What is Customer Satisfaction Survey?
The process of discovering whether or not a company's customers are happy or satisfied with the products or services received from the company. It May be conducted face to face, over the phone, via email or internet, or on handwritten forms. Customer answers to questions are then used to analyze whether or not changes need to be made in business operations to increase overall satisfaction of customers.
Why is Customer Survey Important to Your Business?
•Customer satisfaction surveys are important vehicles for enterprises, as they measure customer satisfaction, and therefore help to determine customer loyalty. However, with the advent of globalization and the Internet, today's customers expect more from the enterprise. For this reason, IT and LOB executives need to ensure customers are completely, not merely, satisfied to achieve competitive advantage in the marketplace.
•Historical data tracking is crucial in the customer satisfaction survey system. If an enterprise does not manage customer data, it cannot analyze responses over a given time, making it difficult to see if products, services, and/or support are improving, worsening, or remaining stagnant. IT and LOB executives should therefore design a database for question and response management, to monitor overall satisfaction as well as to observe satisfaction by sub-groups.
•Successful customer satisfaction surveys require clear and well-understood processes. This means that IT, LOB executives, and their employees need to set concrete and realistic objectives, and to understand different sampling, methodology, and design issues. Moreover, survey developers should understand customer satisfaction question creation, and how each question helps to attain the desired objectives
•In an era of high competition and expectations, customer satisfaction surveys are essential tools for listening to customers about their satisfaction levels, and for developing strategies for improvement. Now that quality has become a deciding factor in product selection for the customer, IT and LOB executives must leverage the customer relationship through customer satisfaction surveys. Knowing what customers think about the enterprise's product(s), service(s), and/or support, as well as their opinions of competitors' offerings, is crucial for survival.
•Consequently, the primary reasons for assessing customer satisfaction are to maximize customer retention, and to gain and build customer loyalty. It is important to realize that customer satisfaction does not equate to customer loyalty. Merely satisfied customers will switch to a competitor that will exceed their expectations, especially in a highly competitive market, within the blink of an eye. True competitive advantage therefore requires that customers are completely satisfied. In addition, it is important to inform customers that their opinions matter, and that their responses will instigate change within the organization.
There are a multitude of reasons as to why enterprises perform periodic studies of customer satisfaction. These include to:
•Demonstrate commitment to listening to customers.
•Enhance profits.
•Gain feedback from customers about products, services, and/or support, outside of what customers provide the sales force.
•Improve customer satisfaction and retention.
•Improve quality of service.
•Increase market share.
•Increase repeat business.
•Learn where the company stands in comparison with competitors.
•Measure and compensate the sales organization.
•Obtain information on product developments, priorities, and requirements.
•Obtain input on new products or services.
•Provide a way for unhappy customers to vent.
•Target resources on issues of concern to customers.
The process of discovering whether or not a company's customers are happy or satisfied with the products or services received from the company. It May be conducted face to face, over the phone, via email or internet, or on handwritten forms. Customer answers to questions are then used to analyze whether or not changes need to be made in business operations to increase overall satisfaction of customers.
Why is Customer Survey Important to Your Business?
•Customer satisfaction surveys are important vehicles for enterprises, as they measure customer satisfaction, and therefore help to determine customer loyalty. However, with the advent of globalization and the Internet, today's customers expect more from the enterprise. For this reason, IT and LOB executives need to ensure customers are completely, not merely, satisfied to achieve competitive advantage in the marketplace.
•Historical data tracking is crucial in the customer satisfaction survey system. If an enterprise does not manage customer data, it cannot analyze responses over a given time, making it difficult to see if products, services, and/or support are improving, worsening, or remaining stagnant. IT and LOB executives should therefore design a database for question and response management, to monitor overall satisfaction as well as to observe satisfaction by sub-groups.
•Successful customer satisfaction surveys require clear and well-understood processes. This means that IT, LOB executives, and their employees need to set concrete and realistic objectives, and to understand different sampling, methodology, and design issues. Moreover, survey developers should understand customer satisfaction question creation, and how each question helps to attain the desired objectives
•In an era of high competition and expectations, customer satisfaction surveys are essential tools for listening to customers about their satisfaction levels, and for developing strategies for improvement. Now that quality has become a deciding factor in product selection for the customer, IT and LOB executives must leverage the customer relationship through customer satisfaction surveys. Knowing what customers think about the enterprise's product(s), service(s), and/or support, as well as their opinions of competitors' offerings, is crucial for survival.
•Consequently, the primary reasons for assessing customer satisfaction are to maximize customer retention, and to gain and build customer loyalty. It is important to realize that customer satisfaction does not equate to customer loyalty. Merely satisfied customers will switch to a competitor that will exceed their expectations, especially in a highly competitive market, within the blink of an eye. True competitive advantage therefore requires that customers are completely satisfied. In addition, it is important to inform customers that their opinions matter, and that their responses will instigate change within the organization.
There are a multitude of reasons as to why enterprises perform periodic studies of customer satisfaction. These include to:
•Demonstrate commitment to listening to customers.
•Enhance profits.
•Gain feedback from customers about products, services, and/or support, outside of what customers provide the sales force.
•Improve customer satisfaction and retention.
•Improve quality of service.
•Increase market share.
•Increase repeat business.
•Learn where the company stands in comparison with competitors.
•Measure and compensate the sales organization.
•Obtain information on product developments, priorities, and requirements.
•Obtain input on new products or services.
•Provide a way for unhappy customers to vent.
•Target resources on issues of concern to customers.
Customer Survey
