3 customer satisfaction indicators you need to monitor now!

Many indicators can be used to measure and monitor customer satisfaction. But which ones should you favor? These are the three most important customer satisfaction metrics and their variants you should set up now in order to fully track your customers’ satisfaction over time.

1. Overall satisfaction score

The overall satisfaction score is often one of the first indicators people think of when measuring customer satisfaction. It is simply the average of customer responses to the question “How would your rate your satisfaction in regard to your last experience with our brand?”. You can also use the average scores assigned to elements that define your customers’ experience with your company: staff, cleanliness of the premises, advice given, products on offer etc. But this will be less precise.

Satisfaction rate

Your customer satisfaction rate is based on your overall satisfaction score and can be calculated using: (Customers’ score / Highest possible score) x 100.
With a global satisfaction score of 3/5, you will therefore obtain a customer satisfaction rate of [(3/5) x 100] = 60.
The satisfaction rate makes it easier to compare your results with those of the competition as it is often used in industry benchmarks.

Changes in satisfaction

The change in satisfaction or percent increase or decrease of customer satisfaction shows which trend you are currently following and gives you a rough idea of what is likely to happen in the future. It also helps assess the effectiveness of changes which have been made to customer experience.

Satisfaction rating by subject

Tracking your Overall Satisfaction Score helps determine how satisfied your customers are with your brand, but does not give you any insight into why your customers are satisfied or unsatisfied.
Satisfaction ratings by subject on the other hand allow you to compare customer satisfaction on various subjects and see exactly what needs improving and when. Satisfaction ratings by subject are obtained by asking your customers questions such as “How satisfied are you with our staffs’ availability?”

Dissatisfaction rate

Another figure to watch closely is your dissatisfaction rate. This is the percentage of clients who have given a satisfaction score below a certain number set by your company. In general it is a score lower than 3 stars out of 5 or 6/10. It is important to identify and reconnect with these customers who may leave your brand at any time and cost you a lot in terms of customer service and claims management.

Processed dissatisfactions rate

Your handled or processed dissatisfaction rate helps keep track of your customer support team’s work. A dissatisfaction can be considered “processed” following one or more contact with the customer. It is therefore the person who has dealt with the dissatisfaction who will have to manually update the status of the complaint so that this rate can be calculated. The calculation is carried out as follows: (Number of processed dissatisfactions / Total number of dissatisfactions) x 100

2. Customer Effort Score (CES)

Offering unexpected services to your customers can earn you points, but only providing the most basic services have been perfectly carried out. This is where your Customer Effort Score comes in to play. This indicator helps determine the level of effort made by customers to carry out specific tasks such as finding the product they are looking for, ordering it online, contacting customer service…
The Customer Effort Score can be obtained in two different ways, either by asking a question such as “How much effort did it require to find the product you were looking for?” or with an affirmation such as “I found it easy to find the product I was looking for”. The answer will then be given as a scale from 1 to 5 (“1” = “Strongly Disagree” and 5 = Strongly agree “).

3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

In just over 13 years the Net Promoter Score has become one of the most frequently used customer satisfaction indicators. It is now used by 2/3 of Fortune 1000 companies and smaller companies are also finding it useful.

This customer satisfaction indicator is obtained by asking the now famous NPS question “Would you recommend our brand / store / product / service to your friends or colleagues? Depending on the score left by each customer, they will either be classed as a promoter (score of 9 or 10), a passive customer (score of 6, 7 or 8), or a detractor (score lower than 6).

Your global Net Promoter Score, which is a score between -100 et +100, is then calculated as follows: (% promoters) – (% of detractors) = NPS. Learn more about the Net Promoter Score.

Brand promoter rate

Closely linked to the Net Promoter Score, the brand promoter rate helps find out what percentage of your customers is likely to remain loyal and to recommend your services. A good brand promoter rate is often the sign of an innovative company, offering a superior customer experience.

Brand detractor rate

Conversely, a high rate of brand detractors is usually the sign of an alarming situation. A brand detractor is indeed less likely to remain loyal and will talk to an average 9.5 people about the bad experience he / she had with your brand.