Internal Quality Score
What is Internal Quality Score (IQS)?
Internal Quality Score (IQS) is a QA metric that measures how well support conversations meet your team's internal standards for tone, accuracy, process adherence and empathy. Unlike CSAT (which reflects the customer's perception), IQS reflects a trained reviewer's assessment. The two metrics are complementary: CSAT tells you how the customer felt; IQS tells you whether the agent followed the right process.
How is IQS calculated?
IQS = (Sum of all rubric scores ÷ Maximum possible score across all reviewed conversations) × 100
Each conversation is scored against a rubric (e.g. 5 dimensions, each scored 1–5). IQS is the percentage of available points earned. A team IQS of 82% means agents scored 82% of available rubric points on average across all reviewed conversations.
What is a good IQS?
B2B SaaS support teams with structured QA programs
Calculate your IQS
What are the most common IQS mistakes?
- 1Reviewing too few conversations. Sampling 2–3% of conversations is not statistically meaningful for agent-level coaching.
- 2Using IQS as the sole quality metric. IQS and CSAT can diverge; a technically perfect conversation that still leaves the customer frustrated is a quality failure.
- 3Not calibrating reviewers regularly. Without calibration sessions, different reviewers score the same conversation differently.
- 4Optimizing agents to score well on rubric rather than to actually help customers. The rubric should reflect genuine quality, not compliance theater.