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Measureing Customer Satisfaction

In: Business and Management

Submitted By robsoto
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Introduction Most organizations will make the claim that customer service and customer satisfaction are a priority. However few organizations today have a system in place to ensure that they are delivering ultimate satisfaction to their customers. Delivering great customer service and providing ultimate satisfaction takes both understanding what your customers want and a way to see that they receive it (Why and How to Measure Customer Satisfaction). As a result, the market for customer satisfaction research continues to grow. I will be identifying the best practice of customer satisfaction measurement, make linkage to my organizations practices and finally make recommendations for improvement.

Identification of Best Practices Customer satisfaction can be directly linked to the bottom line of any organization. Customer wants and needs drive competitive advantage, and statistics show that growth in market share and financial success are strongly correlated with customer satisfaction (Evans). Several methodological approaches are used in order to define, measure and analyze customer satisfaction (Evangelos). The best practices of gathering such information include surveys, focus groups and Internet monitoring.
Surveys
Surveys are some of the easiest practices of gathering customer likes and dislikes. Without interruption, the surveys provide an effective way for customers to communicate with the organization. The communicated data is valuable in that the organization is obtaining it directly from the customer. In addition to the quality of the data, surveys also provide a larger quantity of data. They allow for organizations to reach a much larger customer base than some of the other methods. The larger quantity of data is useful in identifying customer satisfaction trends. This is helpful when dealing with differing segments or geographical regions that can have differing likes and dislikes.
Focus Groups Customer focus groups are another method that organizations utilize to measure customer satisfaction. Focus groups, also known as extended groups, are defined as a small number of people, both customer and non-customer, that are brought together to focus on a specific product or topic (focus). The data is qualitative in nature, helping to identify customer preferences and opinions. The focus group answers questions in regards to the organizations service and products as well as that of the organizations competitors. Unlike surveys, the focus group is present during questioning which allows for the organization to drill down into specific issues as well as to seek ideas for growth or product development (customer). Focus groups are most powerful when they precede surveys, helping to identify the best questions to ask. A negative to such research is the associated cost of bringing a focus group together.
Internet Monitoring Technology, more specifically the Internet, has provided the opportunity for organizations to get customer satisfaction results faster and from a much larger market. The networking power of the Internet can make or break an organization. Customers can quickly spread the positive as well as the negative of an organizations product or service. Organizations can now monitor online discussions concerning customer satisfaction. Internet monitoring in itself is a combination of surveys and focus groups, giving organizations direct access to the results. Additionally, Internet can be used to also resolve or promote topic of concern as they develop. Organizations also stand to gain insight from the same discussion groups involving their competitors. Lastly, Internet monitoring provides the best return on investment, as it is fairly cheap in comparison to the other methods of customer satisfaction research.

My Organizational Linkage The organization I work continues to do an excellent job in researching customer satisfaction. Our priority remains to deliver to our customers a satisfying quality service. Our mission, vision and organizational goals are centered on the needs and wants of our customers. Surveys, focus groups and Internet monitoring are all used in researching customer satisfaction. Exit surveys are made available after each contact with a customer, be it online or over the phone. Customers are asked to provide their opinion on the immediate service they just received. In addition, they are able to provide overall feedback on the organization as a whole. The survey results are all monitored and customers are contacted with resolution as needed. In regards to focus groups, my organization is among the best. Prior to highly impacting decision being made, our customers and the public are invited to board meetings to allow for them to voice their concern on the proposed changes. Rarely are large changes made without first seeking out the opinion and concern of our customers. The meetings allows for my organization to hear our customers concerns first hand. Internet monitoring is quickly moving from an exciter to a satisfier in the utility industry. My organization has fully entered the social media world of technology. We have staffed employees whose job it is to monitor our social media accounts, responding in real time to customer concerns. Customers who post concerns are immediately addressed, providing them an immediate response or directing them to the proper source for resolution. Social networking has placed my organization in place to maintain our level of quality by responding real time to customer likes and dislikes.

Recommendations The sole recommendation I would have for my organization in regards to customer satisfaction would involve education. My experience has been that many of the dislikes of my organization are centered on customer’s lack of knowledge. It is my opinion that many of the dislikes could be avoided had the customer been educated in some of our business practices.

References

Customer Focus Groups. (n.d.). Customer Focus Groups.
Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.insyncsurveys.com.au/surveys-consulting/customer-surveys-consulting/customer-focus-groups/

Evangelos Grigoroudis, Yannis Siskos, Olivier Saurais, TELOS: a customer satisfaction evaluation software, Computers & Operations Research, Volume 27, Issues 7–8, June 2000, Pages 799-817, ISSN 0305-0548, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0548(99)00119-7. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305054899001197

Evans, J., & Lindsay, W. (2011). Focusing on Customers. Managing for Quality Performance Excellence (8th ed., p. 193). Mason: Joe Sabatino.

focus group. (n.d.). BusinessDictionary.com.
Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/focus-group.html

http://www.nbrii.com/customer-survey-white-papers/why-and-how-to-measure- customer-satisfaction/

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