Why should you measure customer satisfaction?

Unsatisfied customers might be costing your business more than what you realize. In today’s digital day and age when a single negative review posted on Facebook, Yelp or Google can wreak havoc on a company’s reputation, businesses need to put the customer experience front and centre.

In fact, 80 per cent of people will not purchase from or partner with a company that has negative online reviews. Furthermore, customers are three times more likely to tell their friends and family about a negative experience. Unsatisfied customers cost companies $537 trillion annually!

Not only do unsatisfied customers cost companies lost sales and revenue, but they also cost companies lost opportunities for future sales and new business. For example, 51 per cent of customers switched companies due to poor experience.

It’s more important than ever to pay close attention to each and every customer who walks through your door or engages with your brand every day. Keeping customers happy has always been a top priority for businesses, but today a negative review spreads like wildfire.

So, what are the best ways to do this?

Read on for the best ways to measure customer satisfaction.

1. Set goals and a plan.

It may seem obvious, but the first place to start measuring customer feedback is to make a plan. It’s important for companies to set goals related to customer satisfaction. You know your company needs to monitor customer feedback, but it’s important to take a step back and think the process through.

Consider asking some of the following questions: How will you collect customer feedback? What questions will you ask customers? What will you do with the information?

Once you have established a game plan, the next step is to set goals. Remember, goals should be measurable. For example, you may set a goal to increase customer satisfaction levels by 20 per cent by the end of Quarter 1.

Taking the time to set goals and to create a plan of action can help companies take the first step to gather and measuring customer satisfaction.

2. Build a customer survey.

One of the most effective ways to collect and analyze customer feedback is to create a customer survey. Although it may seem simple, quality customer survey results has everything to do with asking customers quality questions, and at the right time.

For example, according to HubSpot, the best time to send a customer a survey is after a key milestone or stage in the buyer journey has been completed. This could be after a customer makes a purchase or completes the onboarding process. Some companies also send customers surveys six months into their subscription.

There are a number of customer survey tools that businesses can use to dispatch surveys to customers—via email or directly in a store—that collect customer responses and analyze results and scores. Have a look at our VoC software and customer survey software for some options.

One of the most straightforward methods to collect and measure customer feedback is The Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS has become a standard metric used in many business’ customer improvements and customer retention programs all over the world.

NPS is measured and calculated based on the following:

• Promoters (score 9-10) – Loyal customers and brand enthusiasts; most likely to make a future purchase and refer your brand to others
• Passives (score 7-8) – Generally satisfied customers; may be less enthusiastic than Promoters and are more likely to be persuaded by other competitive offers
• Detractors (score 0-6) – Dissatisfied customers who had unpleasant experiences; most likely to leave negative reviews online or warn their families or friends. These customers are dangerous to your overall reputation and can hinder future business growth.

NPS is calculated by subtracting the per cent of Detractors from the per cent of Promoters. A positive NPS (over 0) is considered a good score. We consider a score of over 50 excellent.

3. Adopt technology.

Technology makes many operations and tasks easier, particularly for businesses. For example, technology has enabled sales and marketing teams to learn about who their customers are, their interests, their goals and their pain points and biggest challenges.

As a result, technology has enabled companies to quickly and accurately gather information about their customers and target audience rather than asking for information in a traditional sense.

The same goes for measuring customer feedback. There are a number of tools and applications available to help you monitor and measure customer feedback—and in real-time. Investing and adopting technology can provide companies with immediate feedback from customers as it happens. This allows sales and marketing teams to address customer concerns—if any—offer better solutions, identify upsell opportunities, and make more informed decisions easier than ever.

4. Make adjustments.

Once businesses and teams analyze the results from customer surveys, it’s time to put that data into action. After all, large amounts of data are only as valuable as what and how teams act on it.

For example, if your NPS results show a score of over 50, then congratulations on a job well done! However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to take any action. Forward-thinking companies with high customer satisfaction levels and NPS scores still put their data and analyses to work. As mentioned above, sales and marketing teams can identify upsell opportunities, and simply giving customers more of what they love.

On the other hand, if your NPS score results show that your customers are more Detractors rather than Passives or Promoters, then you may need to invest more time and resources into learning more about why customers are so dissatisfied with your product(s), and/ or service(s), and what you can do to fix that and improve their experiences. You can also work with your internal teams to build continuous improvement plans, such as more in-depth quality assurance processes or implement other types of advocacy programs.

Regardless of your NPS score, what matters most is what you do with it.

5. Offer better solutions.

We have only begun to see the cusp of customized customer experience. The need and drive for customized solutions is expected to be bigger than ever in 2018. Therefore, companies that understand their roles within their market, and the specific needs they are fulfilling are going to be in a better position to deliver a high-quality product and service that propels them far ahead of the competition.

Companies that have a better understanding of their overall customer satisfaction levels—or NPS scores—will also be in a better position to offer better and more customized solutions and make more informed decisions.

To sum it up: Keeping customers front and centre

All in all, successful businesses know that customers are the heart of their success. Keeping customers front and center builds a solid foundation for any business. By investing the time, energy, and resources into a CSAT survey tool, you are also investing in your company’s value proposition and vision.

If you are interested in adopting technology, such as a customer feedback tool, Netigate offers a number of solutions, such as customer surveys, customer service questionnaires, and a Customer Feedback Station.

Find out what your customers really think with Netigate.