Customer experience metrics are data points used to measure how customers perceive your brand across different touchpoints. These metrics, such as NPS, CSAT, CES, and others, help you track satisfaction, loyalty, and effort, and identify areas where service can be improved.
When you launch a customer experience project, define your goal first. This helps you choose the right CX measuring tools. Each CX metric works best for specific parts of the customer experience.
Contact metrics like CSAT track satisfaction after a touchpoint. NPS shows loyalty and long-term sentiment. CES reveals how hard a task feels for customers. Use CSAT for quick checks, NPS for loyalty trends and CES for spotting effort issues that block smooth experiences.
Transactional CX metrics measure outcomes of individual customer interactions with a company, while relational CX metrics measure the overall relationship customers have with a company.
| Metrics | Relational | Transactional |
|---|---|---|
|
Net Promoter Score (NPS) |
|
|
|
Customer Effort Score (CES) |
|
|
|
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) |
|
|
|
First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR) |
|
|
|
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) |
|
|
|
Average Handle Time (AHT) |
|
|
|
Customer Churn Rate
|
|
|
|
Customer Retention Rate |
|
|
A combination of relational and transactional metrics can be used to collect feedback from customers throughout their entire customer journey. Our CSAT platform enables you to choose the metrics relevant to your business case and create the right survey questions to generate meaningful customer insights.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey is a reliable indicator of business growth due to its correlation to customer loyalty. NPS is calculated by asking customers to rate the likelihood of them recommending the company's product or service to a friend or colleague on a scale of 0 to 10. Furthermore, the NPS survey breaks down your customer base into three categories:
Then, you will need to calculate your NPS or let Staffino's advanced CX analytics take care of the calculations for you. NPS is given as a score from -100 to 100. To find your NPS, simply subtract the percentage of promoters from the percentage of detractors.
There is no world benchmark for NPS measurement on a channel level. However, Staffino CX consultants can help you assess this from a monthly trend perspective with a strong focus on sustained improvement.
CSAT shows how satisfied customers feel after a specific contact. It links channel performance—like contact centres, stores or web service—to overall experience results. This gives clear data to improve people, tools and processes. You can use CSAT in human, assisted and self-service channels.
The CSAT score is measured on a scale of 1 to 5. Surveys from a CSAT platform can be customised to make use of visual rating scales, such as stars or emojis, rather than the typical numeric scales. This could make the survey more engaging for participants. CSAT asks the question:
Your CSAT score is the share of customers who choose 4 or 5 on the scale. A key benefit is the COPC benchmark, which lets you compare your channels with top services. World-class targets are ≥85% top-two scores and ≤5% bottom-box scores.
The Customer Effort Score (CES) takes a different angle compared to the previous CX measurement tools. CES asks customers how much effort a task required, so it is fully transactional. It often follows customer service contacts and helps improve speed and quality.
CES uses a 5-point scale or a simple agree/disagree question.
The CES question made with Staffino may look something like this:
Similar to CSAT, your CES score is the percentage of people who rated their satisfaction as either 4 or 5 on the scale.
These customer experience metrics may not be used as frequently as the ones mentioned above, but they can provide you with valuable, actionable insights to help you improve your daily operations.
FCR metric stands for First Contact Resolution, and it is used to measure the effectiveness of your customer service. It is the percentage of customer contacts that are resolved on the first attempt. FCR asks the question:
Did our [company/employee] manage to resolve your issue after the first call/contact?
To find out the FCR rate, divide the number of cases resolved on the first try by the total amount of cases handled by agents and then multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
Net Sentiment Score (NSS) is a CX metric used to measure the overall emotional tone of customer feedback. It reflects the balance between positive and negative sentiments expressed in comments, reviews, or survey responses.
NSS is used to monitor brand perception, identify emerging issues, and evaluate the emotional impact of customer experience initiatives in real time.
To calculate NSS, subtract the number of negative mentions from positive ones, divide by the total number of mentions, and multiply by 100:
((Positive – Negative) / Total Mentions) × 100
The score ranges from -100 (all negative) to +100 (all positive). A score above +40 is typically considered strong, while scores near zero or negative may indicate reputational concerns.
Average handle time (AHT) is a metric used to measure the amount of time that a customer service representative spends on each call. It is an important metric for customer service operations because it helps to identify areas for improvement and can be used to set performance goals.
AHT is calculated by dividing the total amount of time spent on customer calls by the total number of calls. This can be measured by tracking the time spent on each call, including hold time and after-call work, and dividing it by the total number of calls.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is a metric that measures the total value of a customer for the entire duration of their relationship with a company. It is used to help companies determine the value of a customer and to measure the effectiveness of marketing and customer retention efforts.
CLV can be measured by looking at the total value of a customer over a period of time, including their purchase amount, return rate, and customer engagement. Companies can also look at customer lifetime value in terms of customer segmentation and customer lifetime value per customer segment.
Customer Churn Rate is the measure of the number of customers who discontinue using a company’s product or service within a certain period of time. This rate is often used to measure the success of a company’s customer retention efforts and to identify areas for improvement. It is also used to compare the performance of one company against its competitors.
To measure the customer churn rate, you would need to calculate the number of customers that have left your business over a given period of time divided by the total number of customers at the start of that period.
Customer Retention Rate is a measure of how well a business retains its customers. It is calculated by dividing the number of customers at the end of a period by the number of customers at the beginning of that period and multiplying by 100.
A high customer retention rate indicates that customers are loyal to the business and that the business is succeeding in keeping them satisfied. This metric is critical for businesses to understand as it allows them to identify and address any customer issues quickly and strategically, which can help to improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue.
Finding the right customer experience metrics can be hard, but our CX consulting team can guide you. We help you pick the best metrics, craft survey questions and set a clear CX strategy. With our CSAT platform, you can boost your customer experience and gain an edge. Contact us to get started!
Get tailored advice from our experts on boosting customer satisfaction, linking CX data to revenue, and motivating employees.
Explore the most commonly asked questions about customer experience metrics.
Haven’t found the answer to your question? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us using the form above. It’s free!
CX metrics are measurable indicators used to assess how customers perceive and interact with your brand, service, or product.
Customer experience is measured using feedback tools, surveys (NPS, CSAT, CES), behaviour tracking, and analytics platforms that monitor satisfaction and loyalty.
CX stands for Customer Experience, referring to how customers perceive every interaction with your company throughout their journey.
Popular tools include Staffino, Qualtrics, Medallia, and SurveyMonkey, offering surveys, dashboards, sentiment analysis, and customer feedback collection.
The four key metrics are:
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)
CES (Customer Effort Score)
FCR (First Contact Resolution)
CSAT, NPS, and CES are widely used for tracking satisfaction, along with review ratings, repeat purchase rate, and customer complaints.
Key customer experience KPIs include NPS, CSAT, CES, customer retention rate, and churn rate.
NPS, CSAT, and customer retention rate are commonly used to track customer success and long-term satisfaction.
NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, a metric that measures customer loyalty based on how likely they are to recommend your company.
NPS = % of Promoters (rating 9–10) minus % of Detractors (rating 0–6) based on the question: “How likely are you to recommend us?”
A good Net Promoter Score (NPS) depends on your industry, but generally:
Above 0 is considered positive (more promoters than detractors)
+30 to +50 is strong
Above +50 is excellent
+70 or higher is world-class
Always compare your score to industry benchmarks for proper context.
CSAT stands for Customer Satisfaction Score, a metric that measures how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction or service.
CSAT = (Number of satisfied responses ÷ Total responses) × 100, usually based on a 1–5 or 1–10 scale.
CES stands for Customer Effort Score, which measures how easy it was for a customer to get their issue resolved.
CES is calculated using the average score from customers who rate the ease of an interaction on a scale (e.g. 1–7 or 1–5), often after a support contact.
It depends on your goals:
Use CSAT to measure satisfaction after specific interactions
Use NPS to track overall loyalty and likelihood to recommend
Use CES to assess how easy it was for the customer to resolve an issue
Use FCR (First Contact Resolution) to measure how often issues are resolved in the first interaction
Use AHT (Average Handling Time) to track efficiency in support or call centres
Use Customer Retention Rate to assess long-term satisfaction and loyalty
Use eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) to link employee satisfaction to CX outcomes
Combining multiple metrics gives a more complete view of customer experience and operational performance.
Net Sentiment Score (NSS) is a metric that measures the overall emotional tone of customer feedback by calculating the difference between positive and negative sentiments. It’s typically expressed as a percentage or score ranging from -100 to +100.
NSS = (% Positive Feedback) − (% Negative Feedback)
Neutral feedback is usually excluded from the calculation.
A good NSS typically falls above +30, indicating that positive feedback significantly outweighs negative.
+50 or higher is considered strong and signals a healthy emotional connection with your brand.
0 to +30 is moderate and may require improvement.
Below 0 suggests more negative than positive feedback and likely points to customer dissatisfaction.
The ideal NSS benchmark can vary by industry and channel.
Be the first to get exclusive insights, tips, and best practices from Staffino, your go-to source for CX and EX success!
