ICMI's Customer Management Insight - September 2007 - (Page 40) EXPERT’S ANGLE Getting a Real Measure on Satisfaction BY JAY MINNUCCI Surveys alone do not reflect true customer satisfaction Have you noticed how you are seemingly bombarded with requests to fill out satisfaction surveys these days? They pop up in your email after a hotel stay; they come in over the phone after you’ve had your car serviced; and they dance across your screen while you’re trying to read a Web page. I’ve watched this take place over the past few years with a mixed reaction. On the one hand, I’m pleased to see customer satisfaction take a “front-and-center” position on the performance metric buffet — clearly, it’s long overdue. On the other hand, most of us are getting precious little value out of the exercise. Given the popularity of satisfaction surveys, it seems dangerous to be challenging their wisdom. The intent, in many cases, is terrific. I firmly believe that many service professionals want to know what customers really think and feel about the service they just received — and if you can get to it, the information is pure gold. The failure, though, comes in the execution. WHAT’S CAUSING THE PROBLEM? levels. Behavioral metrics hold the key to managing dissatisfaction. There are three main reasons why the information you get from these surveys is only vaguely reflective of true satisfaction levels: 1. The view of what constitutes a customer is much too narrow; 2. Evaluations are heavily slanted toward input rather than behavior; and 3. Some of you are manipulating the hell out of the data. Those three points lay the groundwork for a two-part article series. I’ll focus on the first two reasons in this article and, in Part 2, which will be published in the November issue, we’ll have some fun with those who are using the data for all the wrong reasons. Let’s keep in mind our goal here as we move forward — we truly want to know what the customer thinks and feels about our service (and possibly, our product). So if we are taking a random sample of customers and running a survey past them, how could our view be too narrow? Let’s think in terms of a retail operation first. Then we’ll turn our attention over to call centers. BREAKFAST AT CAFÉ QUEUE I was reminded of my “narrow view of the customer” theory the other day when I was on the road and stopped at my favorite chain café for a morning coffee and bagel. It was fairly busy when I arrived and, shortly thereafter, the queue grew even longer. I had my breakfast at a table near the front door and watched. In a 10-minute span, at least six potential customers, before stepping inside, either walked or drove away | SEPTEMBER 2007 icmi’s insight www.icmi.com 40 http://www.icmi.com
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