Using Customer Satisfaction (Csat) as a Service Desk Metric

Current technology allows service desk managers to collect vast amounts of performance data. It is now easier than ever to collect data efficiently on everything from the percentage of first contact resolutions (FCR) to the average time it takes a team member to answer calls. Yet, amidst an abundance of data, it can still be difficult for managers to answer key questions about service desk performance. In fact, too much data can cloud the picture, making it hard to analyze performance properly, identify performance gaps, and make necessary adjustments.

As a result, it’s important for service desk managers to identify key metrics to use to evaluate and improve service desk performance effectively. A key factor for service desk managers to keep in mind when going through this process is that when it comes to key metrics, it’s less about having lots of data and more about having the right data.

The Importance of Using the Right Metrics

Given the time and resources that managers put into collecting and analyzing performance data, it’s important to ensure that they’re looking at and responding to the right data. As experts like to quip, “if you measure the wrong things, then you’ll get better at the wrong things.”

In contrast, using the right metrics enables managers to track performance over time and identify trends; benchmark performance; identify clear strengths and weaknesses; identify specific activities to increase performance; and develop individual and team performance goals. Ultimately what this means is that for a service desk team to improve and meet performance goals consistently, it’s essential that it measures and responds to meaningful metrics.

Why Customer Satisfaction is a Key Metric to Measure

One essential metric to measure is customer satisfaction. Experts in the industry suggest that it’s a foundational metric that every service desk manager should track. There are a couple of reasons why this is the case.

First, customer satisfaction is the driving goal for service desk teams. The best teams are always working to maximize customer satisfaction, ensuring that customers consistently have what they need when they need it, and satisfying customer expectations. Since service desk teams are always working to develop methods to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, it logically follows that they should collect data around these same metrics.

Second, there are a number of key indicators that are impacted by customer service. As a result, measuring customer service provides information about a variety of organizational outputs and helps to simplify the data that managers use. For example, customer service metrics often include data on issues like average speed of answer, call quality, handle time, and first contact resolution. What this means for managers is that looking at customer satisfaction data can actually provide a good picture of the team’s performance in a number of areas.