Measuring Customer Satisfaction

This tutorial is an excerpt from our Call Center Best Practices Report - Operations Edition.  240 centers from over 50 countries contributed best practices and lessons learned to the 2004 study.

Why is measuring customer satisfaction important?

Measuring and analyzing customer satisfaction is an essential component in providing excellent customer service.  Companies that practice customer relationship management place a high priority on customer satisfaction and managing customer relationships.

In fact, nearly 55% of the participants in the 2004 best practices study named customer service as their call center funciton (see Figure 1).  This is an increase from 45% in the 2001 study and proves that more and more call centers are beginning to view customer service as a critical component for business success.

How to measure customer satisfaction

According to study participants, independent surveys are the primary method for collecting customer satisfaction data, with nearly 35% of the respondents using this method (see Figure 2).  Customer satisfaction can be measured by using either an internal service measurement department or an independent survey company. 

Please note that the customer satisfaction evaluations should be separate from any quality monitoring done in your call center.  With independent surveys, you will gather information from the customers themselves without having to "interpret" whether or not the customers were satisfied with the service via call monitoring.  Most customers will not take the initiative to complain to the agent.  Instead, they will tell their friends and co-workers how good or bad their experience was.  By offering them an independent survey to comment on their experience, customers have the opportunity to voice their opinions and you can assure them that any problems encountered will be addressed immediately.  This will work well to maintain their loyalty and avoid losing your customers to competitors.

Questions to ask customers

The five most important questions that study participants said they asked their customers were, in rank order:

1. Was a resolution or answer provided?
    
   • Did you get the information you needed?
      
   • Did we meet your needs?
      
   • Was the problem fixed to your satisfaction?
      
   • Was your questions answered on your first call?
      
   • Did the customer service representative (CSR) follow through?
      
2. Was the speed with which your call and question were answered acceptable?
    
   • Were there any delays (hold times, re-routes, etc.)?
      
   • Was it easy to establish contact?
      
   • Did you know how to reach us?
      
3. Was the call answered courteously?
    
   • Was the CSR respectful and polite?
      
   • Did the CSR behave professionally?
      
   • Did the CSR listen to you and try to understand your needs?
      
   • Did the CSR express a willingness to assist?
      
   • How was the quality of service you received?
      
4. Was the level of knowledge of the CSR satisfactory?
    
   • Were your expectations met?
      
   • Was the CSR helpful and did he/she give accurate or correct answers?
      
5. How do you rate your overall experience?
    
   • How was the inquiry handled?
      
   • Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
      
   • Would you recommend us to others or use our services again?

    

Measuring customer satisfaction in multi-media contact centers

It is important to remember that measuring customer satisfaction is critical for business success regardless of the media used for customer contact.  Technology is bringing new methods of customer service, including email and Web service, and with these new channels the task of evaluating customer service changes.  Measuring customer satisfaction for email is different than with online Web services.  Moreover, both measurement and processes for these new contact channels will be different than that used for voice transactions.  Be sure to tailor your customer satisfaction measurement techniques to fit your company's customer contact model.

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