Monitoring Satisfaction
Many companies are systematically measuring how well they treat customers, identifying the factors shaping satisfaction, and changing operations and marketing as a result.
A highly satisfied customer generally stays loyal longer, buys more as the company introduces new and upgraded products, talks favorably to others about the company and its products, pays less attention to competing brands and is less sensitive to price, offers product or service ideas to the company, and costs less to serve than new customers because transactions can become routine.
The link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is not proportional, however.
Suppose customer satisfaction is rated on a scale from 1 to 5. At a very low level of satisfaction (level 1), customers are likely to abandon the company and even bad-mouth it.
At levels 2 to 4, customers are fairly satisfied but still find it easy to switch to better offers.
At level 5, the customer is very likely to repurchase and even spread good word of mouth about the company.
High satisfaction or delight creates an emotional bond with the brand or company, not just a rational preference.
Yet customers define good performance differently.
Good delivery could mean early de-livery, on-time delivery, or order completeness, and two customers can report being “highly satisfied” for different reasons.
One may be easily satisfied most of the time, and the other might be hard to please but was pleased on this occasion. It is also important to know how satisfied customers are with competitors in order to assess “share of wallet” or how much of the customer’s spending the company’s brand enjoys:
The more highly the consumer ranks the company’s brand in terms of satisfaction and loyalty, the more the customer is likely to spend on the brand.
Companies use a variety of methods to measure customer satisfaction. “Net Promoter and Customer Satisfaction” describes why some companies believe one well-designed question is all that is necessary to assess customer satisfaction.
How to recover goodwill after negative experience?
The following practices can help to recover customer goodwill after a negative experience.
- Set up a seven-day, 24-hour toll-free hotline (by phone, fax, or e-mail) to receive and act on complaints—make it easy for the customer to complain.
- Contact the complaining customer as quickly as possible. The slower the response, the more dis-satisfaction may grow and lead to negative word of mouth.
- Accept responsibility for the customer’s disappointment; don’t blame the customer.
- Use friendly, empathic customer service people.
- Resolve the complaint swiftly and to the customer’s satisfaction. Some complaining customers are looking for a sign that the company cares, not for compensation.
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