The right customer satisfaction research can be a crucial component of any successful business. Measuring customer satisfaction can help you in both identifying and addressing a customer’s needs and requirements. Along with this, it can help foster a better relationship between company and customer, promoting loyalty and repeat business. Customer satisfaction research can measure how well a businesses’ services meet the expectations of a user and can therefore show if efforts to please are succeeding or not.
Customer satisfaction surveys can improve brand loyalty
Increased competition and crowded markets have meant that improving brand loyalty and customer satisfaction is now more important than ever. Some companies have previously been pre-occupied with balance sheets and profit margins, whilst ignoring the customer and how they can improve satisfaction.
Quantifiable data can help set goals
One of the key benefits of measuring customer satisfaction is that it provides management with quantifiable data, which can in turn be used to set performance related targets or goals. In other words, profit and turnover might be important, but customer’s opinions can be useful in evaluating what areas of a business might need improvement.
For example, some businesses might set a target of achieving fewer than 5 official complaints a month. As the survey can ask questions on anything, customers might be asked to rate how they found customer service or how likely they would be to recommend to a friend. The company can therefore use the data by setting goals such as achieving an 80% approval rate in a certain field. The data gained from the surveys can show management where they are doing well and where they need to improve.
Aside from quantifiable goals and targets, some information may arise that management was not previously aware of. Some important suggestions for making a more popular service can arise from consultations with customers.
Retain your customers
Returning customers are very important to any business. Not only does loyalty bring happy customers back for more, but it makes them more likely to recommend to a friend or relative. By measuring customer satisfaction, a further level of loyalty is fostered as customers feel valued when they are listened to and when their ideas are taken on board. It’s a two-way street because it helps both customer and business. Research suggests that getting new customers can cost up to 20 times the amount of retaining existing ones. This evidence shows precisely why customer satisfaction is so important.
Use the right research
Customer satisfaction research should be carried out by experienced professionals who know both how to ask the right questions, and how to evaluate the data. Many companies are relying on outdated or unreliable measures of customer satisfaction, such as the opinions of middle-managers (who might not be correct).
Along with correctly designed surveying tools, the results should also be used correctly. All staff members should be able to view the data and customers should be informed of any changes that have been made as a result of their answers. Customer satisfaction should be a key constituent of the overall goals of any company.
Measuring customer satisfaction is crucial for those running a modern business. Not only can managers learn and improve their business, but the right customer satisfaction research can help build a greater sense of customer loyalty.