it. Remember that customers expect different response times depending on the channel through which they contact your Customer Support. For example, the expected response time for social media is much shorter than the expected response time for emails.
Average response time
Total time taken to respond during the selected time period divided by the number of responses in the selected time period.
Waiting for too long significantly reduces the level of customer satisfaction, even if the problem is eventually solved. It is crucial to analyze the Average response for each category, feature, or support rep to identify what causes the delays.
First contact resolution rate (FCR)
The percentage of incoming service calls or requests that are resolved during the first interaction with the customer.
This metric is seriously affected by the relevance and completeness of the internal knowledge base and effective ticket routing.
Average resolution time (ART)
Total time taken to resolve tickets during the selected time period divided by the number of tickets resolved in the chosen time period.
ART shows the average time taken to resolve an issue. To have more visibility into support workload, try measuring ART split by channel, tag, or rep.
Assignee stations
An average number of reps a ticket has been assigned to.This metric shows inefficiencies in the ticket routing mechanism. 72% of customers say that explaining their problems to multiple people is poor customer service.
Issue escalation rate
The percentage of support tickets that have been escalated to a higher support tier.
Number of interactions per ticket
The total number of interactions divided by the number of support tickets.
The higher this metric, the more likely the support process needs to be optimized and improved. If the response time is too long, the number of interactions may increase because customers ask for status updates.
Tickets unresolved
The number of unresolved tickets over a specific period.
Number of reopened tickets
The number of tickets reopened over a specific period.
Self-service usage
For online customer communities, track total users, number of active users, number of users that perform specific actions (e.g., posts per month). For a knowledge base, track pageviews and what people are searching for. For chatbots, track the questions people ask by category and the percentage of people who speak to the customer support rep after interacting with a chatbot.
The helpfulness of knowledge-base articles
The ratio of Yes/No answers for "Was it helpful?" questions at the end of a knowledge-base article.
Most often measured by a short survey at the bottom of the KB page. You can also count the number of customers who still want to contact the support team, even after reading an article from the knowledge base.
Internal Quality Score (IQS)
This metrics rates the conversations from the support team’s perspective.
IQS shows you if your support reps follow their training and if their answers are aligned with internal quality standards.
Top-performing reps
Knowing top-performing reps helps you with knowledge-sharing and mentoring programs. Identify top performers via following metrics:
High first contact resolution rate
High CSAT
High volume of tickets resolved
Low escalation rates
Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT)
Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT) is generally measured via a survey. The survey includes a numeric question on the 1 to 5 scale and open-ended questions about what could be improved in your team.
By researching employee satisfaction, you can prevent crises, retain talented employees, and implement effective bonus and motivation programs. The key to measuring this metric is the anonymity of a survey.
Employee Turnover Rate (ETR)
The total number of leavers in a month divided by your average number of employees in a month) x 100. The result is your monthly employee turnover rate as a percentage.
The problem of employee turnover increases Customer Support costs as you spend resources on recruiting, onboarding, and training. What causes a high ETR and how to control it is a complex topic. But measuring it is vital to create a motivated and competent Customer Support team.
Volume and Trends
Ticket volume
Average issue count (daily/weekly/monthly).
Ticket volume by topic
Average issue count by topic or category.
Ticket volume by type
Average issue count by type (feature request, technical issue, sales question, etc.)
Ticket volume by channel
Average issue count by support channel.
Ticket volume per customer
Total number of tickets divided by a total number of customers.
This metric helps you to understand if you are getting more requests because of new issues and bugs in the product or just because you are getting more customers.
Backlog volume
Tickets still reopened over a specific period (24h, 72h, one week, etc.)
Backlog outflow and inflow
The number of tickets received vs. the number of tickets resolved and closed (daily/weekly/monthly).
This metric shows you whether the backlog is shrinking or increasing.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
A score measured through customer feedback gathered via one or more variations of the question: “How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the goods/service you received?”
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is measured with a single-question survey and reported with a number from 0-100. Customers categorize as promoters (score of 9 or 10), passive (score of 8 or 9), and detractors (score of 0-6).
Customer Frustration Score
Customer Frustration Score shows the emotional state of the user and is measured through sentiment analysis. Modern sentiment analysis technology makes it possible not just to search for keywords, but also to understand the meaning of written text. To learn more about how Stylo measures Frustration and Delight, read our blog post: "Emotions Are Data, Too: Measuring Customer Frustration and Delight"
Customer Effort Score (CES)
The ratio of the sum of all individual customer responses by the number of customers who provided a response. This metric shows how much effort a customer needs to put into getting their problem solved.
Costs and Revenue
Average Cost per ticket
The total cost of all interactions divided by the total number of interactions. To learn more about this metric and what can lead to its increase, read our blog post: "7 Things Increasing Your Cost to Serve"
Support costs vs. Annual Recurring Revenue, per customer
The total cost of providing customer support to a particular customer in comparison with revenue coming from this customer.
Cost per ticket vs. ARR is essential for B2B organizations. Knowing the ARR for a particular customer and comparing it to the support costs allows you to prioritize your team's work better.
Customer Churn Rate
The percentage of customers that stopped using your company's product or service during a specific time frame. The churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers you lost during the time frame by the number of customers you had at the beginning of that time frame.
Customer Retention
Customer retention is a percentage-based metric measuring how many customers are retained by the end of a given time frame. Customer retention = ((Customers at the End of Period — Customers Acquired During Period) / Customers at Start of Period) x 100
A balanced portfolio of metrics gives you a comprehensive understanding of what is happening and what needs to be improved. With the right approach to tracking and analytics, the Customer support department becomes the growth engine, moving the entire organization toward customer loyalty.
Team Performance and Efficiency
First response time
The number of minutes, hours, or days passed from when a customer submits a ticket to when customer support responds.
Your customers need to know that someone is dealing with their problem, even if it takes time to solve it. Remember that customers expect different response times depending on the channel through which they contact your Customer Support. For example, the expected response time for social media is much shorter than the expected response time for emails.
Average response time
Total time taken to respond during the selected time period divided by the number of responses in the selected time period.
Waiting for too long significantly reduces the level of customer satisfaction, even if the problem is eventually solved. It is crucial to analyze the Average response for each category, feature, or support rep to identify what causes the delays.
First contact resolution rate (FCR)
The percentage of incoming service calls or requests that are resolved during the first interaction with the customer.
This metric is seriously affected by the relevance and completeness of the internal knowledge base and effective ticket routing.
Average resolution time (ART)
Total time taken to resolve tickets during the selected time period divided by the number of tickets resolved in the chosen time period.
ART shows the average time taken to resolve an issue. To have more visibility into support workload, try measuring ART split by channel, tag, or rep.
Assignee stations
An average number of reps a ticket has been assigned to.This metric shows inefficiencies in the ticket routing mechanism. 72% of customers say that explaining their problems to multiple people is poor customer service.
Issue escalation rate
The percentage of support tickets that have been escalated to a higher support tier.
Number of interactions per ticket
The total number of interactions divided by the number of support tickets.
The higher this metric, the more likely the support process needs to be optimized and improved. If the response time is too long, the number of interactions may increase because customers ask for status updates.
Tickets unresolved
The number of unresolved tickets over a specific period.
Number of reopened tickets
The number of tickets reopened over a specific period.
Self-service usage
For online customer communities, track total users, number of active users, number of users that perform specific actions (e.g., posts per month). For a knowledge base, track pageviews and what people are searching for. For chatbots, track the questions people ask by category and the percentage of people who speak to the customer support rep after interacting with a chatbot.
The helpfulness of knowledge-base articles
The ratio of Yes/No answers for "Was it helpful?" questions at the end of a knowledge-base article.
Most often measured by a short survey at the bottom of the KB page. You can also count the number of customers who still want to contact the support team, even after reading an article from the knowledge base.
Internal Quality Score (IQS)
This metrics rates the conversations from the support team’s perspective.
IQS shows you if your support reps follow their training and if their answers are aligned with internal quality standards.
Top-performing reps
Knowing top-performing reps helps you with knowledge-sharing and mentoring programs. Identify top performers via following metrics:
High first contact resolution rate
High CSAT
High volume of tickets resolved
Low escalation rates
Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT)
Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT) is generally measured via a survey. The survey includes a numeric question on the 1 to 5 scale and open-ended questions about what could be improved in your team.
By researching employee satisfaction, you can prevent crises, retain talented employees, and implement effective bonus and motivation programs. The key to measuring this metric is the anonymity of a survey.
Employee Turnover Rate (ETR)
The total number of leavers in a month divided by your average number of employees in a month) x 100. The result is your monthly employee turnover rate as a percentage.
The problem of employee turnover increases Customer Support costs as you spend resources on recruiting, onboarding, and training. What causes a high ETR and how to control it is a complex topic. But measuring it is vital to create a motivated and competent Customer Support team.
Volume and Trends
Ticket volume
Average issue count (daily/weekly/monthly).
Ticket volume by topic
Average issue count by topic or category.
Ticket volume by type
Average issue count by type (feature request, technical issue, sales question, etc.)
Ticket volume by channel
Average issue count by support channel.
Ticket volume per customer
Total number of tickets divided by a total number of customers.
This metric helps you to understand if you are getting more requests because of new issues and bugs in the product or just because you are getting more customers.
Backlog volume
Tickets still reopened over a specific period (24h, 72h, one week, etc.)
Backlog outflow and inflow
The number of tickets received vs. the number of tickets resolved and closed (daily/weekly/monthly).
This metric shows you whether the backlog is shrinking or increasing.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
A score measured through customer feedback gathered via one or more variations of the question: “How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the goods/service you received?”
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is measured with a single-question survey and reported with a number from 0-100. Customers categorize as promoters (score of 9 or 10), passive (score of 8 or 9), and detractors (score of 0-6).
Customer Frustration Score
Customer Frustration Score shows the emotional state of the user and is measured through sentiment analysis. Modern sentiment analysis technology makes it possible not just to search for keywords, but also to understand the meaning of written text. To learn more about how Stylo measures Frustration and Delight, read our blog post: "Emotions Are Data, Too: Measuring Customer Frustration and Delight"
Customer Effort Score (CES)
The ratio of the sum of all individual customer responses by the number of customers who provided a response. This metric shows how much effort a customer needs to put into getting their problem solved.
Costs and Revenue
Average Cost per ticket
The total cost of all interactions divided by the total number of interactions. To learn more about this metric and what can lead to its increase, read our blog post: "7 Things Increasing Your Cost to Serve"
Support costs vs. Annual Recurring Revenue, per customer
The total cost of providing customer support to a particular customer in comparison with revenue coming from this customer.
Cost per ticket vs. ARR is essential for B2B organizations. Knowing the ARR for a particular customer and comparing it to the support costs allows you to prioritize your team's work better.
Customer Churn Rate
The percentage of customers that stopped using your company's product or service during a specific time frame. The churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers you lost during the time frame by the number of customers you had at the beginning of that time frame.
Customer Retention
Customer retention is a percentage-based metric measuring how many customers are retained by the end of a given time frame. Customer retention = ((Customers at the End of Period — Customers Acquired During Period) / Customers at Start of Period) x 100
A balanced portfolio of metrics gives you a comprehensive understanding of what is happening and what needs to be improved. With the right approach to tracking and analytics, the Customer support department becomes the growth engine, moving the entire organization toward customer loyalty.
Team Performance and Efficiency
First response time
The number of minutes, hours, or days passed from when a customer submits a ticket to when customer support responds.
Your customers need to know that someone is dealing with their problem, even if it takes time to solve it. Remember that customers expect different response times depending on the channel through which they contact your Customer Support. For example, the expected response time for social media is much shorter than the expected response time for emails.
Average response time
Total time taken to respond during the selected time period divided by the number of responses in the selected time period.
Waiting for too long significantly reduces the level of customer satisfaction, even if the problem is eventually solved. It is crucial to analyze the Average response for each category, feature, or support rep to identify what causes the delays.
First contact resolution rate (FCR)
The percentage of incoming service calls or requests that are resolved during the first interaction with the customer.
This metric is seriously affected by the relevance and completeness of the internal knowledge base and effective ticket routing.
Average resolution time (ART)
Total time taken to resolve tickets during the selected time period divided by the number of tickets resolved in the chosen time period.
ART shows the average time taken to resolve an issue. To have more visibility into support workload, try measuring ART split by channel, tag, or rep.
Assignee stations
An average number of reps a ticket has been assigned to.This metric shows inefficiencies in the ticket routing mechanism. 72% of customers say that explaining their problems to multiple people is poor customer service.
Issue escalation rate
The percentage of support tickets that have been escalated to a higher support tier.
Number of interactions per ticket
The total number of interactions divided by the number of support tickets.
The higher this metric, the more likely the support process needs to be optimized and improved. If the response time is too long, the number of interactions may increase because customers ask for status updates.
Tickets unresolved
The number of unresolved tickets over a specific period.
Number of reopened tickets
The number of tickets reopened over a specific period.
Self-service usage
For online customer communities, track total users, number of active users, number of users that perform specific actions (e.g., posts per month). For a knowledge base, track pageviews and what people are searching for. For chatbots, track the questions people ask by category and the percentage of people who speak to the customer support rep after interacting with a chatbot.
The helpfulness of knowledge-base articles
The ratio of Yes/No answers for "Was it helpful?" questions at the end of a knowledge-base article.
Most often measured by a short survey at the bottom of the KB page. You can also count the number of customers who still want to contact the support team, even after reading an article from the knowledge base.
Internal Quality Score (IQS)
This metrics rates the conversations from the support team’s perspective.
IQS shows you if your support reps follow their training and if their answers are aligned with internal quality standards.
Top-performing reps
Knowing top-performing reps helps you with knowledge-sharing and mentoring programs. Identify top performers via following metrics:
High first contact resolution rate
High CSAT
High volume of tickets resolved
Low escalation rates
Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT)
Employee Satisfaction Score (ESAT) is generally measured via a survey. The survey includes a numeric question on the 1 to 5 scale and open-ended questions about what could be improved in your team.
By researching employee satisfaction, you can prevent crises, retain talented employees, and implement effective bonus and motivation programs. The key to measuring this metric is the anonymity of a survey.
Employee Turnover Rate (ETR)
The total number of leavers in a month divided by your average number of employees in a month) x 100. The result is your monthly employee turnover rate as a percentage.
The problem of employee turnover increases Customer Support costs as you spend resources on recruiting, onboarding, and training. What causes a high ETR and how to control it is a complex topic. But measuring it is vital to create a motivated and competent Customer Support team.
Volume and Trends
Ticket volume
Average issue count (daily/weekly/monthly).
Ticket volume by topic
Average issue count by topic or category.
Ticket volume by type
Average issue count by type (feature request, technical issue, sales question, etc.)
Ticket volume by channel
Average issue count by support channel.
Ticket volume per customer
Total number of tickets divided by a total number of customers.
This metric helps you to understand if you are getting more requests because of new issues and bugs in the product or just because you are getting more customers.
Backlog volume
Tickets still reopened over a specific period (24h, 72h, one week, etc.)
Backlog outflow and inflow
The number of tickets received vs. the number of tickets resolved and closed (daily/weekly/monthly).
This metric shows you whether the backlog is shrinking or increasing.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
A score measured through customer feedback gathered via one or more variations of the question: “How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the goods/service you received?”
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is measured with a single-question survey and reported with a number from 0-100. Customers categorize as promoters (score of 9 or 10), passive (score of 8 or 9), and detractors (score of 0-6).
Customer Frustration Score
Customer Frustration Score shows the emotional state of the user and is measured through sentiment analysis. Modern sentiment analysis technology makes it possible not just to search for keywords, but also to understand the meaning of written text. To learn more about how Stylo measures Frustration and Delight, read our blog post: "Emotions Are Data, Too: Measuring Customer Frustration and Delight"
Customer Effort Score (CES)
The ratio of the sum of all individual customer responses by the number of customers who provided a response. This metric shows how much effort a customer needs to put into getting their problem solved.
Costs and Revenue
Average Cost per ticket
The total cost of all interactions divided by the total number of interactions. To learn more about this metric and what can lead to its increase, read our blog post: "7 Things Increasing Your Cost to Serve"
Support costs vs. Annual Recurring Revenue, per customer
The total cost of providing customer support to a particular customer in comparison with revenue coming from this customer.
Cost per ticket vs. ARR is essential for B2B organizations. Knowing the ARR for a particular customer and comparing it to the support costs allows you to prioritize your team's work better.
Customer Churn Rate
The percentage of customers that stopped using your company's product or service during a specific time frame. The churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers you lost during the time frame by the number of customers you had at the beginning of that time frame.
Customer Retention
Customer retention is a percentage-based metric measuring how many customers are retained by the end of a given time frame. Customer retention = ((Customers at the End of Period — Customers Acquired During Period) / Customers at Start of Period) x 100