Customer Satisfaction Introduction Determining the ads and don’t of customer satisfaction should be regarded as an instrumental business practice. There should be nothing arbitrary about gathering information, and simply tracking numbers is a waste of time and effort. If an organization is not using good reliable data, then, most likely the organization is doomed to fall. According to James Evans and William Lindsay (201 1), “Meeting customer expectations (that Is, providing satisfiers) Is often considered the minimum required to stay In business” (p. 00). So sufficiently managing customers’ satisfaction is a big, big challenge. Identification of Best Practices As I searched the web, the library, and the text for sources of information, I found out that there is an abundance of literature dealing with measuring customer satisfaction. Best practices, in general, ranged from determining measurement schemes, to a list of characteristics which differentiate loyalty and satisfaction. I also found that there are many approaches and methods to consider.
So to Identify the best practices, I list the following notions from three main sources: 1). Go to the source. Get feedback from the customer by providing surveys, or make it possible for them to rate their experience from totally satisfied to totally dissatisfied. Use post- purchase evaluations either immediately or shortly after the sale (Simpson, 2013). 2). Design ways to contact customers directly. For example, third party agencies (telemarketing) can help compile and analyze perceptions in the form of customer feedback. 3). Customer complaints are a vital source of Information.
Dissatisfied customers are not always willing to participate In surveys, or rate their experience. Make it a point to track complaints by severity. Give the customer a call. Implement a plan for corrective action. Remember, simply tracking information and not using it, gets you nowhere (Simpson, 2013). 4). Results from gathered information must be reliable and actionable (Evans et. A’, 2011, p. 225). Pin-point what your organization is falling In, and why. In terms of service and product understand the customers’ expectations. Make the effort to ensure loyalty.
Do not confuse It with satisfaction. 5). Set company standards and implement procedures to greet customers on personal levels. Discern their purchases. Find out what they like, and why (Hayes, 1997). 6). Assess your competition by utilizing comparative data. Find out what other companies are offering. Make opportunities available for customers to compare your products (Evans et. AY, 2011). 7). Make it your business to know the reasons customers no longer do business with your organization. Conduct surveys that measure potential and former customers (Simpson, 2013).
Linkage to My Organization’s Practices My organization conducts periodic surveys, and measures customer satisfaction through the individuals who comprise our Business Relationship Management Team Brims). The Brims primary role is to interact with our customers on a frequent basis, and assist In evaluating performance and Importance from the customers’ quarterly, to rate their direct experience with our Benefit and Account Teams. These same scorecards are often used to introduce new services we may be implementing in the future.
My organization gains immense insight from these scorecards, but I wonder if we put the information to good use. However, our customers seem to like them. They help express their view-point in a documented sort of way. Recommendations for My Organization to Improve On I believe that all seven of the best practices listed above are great ideas to help my organization improve on measuring customer satisfaction. I wish that each employee was given a scorecard, so that internally we could rate satisfaction, Job importance, and performance.
This is something I have suggested, and have yet to receive an answer. Our Senior Management team is always looking for new approaches and methods to improve on customer satisfaction, but I happen to think that it would be a good idea to share these ideas more readily with employees. I also think that employees should be encouraged to offer their suggestions, and I will main hopeful that one day this will come about, as I believe that internal customer satisfaction is Just as important as external.
