Customer Service Acronyms — An Expert Reference

Overview: why acronyms matter in customer service

In modern customer service operations an alphabet soup of acronyms (CSAT, NPS, AHT, FCR, SLA, CES, VOC, CRM, IVR, QA, CX, KPI, SLO, CSOps) determines priorities, budgets and staffing models. Using consistent definitions reduces reporting drift: a 2023 benchmarking study from industry analysts showed that inconsistent KPI definitions created measurement variance of up to 18% between business units, which can cost midsize firms $100k–$500k annually in misaligned headcount and outsourcing decisions.

Acronyms are not just shorthand — they encode calculation logic, targets and governance. Treat each acronym as a contract: document its formula, the data source, the reporting cadence and the owner. For enterprise teams I recommend a single KPI glossary stored in your CRM or knowledge base (e.g., Salesforce or Zendesk) that includes calculation SQL or BI queries and a revision date (example: CSAT_v1 — last revised 2024-03-12).

Key acronyms and precise definitions

The following list is a compact, operationally focused glossary you can paste into an SOP or dashboard metadata. Each entry is the recommended production definition used by leading service organizations in 2022–2024.

• CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) — % of survey responses rating experience positive. Formula: (number of 4–5 scores / total responses) × 100. Typical target: 75–90% depending on vertical; best-in-class ≥ 85%.
• NPS (Net Promoter Score) — %Promoters minus %Detractors on a 0–10 scale. Calculation window: 30–90 days post-contact. Average NPS by industry varies (software ~30, retail ~35); top performers >50.
• CES (Customer Effort Score) — average effort rating (1–5 or 1–7 scale). Lower is better if 1 = very easy. Target: CES ≤ 3.0 on 5-point scale for frictionless service.
• FCR (First Contact Resolution) — % issues resolved without repeat contact within a defined window (commonly 7 days). Typical FCR: 65–80%; target >75% for transactional support.
• AHT (Average Handle Time) — total talk + hold + after-call work seconds divided by handled contacts. Voice AHT ranges 240–900 seconds (4–15 minutes) by complexity.
• ASA (Average Speed of Answer) — average wait time in queue. Common SLA: 80/20 (80% answered within 20 seconds).
• SLA (Service Level Agreement) — contract metric (e.g., 90/30 or 80/20) with penalties; always publish the denominator (calls, chats) and measurement interval.
• MTTR (Mean Time to Resolve) — average elapsed time to resolution across incidents; used in technical support and entitlements.
• VOC (Voice of the Customer) — qualitative/quantitative feedback program; include sample size and response rate (target ≥10% of contacts for statistical relevance).
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) — the platform (e.g., Salesforce, Zendesk) that stores case state and contact history; always map CRM case statuses to SLA states.
• IVR (Interactive Voice Response) — self-service routing system; measure containment % (calls resolved in IVR) and IVR abandonment rate.
• QA (Quality Assurance) — sample audit program (e.g., 5–10% of calls) with scoring rubric and calibration sessions monthly.
• CSOps (Customer Service Operations) — the governance function responsible for reporting, workforce management and process improvement.

Use exact measurement windows: daily for ASA/AHT, weekly for FCR trends, monthly for CSAT and NPS, and quarterly for VOC thematic analysis. Specify sample sizes (e.g., CSAT surveys: aim for ≥300 responses/month for a national operation to get a margin of error ~±5%).

Implementing acronyms into dashboards and SLAs

Operationalize acronyms by pairing each metric with three data fields: formula (SQL/BI expression), owner (team/role), and cadence (daily/weekly/monthly). Example: CSAT_formula = SUM(CASE WHEN rating>=4 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)/COUNT(rating); owner = Customer Insights; cadence = monthly. Store these as metadata in your BI tool (Looker, Power BI, Tableau) with a last-reviewed date (e.g., 2024-05-01).

Escalation and SLA design should use numeric thresholds and time-based triggers. Sample escalation: if SLA breach projected within 15 minutes (based on WFM forecast), automated alert to supervisor; if breach occurs, escalate to operations manager within 60 minutes and to VP within 4 hours. For voice centers adopt the common 80/20 SLA: 80% of calls answered in 20 seconds — this is industry standard and useful for vendor RFPs.

Formulas, targets and benchmarking (practical values)

Below are practical formula snippets and target bands you can use immediately when configuring dashboards or writing SLAs. Benchmarks are aggregate industry ranges observed in Forrester/Gartner/ContactBabel reports between 2020–2024 — adapt to your vertical (B2B tech, e-commerce, utilities).

• CSAT = (PositiveResponses / TotalResponses) × 100. Benchmark: 70–90%; aim for +5 pts year-over-year.
• NPS = %Promoters (9–10) − %Detractors (0–6). Benchmark averages: 10–35; best-in-class >50.
• FCR = (ResolvedOnFirstContact / TotalContacts) × 100. Target: ≥75% for simple transactional support; ≥85% for self-serve enabled products.
• AHT (seconds) = (TotalTalk + Hold + ACW) / HandledContacts. Voice target: 240–600s depending on complexity; monitor alongside CSAT to avoid over-optimizing speed at expense of quality.
• Cost per contact — voice $6–12, chat/email $2–8 (varies by country and outsourcing). Use cost-per-contact to inform channel shift economics; example: shifting 1,000 monthly calls to self-service at $2/contact saves ~$4,000–$10,000/month.

Report confidence intervals for survey metrics: for N ≥ 300, margin of error ≈ ±5%; for N ≥ 1,000, ≈ ±3%. Document survey response rates; industry average response rate is 5–15% for post-contact surveys.

Tools, governance and resources

Select tools that expose raw event logs for reproducible metrics — do not rely solely on vendor canned reports. Typical vendor pricing in 2024 ranged: cloud helpdesk seats $20–150 per agent/month; enterprise AI assistants/automation suites often add $10k–$200k/year depending on scale. When budgeting, include QA labor (typical QA analyst FTE loaded cost $60k–$120k/year in the U.S.) and survey platform fees (~$1k–$6k/year).

Authoritative resources: For benchmarking and methodology check ContactBabel (www.contactbabel.com), Forrester (www.forrester.com), Gartner (www.gartner.com), and vendor documentation (Zendesk — https://www.zendesk.com; Salesforce — https://www.salesforce.com). For practical SLA templates and escalation matrices, store a canonical SOP in your intranet and review quarterly. Consistent definitions, immutable formulas, and single-source truth are the operational practices that convert acronyms from jargon into predictable business levers.

What does the CSAT acronym stand for?

CSAT, or customer satisfaction score, is a commonly used metric that indicates how satisfied customers are with a company’s products or services.

What are the 3 F’s of customer service?

What is the 3 F’s method in customer service? The “Feel, Felt, Found” approach is believed to have originated in the sales industry, where it is used to connect with customers, build rapport, and overcome customer objections.

What is a fancy term for customer service?

43 customer service job titles and team names

Customer service team names	Customer service job titles
Client Success	Client Success Manager
Client Support	Client Support Officer
Custom Advocacy (used by Buffer)	Customer Advocate
Customer Engagement	Customer Experience Agent

What are the 7 Cs of customer service?

The 7 Cs include Customer, Cost, Convenience, Communication, Credibility, Connection and Co–creation. They provide an understanding a customer needs to improve their relationships.

What is the acronym for customer service?

For example, CS could mean customer support, customer success, customer service, or even computer science.

What are the 5 C’s of customer service?

We’ll dig into some specific challenges behind providing an excellent customer experience, and some advice on how to improve those practices. I call these the 5 “Cs” – Communication, Consistency, Collaboration, Company-Wide Adoption, and Efficiency (I realize this last one is cheating).