Skip to content

What are some of the most common metrics used to evaluate contact center and agent performance when handling social media interactions?

3/7/2013

  Printer Friendly Format    

Question
What are some of the most common metrics used to evaluate contact center and agent performance when handling social media interactions?

Answer

As with any servicing channel, metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) are needed to track and measure the volume and service level of social media customer service transactions. Contact centers that handle social media interactions also need productivity, effectiveness and quality metrics to measure how efficiently agents are handling these types of interactions. These KPIs and metrics are just starting to emerge, and are expected to grow and change during the next few years as organizations gain experience using social media to address service issues. Here is a list of some of the KPIs that are being used to measure the number of social media interactions handled, and how they can be calculated:

  • Abandon Rate: Percentage of total posts that are not answered
  • Applicable Volume: Total volume of social posts received that require a company response
  • Average Handle Time: Average time agents spend responding to a post
  • Average Speed of Response: Average time to reply to applicable volume
  • Average Time to Resolution: Average time from receipt of post to response
  • Cost Per Post Resolution: Average cost of each resolved post
  • Customer Satisfaction: Percentage of “yes” responses to: “Was this page/document helpful?”
  • Escalation Rate: Percentage of posts that must be escalated to a second-level responder
  • First-Post Resolution Rate: Percentage of applicable posts resolved by the first responder
  • Flush Rate: Percentage of posts that are not applicable for response
  • Null Rate: Percentage of posts that are not applicable for response
  • Posts Closed Per Hour: Number of posts dispositioned as resolved per hour
  • Queue Backlog: Number of posts in queue waiting to be handled
  • Redirect Rate: Percentage of responses that redirect commenters to an alternative channel (i.e., phone, email or chat)
  • Response Rate: Percentage of posts directly responded to by the company
  • Responses Per Hour: Number of responses to posts per hour
  • Service Level: Percentage of incoming posts answered within a pre-defined time threshold
  • Transfer Rate: Percentage of responses directed to another department within the enterprise 
For more in-depth information about how to build an effective social customer care servicing department and social media customer service/contact center best practices, please see DMG Consulting’s Social Media Customer Service/ Contact Center Product and Best Practices Market Report.