Understanding Benchmark-driven Customer Support

Metrics play a crucial role in customer support. But real value creation lies in the understanding of focusing on the right metrics. Benchmarking the right metrics on the basis of the competitors and the industry can help you draw valuable insights. As a result, opportunities can be realized and inefficiencies can be weeded out to optimize the support processes.

We at Freshdesk have identified the right customer support benchmarks that will help you set the context on the kind of metrics your company should target. These benchmarks are based on a variety of factors such as region, industry, and helpdesk adoption and have been captured in a comprehensive report known as the Customer Happiness Benchmark Report.

The Need for Benchmark-driven Customer Support

Let’s begin by understanding what makes Benchmark-driven customer support important and what motivated us to put together the Customer-Benchmark Happiness Report.

Three years ago, we at Freshworks were setting up the customer success function. In the process, we got in touch with many customers in a bid to understand what our Engagement Model should be.

We found that one of our customers, the support manager of a leading online travel company, was extremely happy with Freshworks owning to the downward trend in the First Response Time that they were clocking. But the upper management was less than pleased.

The reasons were mainly:

  • A significant decline in repeat purchases
  • Low NPS/CSAT

After extensive analysis, two trends were recognized:

  • First Response Time was being tracked as a metric. But the set baseline was incorrect as customers expected a much quicker response.
  • Companies in the online travel business focus on Contact Resolution as a metric. This means that the Customer’s issues need to be resolved in the first contact rather than the contact being quicker.

Unearthing such insights helped us to better serve the client and made us understand what kind of metrics are important for what industries.

So the question is — Metrics are great but are you tracking the metrics that matter to your customers?

After extensive analysis and research about the needs of our customers (7000 companies spanning 38 industries), Freshdesk was able to devise a Customer Happiness Benchmark Report. It gives deep insights into industry wise metrics and the respective benchmarks that customer support teams should focus on.

Questions That You Should Address While Tracking Metrics

#1 Are you tracking the metrics that matter to your industry?

You need to carry out the due diligence and analysis to understand the metrics that your customers really care about.

#2 Are you setting the right goals for your team based on industry benchmarks?

Once you have the metrics figured out, the right goals should be chosen. Having aggressive goals will only demotivate your team.

#3 Are your tools and processes aligned with your goals?

You need to figure out whether you have implemented your help desk in a manner that allows you to achieve your goals.

B2B Vs B2C – What We Learnt From Our Customers

From a high-level standpoint, companies can be set-up as B2B or B2C companies. The Helpdesk behavior of these two types of companies is very different from one another, as compiled below:

B2B Companies

  • The support team receives a smaller volume of tickets, ranging from 500-30,000 per month.
  • The issues faced are more complex and service oriented.
  • The issues require a lot of collaboration between internal teams to reach a resolution.
  • There are multiple stakeholders from the same companies who raise issues.
  • Factors like Acknowledgement and First Response Time are keys, whereas resolution can take time.
  • Bad interaction can leave a huge negative impact on the revenue.

B2C Companies

  • The support team receives a much larger ticket volume, ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000+ tickets per month.
  • Issues tend to be more simple and transactional in nature.
  • Defined processes to resolve all such issues exist, making it possible for individuals to handle them.
  • Only one end customer is present.
  • Resolution in the first interaction is the key.
  • Bad interaction can adversely impact the brand image.

Top 5 Customer Service Metrics

There are a lot of metrics that our customers usually measure across multiple industries, but the following 5 metrics remain as the most relevant:

First Contact Resolution(FCR): This is an account of the percentage of tickets resolved within the first response itself. The global average FCR stands at 71%. Major industries that care for this metric are:

  • Fast Food/Quick Service Restaurants
  • E-commerce
  • Travel and Hospitality

First Response Time(FRT): It is defined as the time taken by your agent to send out the First Response. The global average FRT stands at 7 hours for Email, 4 Minutes for Chat, 2 Minutes for Phone, and 30 Minutes for Social. Major industries that care for this metric are:

  • Telecom
  • Schools and Education
  • Retail and Consumer Services

Number of Responses to Resolution: Defined as the number of back and forth interactions that occur for the resolution to take place. The global average stands at One. This is mainly due to the proliferation of online chat systems. Major industries that care for this metric are:

  • E-commerce
  • Travel and Hospitality
  • Banks

Resolution SLA: Defined as the percentage of tickets that are typically resolved within the Service Level Agreements that have been set up. The global average stands at 86% and major industries that care for this metric include:

  • Computer Software/Hardware
  • Industrial Manufacturing
  • Hospitals and Healthcare

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): The most important metric for any Helpdesk since it gives an account of Customer Satisfaction by defining how customers have rated their experience. The global average stands at 78% with all major industries caring for this metric.

How You Can Move the Needle on the Metrics

Here are some actions points that will help you to improve these metrics and reach the global averages, and even go past them to set new benchmarks:

First Contact Resolution

  • Automation can be leveraged to make sure that the tickets are routed to the right agents. There should be zero delays during ticket assignment.
  • Using bots to resolve a section of the tickets.

First Response Time

  • Preset responses can be set up for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
  • The Helpdesk can be prepared for seasonal spikes by onboarding occasional agents. This will ensure that the response time does not take a hit even during peak traffic.

Responses to Resolution

  • Deflecting ticket volume from email to a portal which deploys forms to accurately capture all the information at the customer-end that is required for the resolution of the ticket.
  • Installing a Single Screen Helpdesk will save agents valuable time while gathering crucial customer-related information. This can be done by integrating the Helpdesk software with the Billing system, Logistics System, CRM, etc.
  • Having a content-rich self-service and knowledge-based portal to reduce the responses of ticket resolution.

Percentage Resolution SLAs

  • Setting Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) that help to ensure that SLAs are never breached.
  • Different SLAs for different channels for further optimization.
  • Reminders and Escalation rules can be set up to be triggered when the ticket is getting too close to the SLA.
  • The upper management or senior leadership can be effectively looped in once a certain number of responses have been crossed before resolution.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

  • Overachieving on the other 4 metrics automatically helps to improve the CSAT.
  • Omnichannel support also contributes positively.

Interesting Findings Presented in the Report

The Customer Benchmark Happiness Report consists of some interesting findings. These include:

  • Extensive use of Automation leads to high agent productivity
    • At least a 2X decrease in Assignment Time has been recorded.
    • At least a 3X decrease in Resolution Rate has been recorded.
  • Omnichannel is the key to increasing CSAT
    • Customers have recorded a 35% or more increase in CSAT by introducing more channels.
  • Many more such interesting findings have been presented in the report.

The Ideal Process of Benchmark-driven Customer Support

The key to implementing a successful Benchmark-driven customer support system is following a bunch of key steps in the right order. These include:

  • Tracking Relevant Metrics
  • Setting the Right Support Targets based on Benchmarks
  • Using the Right Helpdesk Software
  • Ensuring that you Have Satisfied Customers

Useful Trends to Look Out For

Here are some useful trends that you need to be watching out for when it comes to customer support:

  • Proactive Support: Brands all around the world are increasingly getting proactive about support
  • Smart AI/Bots: Decision bots based on Fixed Flows are proving to be the key to handling Issue Resolution and AI has the potential to catch up soon.
  • Collaboration in Context: Support today is relevant not just for a single department but for the entire business. Collaboration with other teams is often required to make the support best-in-class. Therefore, a helpdesk with collaboration features would go a long way in improving the resolution process.

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