2.3. Explain The Reasons For Customer Satisfaction Feedback
Customer satisfaction matters. It matters not only to the customer but even more so to the business because it directly impacts a company’s bottom-line profits. Furthermore, it is one of the most important components of a company’s positive brand image.
The reason why customer satisfaction directly affects bottom-line profitability is quite simple: it costs far less to retain a happy client than it does to find a new client. Businesses that have been successful in retaining the business of their loyal clients have shown over time to consistently increase profits from their installed client base. The impact of customer loyalty is impossible to overlook. This white paper will examine not only the significance of customer satisfaction, but also some of the factors that businesses need to consider in order to accurately define, measure, and integrate this concept into practice.
When used strategically, client satisfaction surveys or customer feedback and Voice of the Customer programs improve an organisation’s bottom line and help build customer loyalty. Unfortunately, few organisations implement solutions that allow them to capture, analyse and act to feedback in real-time across the enterprise.
The proper timing of customer satisfaction surveys depends on the type of product or service provided, the type and number of customers served, the longevity and frequency of customer/supplier interactions, and the intended use of the results.
Three very different approaches to measuring customer satisfaction exist. Each produces meaningful and useful results and is appropriate for different situations, uses, and needs.
1. Measuring Customer Satisfaction with Post Purchase Evaluations
Post-purchase evaluations reflect the satisfaction of the individual customer at the time of product or service delivery (or shortly thereafter).
This type of satisfaction survey is typically used as part of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and VOC (Voice of the Customer) systems. Each focuses on securing a long-term relationship with the individual customer.
2. Measuring Customer Satisfaction with Periodic Satisfaction Surveys
Periodic satisfaction surveys provide an occasional snapshot of customer experiences and expectations and are conducted for specific groups of consumers on a periodic basis.
3. Measuring Customer Satisfaction with Continuous Satisfaction Tracking
Continuous satisfaction tracking is often part of a management initiative to ensure quality is at high levels over time.
Benchmarking satisfaction as a NPS (Net Promoter Score) would be an example. You can base tracking on post-purchase evaluations or a succession of regular customer satisfaction surveys (conducted daily, monthly, quarterly, etc.).
Regardless of the approach, satisfaction surveys provide an understanding of customers’ expectations and satisfaction.
They usually have multiple questions that address satisfaction on many different levels, such as overall satisfaction, satisfaction with different service providers from the organisation, satisfaction with individual product and service attributes, and satisfaction with the benefits recorded as a result of the purchase.