Customer Satisfaction Measurement - Methods and Techniques Used în The Measurement of Customer Satisfaction

introduction

It is well established that satisfied customers are key to long-term business success. Companies that have a more satisfied customer base also experience higher economic returns. High consumer satisfaction leads to greater customer loyalty which, in turn, leads to future revenue. Organizations having superior product and service quality have been found to be market leaders in terms of sales and long-term customer loyalty and retention. Because of this, organizations competing in similar market niches are compelled to assess the quality of the products and services they provide in order to attract and retain their customers.

Customers’ expectations are derived from their own accumulation of contacts with products and services provided them in all walks of life. From such contacts customers accrue a generalized set of expectations or standard based on their day-to-day history as customers. It is from the accumulation of these experiences that customers establish personal standards and use them to gauge service quality.

Thus, for an organization to thrive, it must keep pace with its customers’ changing needs and succeed in satisfying them. Putting customers first will ensure that companies meet and anticipate their clients’ demands and expectations.

Today’s customers expect first-class service. If they sense that companies are not putting them first, they will feel disappointed. Thus, thorough consideration must be given to the fact that customers will not only asses a company’s performance against that of its competitors, but they will also judge a producer against what it promised to deliver, and what they believe to be acceptable standards.

Overview of the Customer Satisfaction Measurement

CSM Process

Objective and accurate measures of customer satisfaction provide the best lead indicator of future loyalty. According to studies made by Nigel Hill and Rob MacDougall, a customer satisfaction measurement programme will enable companies to:

- Understand how customers perceive the organisation and whether its performance meets their expectations.

- Identify PFIs - priorities for improvement, meaning those areas where improvements in performance will produce the greatest gain in customer satisfaction.

- Undertake a cost-benefit analysis to asses the overall business impact of addressing the PFIs.

- Pinpoint “understanding gaps” where the company’s own staff has a misunderstanding of customer’s priorities or their ability to meet customer’s needs.

- Set goals for service improvement and monitor progress against a customer satisfaction index.

- Benchmark the company’s performance against that of other organisations.

- Increase profits through improved customer loyalty and retention.

The starting point for any project is to set objectives and plan detailed critical path for the exercise. The first stage of the proper research is to clarify with customers exactly what their requirements and supplier selection criteria are so that an appropriate questionnaire, which asks the right questions to be designed. This is done through exploratory research using focus groups or one-to-one depth interviews. The customers’ most important requirements, as stated by themselves, must form the basis for a customer satisfaction measurement (CSM) questionnaire and not assumptions made in-house about what the staff thinks that might be important to customers.