When it comes to measuring your success with clients, there are a ton of metrics you can use to obtain valuable information on how to better serve them and keep them loyal to your brand. Instead of getting bogged down with an overwhelming whirlwind of statistics and information, consider staying hyper-focused on the metrics that matter most to your company.

Here are six customer service metrics you should actually pay attention to and use to gauge real success with your customers. 

1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

In a nutshell, customer lifetime value or CLV is a metric that measures the amount of money a customer is projected to spend over the duration of their relationship with your company. This metric analyzes historical purchase information to determine how much revenue you can expect in the future. CLV is one of the most important measurements of success when it comes to the relationship with a customer, as it demonstrates that the services and products you offer are of real value to your customer base. 

If your company is on target with your customer’s needs, their individual CLV should raise over time. If CLV measurements begin to decline, this means that your company is missing the mark with customers, and it is time to reevaluate your offerings to entice them to come back.

2. Customer Churn

Customer churn is the percentage of customers your company loses during a sales quarter. It’s important that your sales team focuses much of their time and energy on keeping this percentage as low as possible. When your customer churn percentages rise, it is time to come up with strategies and incentives to maintain customer loyalty. Determine the reason why your customers opt to stop subscribing for products and services or stop buying from you in an effort to keep them around longer.

Just like with employee turnover, customer churn is much more expensive than retaining the customers you already have. Offering special sales and promotions is a low-cost way to provide incentives to your customers so that they stay loyal to your brand.

3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

A Net Promoter Score or NPS is a measure of whether a customer is likely to recommend a business’s products or services to someone else within their own social or professional network. Of all the metrics used to measure the success of a business, this one is probably the most straightforward and easy to analyze. 

Data used to generate a Net Promoter Score is obtained by reaching out to the customer directly to have them rate your products and services. After a customer purchases a product or service from you, send them a request for feedback and ask them to rate the product or service on a scale from one to ten. The feedback request should also prompt them to write a brief explanation as to why they gave the rating they did. This information can then be pooled from all responses to obtain your company’s total Net Promoter Score. 

4. Happiness Scores/Surveys

Following up with customers in the form of a customer satisfaction survey is an excellent way to gauge how happy your customer is with an interaction they completed with your company and to analyze whether or not you can expect them to do business with you again in the future. Information from happiness scores/surveys also helps your marketing team analyze the customer lifetime value or CLV and can provide insight on what you need to do to make the customer experience better.

Also known as a CSAT Score, the information gleaned from following up with customers after a transaction or service allows you to determine how well your customer service representatives are fulfilling the needs of customers and how they are representing your brand.

5. Revenue Churn

Simply put, revenue churn is the amount of revenue lost during a sales period, whether it be analyzed quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. Sustained revenue churn causes companies to go out of business, so it is imperative to identify where losses are occurring and why. Revenue churn is caused by canceled subscriptions, canceled contracts, and loss of sales on specific products.

6. Renewals

Whether you are in the business of selling SaaS, physical product subscriptions, newspaper subscriptions, or any other recurring service, renewals are an important metric for measuring the future success of your business. Depending on what you are selling, your customer’s average subscription renewal rate can last anywhere from three months to 30 months. Determine the average renewal rate percentages for each of your product or service subscriptions and strategize ways to keep your customers around longer.

Identifying the best ways to measure your overall customer satisfaction will provide you with the right insight to gauge success. And, using tools like marketing automation paired with an all-in-one CRM will allow you to set up reminders and schedule outreach so you can keep your customers happy, engaged, and coming back for more. Take a quick tour of our software to see if it might be a fit, and sign up for our free plan today!