customer satisfaction surveys

Customer satisfaction is the state of mind that customers have about a company and its products or services when their expectations have been met or exceeded. This state reflects the lifetime of the product or service experience.

Customer satisfaction surveys are developed to provide an understanding of customers' expectations and satisfaction. Customer satisfaction surveys typically require multiple questions that address different dimensions of the satisfaction concept. Satisfaction measurement includes measures of overall satisfaction, satisfaction with individual product and service attributes, and satisfaction with the benefits of purchase.

The best approach to measuring customer satisfaction and building customer satisfaction surveys depends on the kind of product or service provided, the kinds of customers served, how many customers are served, the longevity and frequency of customer/supplier interactions, and what you intend to do with the results. Three very different approaches to customer satisfaction surveys produce meaningful and useful findings. All three approaches are helpful methods to obtain customer feedback for assessing overall accomplishments, degree of success, and areas for improvement.

• Post Purchase Evaluation
  Satisfaction feedback is obtained from the individual customer at the time of product or service delivery (or shortly afterwards). This type of satisfaction survey is typically used as part of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management System) and focuses on having a long term relationship with the individual customer
• Periodic Satisfaction Surveys
  Satisfaction feedback from groups of customers at periodic intervals to provide an occasional snapshot of customer experiences and expectations.
• Continuous Satisfaction Tracking
  Satisfaction feedback is obtained from the individual customer at the time of product or service delivery (or shortly afterwards). Satisfaction tracking surveys are often part of a management initiative to assure quality is at high levels over time.

Customer satisfaction usually leads to customer loyalty and product repurchase. But measuring satisfaction is not measuring loyalty. Typical satisfaction questions asked are:

• Overall, how satisfied are you with (brand name)?
• Would you recommend (brand name)?
• Do you intend to repurchase (brand name)?

Customer satisfaction survey questions can be asked in a number of different ways, focusing on different reference points:

• Expectations and their Confirmation or Disconfirmation (was worse, better than expected)
• Performance of the product or service
• Emotional measures of satisfaction (good feelings, bad feelings, happy, sad)
• Willingness to repeat behavior (assumes satisfaction)
• Direct measures of overall satisfaction

In addition, the scales used in customer satisfaction surveys vary from a simple 5 point "Very Satisfied to Not at all Satisfied" scale to graphical scales targeted at special groups such as children (smiling faces scale).

Our Voice of the Customer (VOC) monitoring system allows data integration to any CRM solution. We have experience working with Siebel, Microsoft, People Soft, etc. Customer satisfaction surveys can be sent automatically and on a continual basis with no human interaction. Sophisticated customer tracking and text piping options may be used to customize and pre-populate the questionnaires based on the individual's CRM or account information.

Our clients are using the VOC system to send automatic customer satisfaction surveys to their customers after they use a help desk, make an online purchase, or register a new product. These surveys are personally addressed to the individual while asking specific questions based on the customer's recent purchase or request. In the chance of the customer being extremely dissatisfied with a process or purchase, our clients can access or receive via email a copy of all dissatisfactory surveys. Customer feedback is sent immediately via email to a designated individual inside the organization for timely follow up and quality control.

Our VOC integrates customer satisfaction surveys with needs analysis to fix gaps in the competitive environment. For more information about our customer satisfaction survey solutions, please contact one of our project consultants.