The following is based on ideas from my recent book, Meaningful Measurement of the Customer Experience, now available everywhere. 

 We’re going to start with the first of two of our customer-facing, or external sub-categories of measurement: quantitative measurement, as shown in the figure below (Figure 2.4.1).

 Figure 2.4.1, Quantitative measurement as defined in the CX measurement framework

With each of these measurements, we’re going to explore them according to five dimensions, which consist of the following:

• Definition of the type of measurement

• Examples of metrics that fit the description

• How to measure, including methods and platforms that can be used

• Opportunities that measurement of this type provides

• Challenges in measuring this type of metric

The important thing to remember is that no single subcategory should be the only method that you use to measure customer experience.

Definition

Quantitative measurements are things that can be objectively measured, like repeat purchases, referrals, visits, or complaints. While this is often the easiest set of things to measure in terms of discrete metrics (e.g. Google Analytics can provide the number of page views, or your email platform can measure click-through rates on a campaign), it must be tied to multiple touchpoints and/or platforms to be most meaningful.  

Examples

Here are a few examples of quantitative metrics as they relate to customer experience:

• Repeat purchases

• # of complaints

• # of referrals

• In-store purchases through a loyalty program

• Calls to a customer service hotline

• Customer churn rate

How to Measure

It can be said that quantitative metrics can be some of the easiest to measure because they are numbers taken directly from interactions, though that can sometimes be misleading. Measurement and analysis of the most meaningful ones often takes more effort, statistical analysis, or the combination of several metrics to tell the story of a customer journey (or at least the full story of one stage within the journey) . Here are a few examples of how to measure quantitative metrics for customer experience:

• Analytics tools such as website or web application statistics

• Customer relationship management (CRM) tools and analysis

• Other sales data platforms

• Customer service/call center measurement data

Opportunities

Quantitative metrics provide an objective (i.e. “the numbers don’t lie”) method of gaining insight into your customers that can help build a comprehensive view of how they are interacting with your brand and your people, processes, and platforms throughout the customer journey. Because there are many tools available to capture quantitative data, the initial step of data collection can often have a low barrier to entry.

When measured and processed in real-time, quantitative metrics can also provide the foundations for a uniquely personalized customer experience. Real-time insights and customer journey orchestration can help set your organization apart from your competitors, and provide the type of personalized that customers have come to expect from the brands they purchase from.

Challenges

As I mentioned earlier, there are a myriad of quantitative metrics that you can collect in order to analyze. A challenge that often occurs, however, is that looking at one quantitative metric in isolation rarely tells the whole story.

This means that you often need to collect data from multiple sources and find methods to combine them to produce a clearer picture of the customer experience. Many organizations are undergoing digital transformation initiatives to make this easier, and as anyone who has undergone one of these types of transformations will attest, it is not a quick or inexpensive process. It is, however extremely valuable to be able to piece together all of your data points, quantitative and otherwise.

Quantitative customer experience metrics are a critical part of your measurement. Your organization’s ability to directly measure them, and analyze them to tell the story of your customer’s journey, makes them valuable in providing objective data about where there are challenges and opportunities, or strengths and weaknesses, in your CX program.

In the next article in this series, we will discuss qualitative measurements of customer experience. 

This article is based on ideas from my recent book, Meaningful Measurement of the Customer Experience, now available everywhere.