Do firms need a customer satisfaction survey and
a customer satisfaction index?
Many companies think that they have fantastic
products and services. Do they ever consider if
their customers and prospective customers percep-
tions are similar? Major hotels and restaurants
solicit our feedback on the quality of their ser-
vices and food they offer. Other companies market-
ing planners meet on a regular basis, hold focus
groups and involve in other activities trying to
track and monitor the ever changing profile of 
their customers and prospects. Smart firms not
only spend millions of dollars on promotional
activities in order to inform and get customers
to buy their products, but also realize that 
they must also spend a fair amount of time and 
energy and funds to evaluate and improve their
products and services. To do this you must put
in place systems for communicating with your cus-
tomer- interactive, personalizing your customer
service programs and measure customer satisfaction.

If your product or service is difficult to 
differentiate from your competitors, pleasing
and retaining valued customers become more 
difficult and challenging. Your guts feeling
is not good enough. As retailers you need to 
maintain current customer profiles and keep
track of customers buying habits and prefer-
ences, complaints and praises.

Excellent customer service is a plus but it goes
further. It is good to train your staff to be both
product and customer oriented, but that alone will
not be very effective. Customer service is not the
same as customer satisfaction, and customer satisf-
action does not mean loyalty. In the auto industry
customer satisfaction scores average around 80-85
percent, while re-purchase rate is less than 50 
percent. What does this say about their present mar-
keting efforts? Are they convincing the other 50 to
use their competitors?

How can you solicit customer feedback? There are many
ways. Here are some of the most popular methods.
1. Customer survey - Get customers and potential cus-
tomers and non users to fill out questionnaires about
your products and services. Of course this involve a lot
more in planning the survey instruments - objectives,
sampling, methodology, data gathering and analysis. I
am also referring to on-line surveys. 
2. Telephone polls - Rate and group customer responses
over the phone.
3. Focus groups - Bring together small groups of people
10-12 in numbers fitting your target market in an unstr-
uctured, free flowing interview. In this setting you 
need a very skillful and experience moderator.
4. Product sampling - Give samples of your product to
potential customers and pass on to current customers new
and improved products.
5. Mystery shoppers - Researchers disguised as shoppers.
These shoppers typically have a check list of items they
look for in the service or product. Retailers, Hotels,
and Airlines use mystery shoppers to check levels of ser-
vice and how well procedures are followed.

Some of the things we want to find out are, what about our
products and services that attract existing customers? 
What is it they dislike? Why are they not regular cust-
omers and why they shop at the competition and which one.
It is said that most customers with problems do not com-
plain, they just take their business else where and will
in the process tell other people. According to Sheila
Kessler, "If you are not measuring it you can't manage it".

Building good relationship and developing loyalty with your
customers is the key to profitable and successful business.
Remember the general rule of thumb. 80% of your sales is
generally derived from 20% of your customers. This is not 
applicable in all situation. It varies from industry to ind-
ustry.

There is a lot of competition out there, and according to
the American Customer Satisfaction index, which measures
and reports the attitude of purchase of products or ser-
vices in different industries, people want better prod-
ucts and more service, yet firms continue to disappoint
their customers. Customers who do not see price as a 
primary concern want "high touch" or the "WOW" exper-
ience - particular items or service that really deligh-
ed them. You need to know these factors in order to
manage your satisfaction strategies.

A customer satisfaction index(CSI) is a number that
gives the best estimate of how well you are doing in
satisfying your core value customers. The CSI is done at
least once a year focusing on service and products
characteristics that are the drivers for customer sati-
sfaction. CSI is no panacea. There are benefits to be
derived as long as it does not become an end instead
of a means to more happier and loyal customers.
Customer satisfaction surveys from which the CSI is
obtained are tools for forward thinking firms. 
A Customer Satisfaction System is not difficult to
create and implement. When done properly you will quickly
see the result in more sales and profits.
I am more than happy to assist you in creating this power-
ful tool in your business. 
 

Lost Customer Survey Article