Module 1 - The importance of measuring customer
satisfaction
Centerserve's Learning Center is excited to launch a
new tutorial series on measuring customer satisfaction.
This tutorial series pulls from Centerserve's
research-based e-toolkits and best practices reports,
including Centerserve's most recent report,
2010
Benchmarks in Call Center Operations. Module 1
explains why customer satisfaction surveys are a sound
business strategy. Module 2 will provide
guidelines for how to accurately measure customer
satisfaction. Module 3 will explain how to report
customer satisfaction survey results. Finally,
Module 4 will focus on setting and achieving customer
satisfaction goals.
Are you currently measuring customer
satisfaction in your call center?
- If not, this tutorial will help you
build a case for why you should collect this
crucial data.
- If you are, do you know all of the
possible benefits from the collected data?
This tutorial provides
important information
regarding customer satisfaction metrics,
including:
- Business reasons for measuring
customer satisfaction
- Benefits you should be realizing
from customer satisfaction data
- Risks of not acting on
customer satisfaction survey results
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Why conduct customer satisfaction surveys? The
numbers say it all.
Nearly 29% of the
participants in Centerserve's 2010 best practices study
named customer service as their primary function (see
Figure 1). This is a decrease from all previous
best practice studies conducted by Centerserve.
In the 2001 study, 45% of
participants reported customer service as the primary
function of their call center, 55% in the 2004 study and
63% in the 2008 study.
Despite the decrease, call centers are often a
customer's first and ongoing point of contact with your
company. It can be argued that each of the functions
involves customer interaction and an opportunity to
increase customer satisfaction.
Figure 1 - Primary functions of call
center 2010 study participants
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Why measuring customer satisfaction is a sound
business strategy:
Measuring and analyzing customer satisfaction has
become an essential component in providing excellent
customer service. With more and more emphasis
being placed on managing customer relationships,
conducting customer satisfaction surveys are most
definitely a sound business
strategy. Here's why:
-
It is expensive to win new customers, and
customer retention
is critical for business success.
-
It is less expensive
to sell additional products and services to
existing, satisfied customers. Listening
to what is important to this segment is
essential.
-
Problems encountered by customers negatively
impact their loyalty.
If they are disappointed with the service, they
may start looking for alternatives.
-
The customer contact center has significant
impact on customer loyalty, and in many
businesses the call center has more
contact with the customer
than any other part of the business.
-
Most customers will not take the
initiative to
complain. They will not tell you,
they will tell their
friends and co-workers how good or bad your
service was.
-
Word-of-mouth
is the best and least expensive form of
advertising and customers are much more likely
to tell others about negative experiences than
positive experiences.
Outcomes of measuring customer satisfaction
Measuring customer satisfaction provides you with
valuable information
from the one group that is most critical to your
business success - your customers. If customer
satisfaction surveys are conducted accurately, you
should be able to discover the following
key insights:
-
Specific areas where customer service
improvements
are necessary
-
Expectations
of your customers regarding customer service
-
Specific reasons for customer
dissatisfaction
-
How to improve
retention of existing customers
-
How to make customers feel
valued
-
Missed opportunities
to demonstrate your capacity to solve problems
and win back customers' confidence
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How to improve your
competitive position in the
marketplace
-
Where to spend your
improvement dollars to promote
customer satisfaction and customer loyalty
-
How to generate
additional revenue through
cross-selling and up selling
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Costs of NOT using customer satisfaction data to
make call center improvements
Even though your call center may be collecting
customer satisfaction data, are you acting on the
results to make necessary
improvements to your customer service?
There are several risks and costs associated with not
using this data effectively, including the following:
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