Working at a fast-growing startup is exciting. You’re constantly tracking new users, revenue, and growth.
But there's a hidden gem that doesn't get as much attention yet is super important: your customer support contact rate.
This simple number can tell you a lot about your startup’s health and how happy your users are. Even better, you can tweak it to uncover specific insights that help you improve and grow.
What Is a Contact Rate, Anyway?
At its core, your contact rate measures how often your users reach out for help.
The formula might look like this:
Contact Rate = Total Support Tickets / Total Active Users
This number by itself is pretty straightforward but the true potential of the contact rate lies in its flexibility to be customized for different insights.
Just like a doctor might check different health metrics depending on your symptoms, you can adjust contact rates to focus on what matters most for your startup’s health.
This customisation is important because every startup is different. Each one has its own challenges and goals. By tweaking contact rates to look at specific areas, you can get a clearer idea of where you need to improve or change things.
Loom's Contact Rates: What I Looked For
Why settle for a one-size-fits-all metric when you can customise it? At Loom, I was always tweaking our contact rates to find opportunities for improvement.
For example:
📈 Trial Conversion = tickets from users in trial / total trial users
High numbers here? You might have barriers preventing trial users from becoming paying customers.
📈 Bug Reports = tickets reporting bugs/ active users
Tracking this over time shines a light on your product's stability from the user's perspective.
📈 Early Usage = tickets from new users (first 7 days) / total new users
High figures here could point to onboarding hiccups or initial usability snags.
By zooming in on specific areas, I got clearer insights into what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus my efforts.
Watching Changes Over Time
Checking your contact rate once gives you a snapshot of what’s happening right now, but the magic happens when you track it over time.
Monitoring changes before and after updates or new features tells you exactly how those changes are impacting your users.
- Did the contact rate drop? That’s a sign your product is getting easier to use.
- Did it spike? That could mean new confusion or problems.
You can also spot seasonal patterns, the effects of scaling up, or the gradual impact of your improvements. It’s like having a pulse on your startup’s journey.
Beyond the immediate effects of changes, observing contact rate trends over longer periods can reveal deeper insights into your startup's health and trajectory.
For example, a steadily decreasing contact rate over several months could signify that your product is becoming more intuitive and stable, reducing the need for support.
On the other hand, if the rate begins to climb, it could be a signal to investigate potential issues before they become serious problems.
Simple Steps Forward
Once you've seen how your contact rates change, it's time to act on those insights. This could mean making your product easier to use, offering better help guides, or fixing features that confuse people.
Use contact rates to answer two big questions:
- Are we giving our users enough support?
- Is it easy for users to ask for help?
From there, you can make targeted improvements like simplifying your product, creating better help guides, or fixing tricky features.
Don’t just react — get ahead of the game and make every interaction count.