Customer satisfaction is a term generally used to to measure a customer’s perception of a company’s products and services.
It’s not a straight forward science however, as customer satisfaction will vary from person to person, depending on a whole host of variables which may be both psychological and physical.
The challenge for companies in recent years has been to measure these perceptions.
Measurement usually makes use of a feedback survey of some kind. Customers are asked to respond to a set of questions or statements using a 4 or 5 point scale. The customer completes the survey by evaluating the service they have received in terms of their perception and expectations.
Companies can compare the completed surveys with previous surveys to see if they are improving or getting worse, or benchmark their satisfaction survey results with that of other companies.
The ultimate aim of measuring customer satisfaction must be to act on the information gathered, close the “gaps” between the customer’s perception of service and the actual service provided.
Recent thinking by leading customer service gurus such as Dr Ken Blanchard concludes that customers should not be merely satisfied they should be delighted.
That’s one more challenge for companies who claim to have achieved 100% customer satisfaction.
