Survey research
for business-to-business, retail, and other relationships in
business, libraries, museums, universities, government agencies, and other
enterprises; training workshops; consulting services; more.
SURVEYTOOLS
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Survey research
for business-to-business, retail, and other relationships in
business, libraries, museums, universities, government agencies, and other
enterprises; training workshops; consulting services; more. |
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|
It's not the score, it's what they say Measuring customer satisfaction implies taking a numeric measure of customer satisfaction. And that is part, but only an indicative part, of the story. The more meaningful part of the story is to listen to what customers say about what they like best about your business, what they like least about it, why they are not satisfied, and what one thing you could do to improve. When a customer rates your business an "8" on a scale of one to ten, what does that mean? And does one person's 8 mean the same as another's? Only by asking an open-ended follow-up question, responded to in the customer's own words, can you really get to know what the customer means by their quantitative, "hard" numeric score. And their verbal response is what we call the "heart of the artichoke." When a customer takes the time to write a response to an open-ended question, you have an obligation to read (or listen to) what that customer is saying. They are making the effort to tell you something, and after all, you asked the question. Not every response will be helpful, but most will. Furthermore, we have found that some of the best ideas come from only one person. So it may be a mistake simply to count up how many people have similar responses and give greater weight to the more popular responses. Particularly annoying may be the respondent who comes across as an "expert" in your business. Though sometimes sounding supercilious or condescending, they may have something important to share. So don't take any responses personally, and give everyone the benefit of the intent of good will. Thank each respondent for their contribution, if possible. And publicly post the responses to your survey. Try to implement the suggestions that make good business sense to you. This way, customers will know you heard them, and best of all, that you took their advice on how to increase their satisfaction. Subsequent surveys should reflect this. John R. Whitman Respond to: johnwhitman@surveytools.com
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Surveytools Corporation:
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