5 KPIs to Reduce Support Costs (And How Documentation Helps)

Well-crafted and accessible documentation can make the difference between high operational costs and a support team that runs like a finely tuned machine.

This is where KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come to play. They allow to measure and compare how in this case customer support improves over time.

First Contact Resolution (FCR)

First Contact Resolution (FCR) measures the percentage of customer issues resolved on the very first interaction with support. A higher FCR indicates that problems are diagnosed and fixed quickly, without the need for follow-ups.

How to Measure FCR

1. Collect data on the total number of resolved tickets in a given period.

2. Identify how many were resolved during the first interaction.

3. Calculate the ratio:

How Documentation Improves FCR

1. Preemptive Resolution: Clear, up-to-date documentation allows customers (and even support agents) to reference solutions instantly.

2. Reduced Escalations: Agents can use detailed knowledge base articles or help guides, minimizing the need to consult higher-level support.

3. Knowledge Retention: A robust documentation hub ensures that even new agents have access to proven resolutions, improving their ability to resolve issues swiftly.

Average Time to Resolution (TTR)

Average Time to Resolution (TTR) tracks how long it takes, on average, to resolve a support ticket—from the moment a ticket is opened to when it’s fully resolved.

How to Measure TTR

1. Track each ticket’s ‘open to close’ time in your customer support platform.

2. Sum all resolution times.

3. Divide by the total number of resolved tickets in the period.

How Documentation Reduces TTR

1. Immediate Access to Information: Agents and customers can quickly find relevant steps or solutions without time-consuming research.

2. Lower Learning Curve: New agents ramp up faster when they have a go-to repository of product/service knowledge.

3. Elimination of Redundant Steps: Good documentation condenses information, preventing the need to ask customers for the same details repeatedly.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is usually measured by asking customers to rate their satisfaction with the support experience on a scale (e.g., 1–5 or 1–10).

How to Measure CSAT

1. Include a survey at the end of each support interaction.

2. Ask for a rating on how satisfied the customer is.

3. Calculate the percentage of positive responses out of total responses:

How Documentation Improves CSAT

1. Empowers Self-Service: Many customers prefer finding quick answers on their own; accessible documentation helps them do just that.

2. Consistent Quality: Well-documented procedures ensure that every support interaction meets a high standard, improving overall satisfaction.

3. Builds Trust: When customers perceive an organization as transparent and helpful, their trust and satisfaction rise—often leading to stronger brand loyalty.

Self-Service Rate (SSR)

The Self-Service Rate (SSR) measures the portion of customer issues resolved without direct support interaction—i.e., customers solve their own problems using documentation, community forums, or automated chatbots.

How to Measure SSR

1. Track how many unique visitors or queries are directed to your documentation or self-service portals.

2. Identify how many of these do not result in a ticket.

3. Calculate:

How Documentation Boosts SSR

1. Comprehensive Guides: Step-by-step tutorials and troubleshooting guides reduce the need to reach out to a human agent.

2. Ease of Navigation: Organized, searchable articles enable customers to find exactly what they need without frustration.

3. 24/7 Availability: High-quality documentation is accessible anytime, providing immediate answers.

Customers who engage in electronic banking self-service are significantly less reliant on human support, reducing bank call center costs by up to 40%.

Cost per Contact (CPC)

Cost per Contact (CPC) is the average cost incurred for each customer support interaction—covering agent time, resources, and infrastructure.

How to Measure CPC

1. Sum all costs (salaries, software, overhead, etc.) for your support function over a period.

2. Divide by the total number of support contacts in that same period:

How Documentation Lowers CPC

1. Decreased Volume of Tickets: Fewer incoming queries because self-service resources handle a significant chunk of customer issues.

2. Optimized Agent Efficiency: Agents spend less time per ticket, thus lowering the cost of each interaction.

3. Scalable Support: As your customer base grows, well-maintained documentation prevents a proportional spike in support costs.

Financial Impact of Helpful Documentation

As Forbes states, acquiring new customers is five to seven times more expensive than retaining existing ones. Therefore, all companies should focus intensely on optimizing customer retention. As we've learned in this article, creating helpful documentation is a great way to do so.

At one industrial equipment supplier, for example, a comprehensive review of customer support processes revealed that if just one-in-12 customers could better self-diagnose their technical issues, the firm could save roughly $10 million in maintenance costs in less than 18 months.

In a nutshell

When designed carefully, documentation can positively influence all of these KPIs:

• Boost FCR and speed up TTR by giving both agents and customers the know-how to solve problems quickly.

• Improve CSAT and SSR by empowering customers to find solutions independently, 24/7.

• Reduce CPC through fewer escalations and minimized repeat contacts.

Different industries have unique support and documentation needs. Software and SaaS rely on knowledge bases, FAQs, and video tutorials. Manufacturing requires schematics, user manuals, and multilingual documentation. E-commerce embeds self-service into product pages with return policies and size guides. B2B services focus on onboarding, SLAs, and compliance.

Plus, internal teams benefit from helpful documentation as well. As pointed out by a study in 2021, helpful documentation ...

• ... decreases maintenance costs as developers rely on documentation instead of having to reverse-engineer solutions

• ... reduces redundant discussions among developers and support teams

• ... leads to less internal escalations

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It is time to deliver an exceptional customer experience at scale. For the start, you should look for a tool that supports your documentation needs.

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