Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Best practices for measuring customer satisfaction? Is it upper level management, hired consultants, surveys, or reactions to industry swing? So many choices but what really is a best practice. Customer satisfaction programs, research, employee satisfaction, and personal experience all play a role in measuring customer satisfaction. Even when using those practices it takes effort and continuous improvement to stand a chance on improving customer engagement and satisfaction. Hopefully these next few paragraphs can add some insight on measuring results.

The problem companies face, is exactly how to and do it well. Companies need to understand how to quantify, measure and track customer satisfaction. Without a clear and accurate sense of what needs to be measured and how to collect, analyze and use the data as a major strategic focus to achieve business success, no firm can be effective in satisfying customer to drive business. Plans must be constructed using customer satisfaction research results and design a strategy that target customers and/or processes that add to the bottom line. The last thing a company should do is not take action, there is collateral damage in asking (resources and time) customers about a service or product if it won't or can't be changed. What are some of the ways to measure customer satisfaction.

One used quite frequently because of the associated low cost is using outdated and unreliable measures of customer satisfaction. The data is already available but the trap of seeing volume decline then base lost volume on the rationalization of sales reps or upper management ultimately leads to a dead end. Another way is to track and count the frequency of complaints and try to find the trends of the complaints and act on those leaving the other to continue. Eventually, realize those unhappy customers pay as late as possible or if at all. Another process is questionnaires or surveys. One downfall on questions is you tend to lump average outcomes (product quality, pricing, etc.) with non-average issues (perception, attitudes, and expectations). There are few others best practices we will not elaborate such as employee satisfaction models, relationship models, and marketing models. A major flaw with any MCS model is too many companies rely on a few measurements that never tell the whole story or too much information that will never be used. Until recently, this was the case at Waste Management.

Waste Management uses a three-tier method to measure customer satisfaction. First we use J.D. Power to measure customer satisfaction. We strive for 55% of survey responses say they will definitely recommend use to someone else. We use this because a very satisfied customer is six times more likely to recommend than a customer who at the very least is just satisfied. The next measurement is with our retention department. This department makes phone calls twice a year to our core customers