How can you measure the impact of new products or services using customer contact metrics?

1 What are customer contact metrics?

Customer contact metrics are data collected from customer support channels, such as phone, email, chat, or social media. This data can help you understand customer perceptions and use of your product or service, as well as identify any issues or gaps that need improvement. Common customer contact metrics include contact volume (the number of customer contacts per channel, per time period, or per product or service), contact rate (the percentage of customers who contact you for a given product or service, or the ratio of contacts to transactions or users), contact reason (the main purpose or topic of each customer contact, such as inquiry, feedback, complaint, or request), contact resolution (the outcome or status of each customer contact, such as resolved, escalated, transferred, or pending), and contact quality (the level of customer satisfaction, loyalty, or advocacy after each contact measured by surveys, ratings, reviews, or referrals). Collecting this information can provide valuable insights into your customers' experience and help you ensure that their needs are met.

3 How to collect customer contact metrics?

Collecting customer contact metrics requires a systematic and consistent approach. To do this, you must first define your data sources and methods. For instance, you can use your CRM system or help desk software to track the number and type of contacts, predefined categories or tags to label each contact, and surveys, ratings, reviews, or referrals to ask your customers for feedback. Additionally, you should set the data collection frequency and duration - such as daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly - depending on the impact of your product or service. Finally, it is important to test and validate your data collection process to ensure that your data is complete and accurate, as well as consistent and comparable across different channels.

4 How to analyze customer contact metrics?

Analyzing customer contact metrics requires a clear and relevant framework. To do so, you should first define your key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarks. For instance, to measure customer satisfaction, you can use the net promoter score (NPS) as your KPI, and compare it with your industry average or your previous score as your benchmark. If you want to measure customer loyalty, you can use the customer lifetime value (CLV) as your KPI, and compare it with your acquisition cost or your retention rate as your benchmark. Afterward, you can calculate and visualize these metrics using formulas, charts, graphs, or dashboards. You can also use filters, segments, or trends to highlight or compare different aspects of your data. Finally, you should interpret and communicate the customer contact metrics by providing insights, stories, or recommendations to explain what they mean and how they relate to your goals. You can also use reports, presentations, or meetings to share the findings with stakeholders.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?