What Types of Metrics Measure Customer Satisfaction?

Gauging Customer Satisfaction is a tricky business. Numbers and qualitative attributes both need addressing here. So integrate between different ways of measuring Customer Satisfaction. That is the key to getting an accurate picture of how satisfied your customers are. 

For qualitative analysis- some common platforms are more helpful. For example, observing and analysing reviews and ratings, social media interactions, etc. Moreover, being innovative and intuitive about addressing these can give you valuable insights. They can be instrumental to understanding the mind of your customers in general. 

Let’s now talk about some of the popular choices regarding what types of metrics measure customer satisfaction–

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)

What is CSAT?

While learning what types of metrics measure customer satisfaction, you will likely learn about CSAT or Customer Satisfaction Score first. CSAT readings help in understanding the overall happiness of customers with your service or product. numbers, percentages, or even smiley faces are usually used in the reports. 

CSAT Calculation Process:

Customers usually receive a form where there are one or more scales. The scales have the numbers 1 to another fixed number, typically 5 or 10 marked on them. Generally, One means low, and the higher range means an increased degree of satisfaction. The customers then hit the number that reflects their satisfaction level. 

This same form can sometimes come with smiley faces. Customers choose between options shown by smiley faces. The visuals range from very happy to very disappointed. These results can also appear in percentages.  

Then the total score is divided by the number of customers who took the survey. That gives a rough estimate of how satisfied customers are. 

Using emoticons has lately been getting more votes of effectiveness. After all, they are much more intuitive and easy to respond to on the customers’ ends. 

What Insights to Draw From CSAT Data –

CSAT scores are good for getting an image of how happy your customers are at a glance. Scoring higher on the scale will mean that your customers don’t have much to complain about and vice versa. Are your CSAT scores residing somewhat in the middle? It means that a few tweaks here and there will likely get the job done for getting more satisfied customers. 

Interestingly enough, how well customers rank is related to how well employees serve. And how well employees serve depends on employee satisfaction levels. So CSAT, in a passive way, gives ideas about employee satisfaction besides that of customers too.  

NPS (Net Promoter Score)

What is NPS?

Net Promoter Score is a metric that shows how your customers talk about your business. In other words, how likely they are to speak positively or negatively about your business.

NPS Calculation Process:

For understanding the NPS calculation process, you’d need to learn the concept of three different types of customers. We know the first group as the Detractors. The second group is called the Passives. And the last and the crucial ones under this context are the Promoters. 

Detractors, in general, speak negatively of your business. Thus, they make your company goodwill plunge low. Passives comprise the group of satisfied customers who don’t engage much in your venture. Promoters are the ones who are happy and have developed a sense of loyalty over time. They add to your company’s goodwill by spreading positive word of mouth. And thus, they directly contribute to the growth of your business. 

For knowing your number of promoters and detractors, you will need your customers to fill out a survey form. They will choose a number on a scale of 1 to any set number (commonly assigned as 5 or 10). A higher degree denotes how likely they are to refer your product/service to someone else. High scorers (around the 7-10 range) are thus your promoters, and low scorers are the detractors. 

Next, take the number of promoters and the number of detractors. Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. And the remaining portion of customers is your resultant NPS score. 

CES (Customer Effort Score)

What is CES?

The Customer effort score or CES takes into account the amount of effort that the customer had to put during the purchasing process. Higher effort means low satisfaction and vice versa, thus scoring low on this metric is the desirable goal. 

CES Calculation Process:

The customers mark their ratings on a numeric scale of 1 to any set standard number (5 or 10 are common). 1 means low effort and the higher range means high effort was needed while availing the said product or service. 

A high CES rating suggests the need for improvement in customer experience. A lower rating suggests that the current customer experience is at par with the standards. 

What Insights to Draw from CES Data-

CES data focuses on some interesting pointers that the other metrics don’t. Studies show that customers giving high CES ratings have a much lower rate of returning. So high CES scores  (indicating high levels of effort during the buying process) are red flags to be taken seriously.

CES also presents the opportunity to find out the common areas where your customers are facing difficulties. Focusing on improving those areas means disappointing a much lower number of customers.  

Pros and Cons of CES Data-

The good things about CES data are that

–  they are very helpful in figuring out the problem areas of current customer service

– they identify customers who are prone to leaving. That provides an opportunity to prevent such deflections. 

The limitations of CES data include the subjectivity of the customers’ opinions. Studies also show that customers are more likely to give neutral responses to such surveys. Reservations towards making negative statements thus result in low authenticity of CES data. 

CCR (Customer Churn Rate)

What is CCR?

Customer churn rate or CCR is a count of the customers’ percentage who has left your business over a given time period. 

CCR Calculation Process:

For calculating CCR, a time period needs to be set first. The difference between the number of users at the beginning and the end of this period is calculated. That result, when divided by the initial number of customers, gives the churn rate.  

How CCR Data can be Helpful- 

A high CCR score directly calls out for action. This shows an urgent need to identify and solve problems that are causing poor customer retention. Potential interventions include improvements in services. Such as the tone in messages and emails, the behaviour of sales executives, etc. 

CHS (Customer Health Score)

What is CHS?

CHS or Customer Health Score is one of the qualitative metrics for measuring customer satisfaction. It indicates how likely clients are likely to stay or leave. But the analysis isn’t done using traditional surveys. Instead, it is carried out depending on extensive observations.

CHS Calculation Process:

CHS is a qualitative method; hence surveys aren’t the tools used here. CHS is measured on the basis of asking questions like how long a client has been buying from you. How many of them sign up for premium options? Are your customers responding well when you are diversifying your product offerings? CHS studies are done over long and varying periods of time. 

The quality or health of your customers’ relationship with you is looked at under this metric. But the qualitative approach should be followed by categorisations of your customers into groups. The groups should indicate how healthy, vulnerable or poor their relationship with your business is. 

So as you can see, while learning what types of metrics measure customer satisfaction, the methods that you learn about can vary widely. 

Customer Reviews and Ratings:

The metrics mentioned above indeed provide valuable data, but they are rarely intuitive. Trying to figure out what types of metrics measure customer satisfaction intuitively? Take a closer look at your Customer reviews. 

Customer reviews are an excellent counterpart to that. Questionnaire forms miss out on a lot while trying to understand where the problems lie. But customer reviews can come with vivid details and descriptions of the customer’s journey.

Reviews and ratings can also serve as fantastic promotional tools if they turn out well. Seeing four to five stars out of five on average is always likely to be convincing to your target audience. And votes of excitement from the ends of other fellow buyers rarely fail to engage the audience. 

Ensure that your customers have the scope to rate and review your product or service. For using them as good promotional tools, paying attention to quality is the key. 

Social Media

Can you tell me a great way to see the image that you are building for your company? If you said Social media, that’s the correct answer. The way your customers interact with your business presence on social media says a lot.  

That includes how they are commenting on your page, their levels of engagement, enthusiasm in responding to your events, etc. Everything builds up to create a message of how satisfied they are as customers. 

Here are the factors that affect customer opinions in brief- 

Taking social media insights into account will give you valuable views. They explain the experiential aspects of your customer satisfaction. And numeric reports will often fall short on that.