Which metrics are used in customer experience management? What are the differences between popular metrics CSAT, NPS, CES?
Management guru Peter Drucker’s quote “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” also applies to customer experience management. Businesses should measure the experience they offer to their customers at all touch points, just as they measure their income and expense items. The most critical mistake businesses make in customer experience is not measuring customer perception correctly.
First, let’s take a closer look at the 3 most popular customer experience metrics.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)
The CSAT, which is based on likert scale ratings of satisfaction with the service or product offered, is the oldest scale. CSAT is used to measure the level of satisfaction at the most basic level. The CSAT calculation, which can be used with different question templates and different scoring options, can also be different. CSAT can be calculated with the arithmetic mean or by taking the ratio of positive responses to total responses. Today, the most widely used CSAT measurement is made with a 5-point scale.
Wiseback presents the results of CSAT questions of different scales in percentage value with a metric called happiness ratio.
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
Net Promoter Score is the popular customer loyalty metric.
NPS was developed by Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company and Satmetrix Systems and first announced by Reichheld in the article “One Number You Need To Grow” published in Harvard Business Review in 2003.
NPS is a metric that calculates the likelihood of your customers recommending you based on the answer to a single question and shows you a score between -100 and +100. How NPS is calculated and more in What is NPS? You can take a look at our article titled How is NPS calculated?
Today, there are 2 different NPS measurements. Apart from the periodic NPS, which focuses on the overall experience, there is a version called t-NPS, which focuses on the customer’s instant experience.
CES (Customer Effort Score)
Although not as popular as the CSAT and NPS, CES, which has come to the fore in recent years, is a metric developed to measure the effort customers make to get what they want in their experience with a brand.
In the CES question, the customer is asked to answer on a 5-point or 7-point likert scale about the effort they spend for the action they perform. CES can be used for transactions at all touchpoints, from a purchase in a store to a call to a call centre.
In our article titled “Technological Acceptance Model”, you will see that ease of use is among the most important issues affecting customers’ purchasing decisions. Consumers tend to choose the easiest, least demanding option among businesses offering similar products and services. Businesses can use CES measurement at every stage of their customer experience.
CSAT, NPS, CES – which is the right metric?
CSAT is the oldest and most widely used of the three metrics. Today, we see that most CSAT measurements are made on a 5-point scale. To measure an instant experience, CSAT is the right choice.
NPS is the most popular customer experience metric of recent years. NPS should be preferred to measure customer loyalty. Since there is a strong correlation between NPS score and revenue, NPS is a reliable metric for many businesses.
Although CES is not as widely used as the other two metrics, it has the power to lead businesses to an important conclusion with a key question.
It’s not hard to predict that satisfaction will decrease as customer effort increases, but with CES, you can find out where effort increases. CES won’t tell you about overall satisfaction and customer loyalty, but it is a key metric that will lead you to happy and loyal customers.
Choose metrics based on touchpoint and experience type, and make sure you’re measuring across all touchpoints.
Metrics can tell your business a lot, but you can only find out what you really need to see by listening to your customers. When asking your customers for their CSAT, NPS, CES score, make sure to use closed-ended and open-ended questions that explore the reason behind their score.
Always set goals for your customer experience program. It will be useful to remember Peter Drucker’s quote “If you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter where you arrive”.
