The Hidden Costs of Ignoring Customer Experience Metrics
As businesses continue to invest in customer experience (CX) initiatives, a surprising number of organizations are failing to make the most of their CX metrics. In fact, nearly three-quarters of companies are wasting one of their most valuable resources: CX data. This not only comes with a hefty price tag – up to $1.4 million in 2022 alone – but also means missed opportunities for improving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
The Wasted Expense of CX Metrics
According to the 2022 Customer Experience MetriCast study by Metrigy, a research firm that analyzes enterprise success metrics to advise companies on their technology transformation strategies, 38% of companies gather customer feedback but do nothing with it. Another 36% collect feedback, analyze the data, and never act on it. This is not only a waste of resources but also a missed opportunity for businesses to continually improve their CX.
The Importance of a Lifecycle Approach
To fully benefit from customer data, CX leaders must adopt a lifecycle approach toward identifying the right metrics, gathering the data, analyzing it, and acting on the insights. Only 26% of companies have adopted such an approach, according to Metrigy’s research. By taking a more holistic view of their CX metrics, businesses can better understand how different channels, such as voice calls, chats, and self-service interactions, impact customer satisfaction.
Connecting the Dots: From Outside-In to Inside-Out
One key area for improvement is in measuring agent performance. While many CX leaders focus on analytics related to productivity and operational efficiency, such as Call Handle Time (CHT) and First Contact Resolution (FCR), they often overlook the impact of these metrics on customer satisfaction. In fact, solving customer issues in a timely manner is important, but if agents are singularly focused on getting on and off calls as quickly as possible, Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) may begin to drop.
Rewards and Retention: The Key to Better CX
Metrigy’s research found that 85% of organizations prioritize improving customer satisfaction over agent productivity. Therefore, it is essential for CX leaders to implement new programs that reward agents with rising CSAT scores or encourage supervisors to identify the issues causing scores to fall. By doing so, businesses can not only improve their CX but also reduce agent turnover rates – which, according to Metrigy, correlate highly with CSAT.
Measuring Agent Success: A Closer Look
Another critical aspect of a lifecycle approach is measuring agent success. While many organizations focus on productivity metrics like CHT and FCR, they often overlook the importance of tracking channels in use, chats handled simultaneously, and self-service containment. By regularly monitoring these metrics, contact centers can more accurately expand or reduce staffing to support customers’ preferred channels.
The Benefits of Self-Service
Self-service interactions can enhance agent productivity, reduce an organization’s cost to serve, and improve VoC metrics – so long as they work well. Measuring the extent to which customer requests are resolved or contained by self-service allows CX leaders to identify any roadblocks. For example, if containment is low, the FAQ may be outdated, or the website might need optimization for mobile devices.
Live Chat: A Key Channel
Live chat can also help customers get their issues resolved more quickly because service agents can multitask and support multiple chats at once. However, it’s essential to monitor how many chats agents are handling simultaneously and correlate that to post-interaction surveys. This helps supervisors understand when CSAT may start to suffer as a result of agent multitasking and set limits on the number of simultaneous chats an agent can handle.
AI-Powered Analysis
A lifecycle approach to CX metrics can benefit significantly from AI and machine learning. For example, 35% of respondents to Metrigy’s survey use AI to speed up the analysis of open-ended customer survey questions, making it easier to categorize responses around key topics and spot trends. AI-enabled analytics can also be applied to live chat transcripts and call recordings, which can help CX leaders discover new questions that could be added to an FAQ to improve self-service containment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, businesses must commit to a continuous lifecycle approach of measuring the data, analyzing it, and acting on the insights. Organizations that correlate VoC metrics with agent performance, use the right metrics for each channel, and optimize analysis with AI and automation will be well-positioned to bridge the Metrics Gap and make the most of their CX initiatives. By taking a more holistic view of their CX metrics, businesses can improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and increase revenue – ultimately driving growth and success in today’s competitive market.