Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction has always been an important part of running a business successfully. Whether you’re a small, family-owned business or a multi-national corporation, customer satisfaction will lead to long-term sales, brand loyalty, and a wealth of other benefits. In today’s hyper-connected world of social media, Internet forums, and review websites, the importance of customer satisfaction is hyper-charged, thanks in large part to the ability and frequency with which customers publicly provide feedback on products, services, and companies overall.

As a business, it is your responsibility to accurately and consistently measure customer satisfaction. Doing so will allow your business to maximize the benefits of satisfied customers while also tracking where and when customer satisfaction improvements need to be made.

The following are a few essential methods for measuring customer satisfaction:

Social media mentions and online reviews

The Internet can be a double-edged sword for businesses with regards to customer satisfaction. On one hand, negative feedback is often public. If the feedback “goes viral”, it can reach a large audience before your company has a chance to respond properly. On the other hand, the Internet also makes it possible to get feedback that you might not otherwise have seen, and to personally respond to it quickly and publicly.

Depending on your business, anything from Yelp to Google reviews can give customers and potential customers a snapshot of the type of customer service your company provides. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter give customers the opportunity to publicly mention your company in either a positive or negative light. Engaging with customers on social media platforms is an excellent way to bolster your company’s image and deal with questions or issues that customers are dealing with.

Repeat business rate

This metric can vary depending on your industry, type of product or service, and a number of other factors. However, understanding the rate at which customers offer repeat business can be a key indicator of the type of customer service you provide. It is important to track not only the raw rate, but also how that rate increases or decreases over time. An increasing rate indicates that you are doing things right, while a decreasing rate indicates the reverse. Spend time understanding the why behind the repeat business rate for more useful insights.

Surveys

There are few better methods for finding out how satisfied your customers are than to simply ask them. While it might not be possible to get a detailed response from every single customer, spot checks along with more frequent basic surveys can go a long way to understanding the thoughts of your customers.

There are several different ways you can survey your customers, including:

End of call survey

At the end of a sales, customer service, or technical support call, you can offer an end of call survey which is designed to ask key questions that identify the level of customer satisfaction. Having a professional call center that handles either the end of call survey (or perhaps even the primary call itself) can ensure positive and consistent reporting.

Email surveys

Email surveys can be effective as well. By offering “spot check” email surveys to a list of customers, you can get a more detailed understanding of what your customer is thinking and why.

To learn more about customer satisfaction metrics, or to find out how a professional call center can improve customer satisfaction, please contact MAP Communications at 888-252-6555.