Delivering a remarkable customer experience (CX) is no longer optional—it’s essential. It can be the defining factor that sets your business apart, fosters loyalty, and drives growth. To truly understand and elevate your CX, tracking the right customer experience KPIs is critical.
Customer experience metrics offer clear and quantifiable insights into how your customers perceive your business, empowering you to identify strengths and address gaps effectively. But what are these key metrics, and how can they guide your strategy?
This guide will explore eight essential customer experience metrics, unpack their significance, and show you how to leverage them to improve satisfaction, loyalty, and overall business success.
What are customer experience metrics?
Customer experience metrics are quantifiable indicators that reflect the success of your business in meeting, and preferably exceeding, customer expectations. They go beyond traditional customer service metrics to evaluate every touchpoint of the customer journey, offering a comprehensive view of satisfaction, loyalty, and engagement.
Unlike operational metrics, which measure backend efficiency, CX metrics focus on the customer’s perception of interactions with your brand—both emotional and rational. When tracked effectively, measuring customer service metrics highlights gaps in your service and offers actionable insights to refine your strategies.
Why CX metrics matter
Metrics aren’t just numbers—they’re a reflection of your customers’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Focusing on CX metrics allows you to:
- Boost retention by building stronger relationships with your customers.
- Optimize processes to reduce bottlenecks and frustrations.
- Drive revenue by improving loyalty and attracting referrals.
Key customer experience metrics
Every organization needs to assess CX from multiple angles. Here are the eight metrics every CX professional should be tracking to create measurable and meaningful improvements.
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures a customer’s overall happiness with a specific product, service, or interaction on a scale of 1-5.
- Net Promoter Score® (NPS) measures customer loyalty and willingness to recommend a company to others using a scale of 0-10.
- Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the ease of a customer’s experience with a company or specific task.
- Customer Churn Rate measures the percentage of customers lost over a specific period.
- Customer Retention Rate measures the percentage of customers a company retains over a specific period.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) predicts the total revenue a customer is expected to generate throughout their relationship with a company.
- First Response Time (FRT) measures the time it takes for a customer to receive an initial response to their inquiry.
- Average Resolution Time (ART) measures the average time it takes to completely resolve a customer’s issue.
Let’s take a look at them one by one.
1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
A Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction, product, or service. It offers a direct look into how your brand meets immediate customer needs.
How to measure CSAT
Customers are typically asked, “How satisfied were you with your experience?” and rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5. The CSAT formula is simple:
CSAT (%) = (Number of Satisfied Responses / Total Responses) × 100
For instance, if 80 out of 100 customers rate their experience as satisfied (4-5), your CSAT is 80%.
Why CSAT is important
Tracking CSAT lets you pinpoint issues right away and focus on areas where customers expect immediate improvements. For example, customer service teams can use CSAT to evaluate agent performance and streamline workflows.
Source: Qualtrics
How to improve CSAT
- Immediacy: Address customer feedback on the spot. If there’s an issue with an order, for example, resolve it as quickly as possible to the customer’s satisfaction.
- Ask for feedback in the context of the experience: Use surveys directly after an experience and within the channel it occurred in to capture the customer’s sentiment on the highest, most honest note possible.
- Proactive support: Anticipate issues through data-driven analytics.
- Employee training: Equip your team with the skills to deliver exceptional service.
Learn how BODi® achieved a 75% CSAT rating with Quiq’s AI. See case study >
2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score® (NPS) reveals how likely customers are to recommend your business to others, serving as a long-term loyalty indicator.
How to measure NPS
Source: Lumoa
Ask your customers, “How likely are you to recommend [brand/product/service] to a friend?” Customers respond on a scale of 0-10. Responses fall into three categories:
- Promoters (9-10): Likely to recommend.
- Passives (7-8): Neutral.
- Detractors (0-6): Unlikely to recommend.
Calculate NPS as follows:
NPS = % of Promoters – % of Detractors
Why NPS is crucial
A rising NPS indicates growing customer loyalty, while a low or declining score signals dissatisfaction that needs urgent attention.
How to enhance NPS
- Engage promoters: Encourage them to share referrals or write reviews.
- Address detractor concerns: Reach out to unhappy customers to understand issues and resolve them.
- Build real connections: Use insights to deepen customer relationships.
“BRINKS has been a happy Quiq customer since November 2017. We started by implementing two-way, asynchronous messaging for sales and customer support, which reduced our call volume YoY, including 30% in just the past 3 years. In that same timeframe, we had increased our NPS scores by a staggering 90+ points.” —Brian Lunseth, Director, Digital Customer Experience & Dev at BRINKS
3. Customer Effort Score (CES)
Customer Effort Score measures how easy it was for customers to complete a specific action, such as resolving an issue or making a purchase.
How to measure CES
A common CES survey asks, “How easy was it to accomplish [specific task]?” Responses typically range from 1 (very difficult) to 5 (very easy). Calculate an average CES by dividing the total score by the number of responses. For instance:
Source: Responsly
Why CES matters
Effortless experiences lead to higher satisfaction and loyalty. Studies show that reducing customer effort has a direct impact on repeat business.
How to improve CES
- Streamline navigation: Simplify the process for high-friction actions like payments or returns.
- Invest in automation: Self-service tools like AI agents can make problem-solving quicker.
- Proactive customer service: Reach out before issues escalate. Proactive AI can do this for you on your website, using information about the customer’s previous orders, shopping behaviors, and more.
4. Customer Churn Rate
Churn Rate tracks the percentage of customers who stop doing business with you during a given period.
How to measure churn
Calculate churn by dividing the number of customers lost during a specific period by the total number of customers at the beginning of that period, then multiply by 100.
Why reducing churn is key
Churn directly impacts revenue. Retaining existing customers is far more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, making churn reduction a high priority for CX professionals.
How to minimize churn
- Identify pain points: Use surveys to understand why customers leave.
- Deliver value: Ensure customers feel they’re getting more than they paid for.
- Reward loyalty: Offer exclusive benefits or personalized outreach to high-value customers.
5. Customer Retention Rate
Retention Rate measures your ability to keep customers over time, reflecting satisfaction and trust.
How to measure retention
Retention Rate = ((# of Customers at End – # of New Customers) / # of Customers at Start) × 100
Why retention matters
A high retention rate drives repeat purchases, referrals, and long-term profitability.
How to improve retention
- Personalized communication: Use customer data for tailored messaging.
- Loyalty programs: Reward continued engagement with meaningful incentives.
- Listen & adapt: Act on feedback to show customers their voice matters.
6. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
CLV estimates the total revenue a customer will bring to your business throughout their relationship with your brand.
How to measure CLV
CLV = (Average Purchase Value × Purchase Frequency) × Customer Lifespan
Why CLV is critical
CLV provides insights into the long-term value of different customer segments, helping you allocate resources more effectively.
How to increase CLV
- Upsell opportunities: Introduce complementary products.
- Exceptional CX: Maintain service quality at every touchpoint.
- Proactive retention: Address issues that could lead to churn.
7. First Response Time (FRT)
FRT measures the average time it takes for customer service teams to respond to inquiries.
How to measure FRT
Divide the total time to first response by the number of support tickets answered.
Why FRT matters
Customers expect fast responses. A quick first response fosters trust and improves customer sentiment.
Tips to improve FRT
- Automate responses: Use AI to acknowledge tickets instantly.
- Efficient routing: Ensure tickets reach the right teams quickly.
- Track trends: Identify recurring delays and resolve the root cause.
8. Average Resolution Time (ART)
ART measures the average time needed to resolve customer issues fully.
How to measure ART
Total resolution time / Total number of cases resolved = ART
Why ART is essential
Highly efficient resolutions ensure a smooth customer experience, demonstrating your service team’s competence.
How to reduce ART
- Incorporate AI to handle routine questions: Use artificial intelligence to automatically solve more Tier 1 inquiries.
- Comprehensive training: Equip agents to solve issues faster, boosting their capabilities with technology that helps them do their jobs more efficiently.
- Knowledge bases: Offer customers easy access to self-help resources.
- Cross-team collaboration: Enable teams to share insights to address complex issues efficiently.
Learn how Molekule achieved 60% resolution rates with Quiq’s AI. See case study >
Improving CX metrics one step at a time
Knowing how to measure customer experience metrics and tracking them is not enough—you need to act on what the data reveals. Each CX metric shines a light on specific aspects of the customer journey, from satisfaction (CSAT) to service efficiency (FRT and ART).
No single metric paints the full picture. Combine insights from various metrics to assess your customers’ needs holistically.
Using platforms like Quiq, you can simplify the process by uniting analytics from multiple channels. This allows you to analyze customer sentiment, improve inefficiencies, and empower teams with real-time insights.
