Customer satisfaction is a critical concept for customer success professionals to understand and live by, and is actually more than just a money-back guarantee. In this article, we will discuss customer satisfaction: what it is and why it is important for companies to consider using it as part of their culture.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a measure used to quantify the degree to which a customer is pleased with a product, service or experience. This measure is typically determined by deploying a Customer Satisfaction Survey, which asks on a five or seven-point scale how the consumer feels about a service encountered, purchase, or overall customer experience, with responses between "extremely unsatisfied" and "highly satisfied" to pick from.
When it comes down to that, customer satisfaction is a reflection of how the customer feels about interacting with your brand. Businesses and companies measure this positive or bad feeling mainly through consumer loyalty surveys.
Satisfactions surveys can be found both in digital and written format. They can be self-serviced (as the mentioned forms) or applied by a team member or specialized company in person or over the phone. A common example would be hotels that send them to guests after their stay in order to share their overall experience. This way, the hotels could improve their services and try to make as many guests as possible happy.
Why would someone need them? Well, if we don’t measure customer satisfaction, we cannot identify unsatisfied customers who could churn or leave us with negative customer reviews. Nor can we identify happy customers that we could activate as evangelists or referrers. Finally, without analytical metrics, we cannot predict or prevent the client from planning proactively.
A (very) big part of the unsatisfied clients do not think about what is bothering them until they are told to do so. Research shows that over 95 per cent of unhappy customers will not complain, but over 90 per cent will leave without saying anything (and never come back!). So, showing your customers that you know the problems and are already working on them will improve customer retention. In addition, having (and maintaining) happy customers improves the chances of repeat purchases and increases the value of your general customer's lifetime.
According to a recent study, organizations or businesses are more likely to have 10 % higher growth rates by measuring their Net Promoter Score. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey consists of a single question that measures the likelihood of your customers referring your business to others. This is a measure of customer service, consumer retention and brand loyalty. Responses to the NPS survey are used to generate scores from -100 to 100. Successful organizations often feel that retaining customers is more cost-effective than finding new customers.
Besides all that’s been already said, we will present a few more arguments to make you believe that customer satisfaction surveys are not only relevant but also helpful to companies of any scale:
· Maintain a good reputation
Surveys allow you to interact with your customers. Communicating with customers gives you the opportunity to show that you really care about what they think. In fact, if you make the improvements that they recommend in order to further enhance your product, consumers can take notice and have a greater understanding of your brand.
· Receive valuable feedback
Customer satisfaction survey questions and responses will provide your company input on any issues that your customers may have. You can set up survey questions to determine the level of satisfaction your customers gain from the products and/or services offered or leave open-ended questions to allow them to express their thoughts and to expand upon their answers. The suggestions they make can only highlight problems that you may not have been aware of and give you a chance to fix them. It can also help you determine what's going to be successful and capitalize on it.
· Retain customers
If your customers are satisfied with the products and services they receive, they are much more motivated to stick with your business. If the results of the Customer Satisfaction Survey show that your customers are not satisfied with the service they receive, they can just jump ship and head directly to your competition.
Customer loyalty, as they claim, cannot be paid, it must be won. According to report, in the US, companies will lose up to 45 per cent of their customer value if they are not happy with the customer service or do not provide the desired result.
· Get more advertised
Despite all the social media platforms and new technology, nothing beats a good old- fashioned word-of -mouth recommendation from a reliable source. If your customers are happy with your service, they're more likely to recommend you to their friends. Surveys offer a way to figure out how happy your clients are and what you can do to keep them that way for long.
· Drive sales
People are much more confident with companies that are honest about their activity/situation. Being transparent with customer feedback is one way to show potential consumers that your brand is open to communication and that its values customer input. This way, your business could be seen as something that is worth spending money on.
To sum it up, the ultimate aim of every satisfaction survey is to gain constructive feedback from the customer that can be used to enhance the ultimate customer experience (and thus, their loyalty).
We live in a highly dynamic, physical environment. Many of the best businesses in the world are highly focused on delivering the best consumer service they can, concentrating not just on satisfying the customer's needs, but also on surpassing them.
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