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Unlocking
the value of your customer satisfaction surveys - Part 1:
Adherence To Measurement Principles
In today's business environment companies cannot afford to lose
a single profitable customer. By effectively leveraging results
from a customer satisfaction survey an organization can respond
to their customer's needs in ways that increase revenue as well
as improve customer and employee, satisfaction and loyalty. Many
companies perform customer satisfaction surveys, but don't
receive full value from their investments to administer the
program. Too often survey results are used simply for monthly
reporting on "how we did last month".
A few years ago I had the pleasure of being placed in charge of
a fast-paced and dynamic Customer Care organization. After
several weeks in my new role I was in my office enjoying the
challenges of my new position when one of my team-members
dropped off a stack of "thank you" letters for me to
sign. Upon receiving my signature these letters would be sent to
customers that had taken our most recent survey. The letters
stressed to the customer how much we appreciated the time they
invested in taking the survey, and our commitment to using the
information to improve the service we deliver to them. We had
been doing monthly reviews of the survey data, but something was
missing. The reality was that the organization was investing
resources in a process to perform customer satisfaction surveys
and not getting the maximum value possible. And, we were wasting
the time of our customers.
At a juncture like this, you have 2 choices: stop the survey
process (save your money and your customer's time) and throw the
thank you letters in the trash, or leverage the customer
satisfaction survey results as a catalyst for continuous
improvement. We selected option 2. Reaping the full benefits of
our survey program didn't happen overnight. We ultimately
implemented a very effective program that truly leveraged our
customer satisfaction survey information. I could again feel
comfortable with our investment in the program, and in the fact
that we were no longer wasting the time of our customers. Most
important of all was the fact that our overall customer
satisfaction ratings consistently improved.
In my experience the key elements to unlocking the value of
customer satisfaction surveys, include:
- Adherence to Measurement Principles
- Responding to immediate customer needs identified during the
survey process
- Implementing customer-focused changes
- Implementing account strategies
- Management review and assessment
Part 1 of "Unlocking the value of your customer
satisfaction surveys" will explore the topic of Measurement
Principles.
Measurement Principles:
Your adherence to the following principles, within your customer
satisfaction survey program, will place you where you want to be
in the eyes of your customer.
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You can't manage what you don't measure. Performing a
customer satisfaction survey program is step 1. If you are not
presently performing customer satisfaction surveys, there are
many reputable firms that can help you with this. I have worked
extensively with Development II, Inc., and highly recommend them
to assist you in this regard. To learn more about Development II
see their contact information at the end of this newsletter.
Assuming that you are measuring customer satisfaction, we will
now discuss the remaining principles for managing to this
critical metric.
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Any measurement that does not hold an individual
responsible is not an effective metric. While many companies
adhere to one element of the first measurement principle (that
of "measuring" customer satisfaction), managing to it
requires that an individual be held responsible for the customer
satisfaction metrics. For example; a customer satisfaction
survey program may be designed to produce feedback on customer
service, account management, billing, provisioning, etc. At the
end of the day, the managers of these organizations are
responsible for the customer satisfaction levels of their
respective areas. As such, they should be fully engaged in your
customer satisfaction survey program.
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No one should ever be held responsible for a measurement
that they cannot influence. Too often, customer-facing
personnel know that their firm is performing customer
satisfaction surveys, but they don't know what the customers are
saying in the survey results. This causes tremendous frustration
for the front-line personnel, because they want to know what
they can do to improve customer satisfaction. Your program
should be designed to include communications to your
customer-facing personnel so they know what they can do to
improve customer satisfaction.
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The importance of a measurement is determined by how high
in an organization it is consistently reviewed. Make no
mistake, business is about numbers. In my opinion, there are 2
sets of numbers that every company would do well to track and
manage to: 1) the financials, 2) customer satisfaction levels.
If executives of a corporation only care about the financial
indicators, that company has lost sight of their source of
revenue; the customer. To be truly successful companies must
include customer satisfaction results on their list of key
performance indicators that are reviewed by executive leadership
on a monthly basis.
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Every measurement must have clear unambiguous and rational
goals. After establishing a baseline, for its customer
satisfaction levels, a company must set measurable and
achievable goals in terms of where it wants to be. Firms
initially find that customers are totally satisfied in some
areas of performance, while not satisfied in others. Companies
typically focus their efforts only on areas of
dissatisfaction, which is an appropriate step upon initially
establishing a baseline. However, the customer satisfaction
survey program needs to pay attention to all areas. That is,
customer expectations are continuously changing. As such,
areas in which customers are satisfied today may turn into
areas of dissatisfaction, if a company doesn't remain
progressive.
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If a carrot and stick is not clear, for a measurement, it
will fall into disuse. Building upon each of the above
principles, it is not good enough to simply measure, manage to,
influence, promote visibility and set goals for customer
satisfaction results. Those personnel that can influence
customer satisfaction, directly or indirectly, must benefit from
reaching, and be impacted by missing, customer satisfaction
goals. To accomplish this management must ensure their
organization's compensation model is tied to customer
satisfaction levels. This could be in the form of annual
performance reviews in which merit increases would reflect
achievement of goals, or lack thereof. Alternatively, this could
occur through a bonus program that is administered on a monthly,
quarterly or annual basis.
Our next article, in the series “Unlocking the value of your
customer satisfaction surveys” will cover the topic of
responding to immediate customer needs identified during the
survey process. |
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