Do you regularly gauge your customer satisfaction, especially if “customer intimacy” is your primary value proposition? Many large companies have formal customer satisfaction metrics and try to put a number on satisfaction, reporting on the percentage of customers who are satisfied.

“Satisfaction,” however, is a typical measurement term that’s not very compelling. A customer who is only “satisfied” rather than “highly loyal” or “thrilled” could easily defect.

It’s better to think in terms of loyalty & future intent: Are your customers loyal? Do they intend to continue buying from you? Will they recommend you to other prospects?

There are a number of ways you can measure these intentions; these exercises will help get you started.

DEFINE YOUR GOALS & PROCESS
Before you jump into a survey or mathematical analysis, make sure you have a strategy behind you.

• What exactly do you want to learn?
• What’s the best method for getting the information you need? Is it a formal survey, informal feedback, a mathematical analysis?
• How frequently will you update the measurements?

What exactly do you want to learn?
It’s better to focus on learning about intended actions rather than general feelings & opinions. For example, many customers will say they are satisfied, but “satisfied” may not be good enough to get them to purchase from you again. Instead, try to gather feedback that’s easier to act on, such as:

• Whether customers intend to purchase again
• Whether customers will refer other customers
• Who is dissatisfied and why
• Where you can improve
• How you can win their loyalty if you don’t have it

Start by generating a list of things you’d like to learn about your customers.
Select the most appropriate method for gathering this information.

Formal Customer Survey

• Used when you want completely honest feedback from a group of customers; when set up correctly, you can measure this feedback more precisely than informal, open-ended communications.
• Especially helpful when you want to gather customer feedback on an ongoing basis and track your performance over time.

Informal Feedback

• Used when you want feedback from a small group of customers --you’ll evaluate their responses on a one-by-one basis.
• If your questions are highly detailed and you want to probe for more information when you hear a certain response, you may be better off using this method.

Purchase Analysis

• Used when you have a large number of customers who buy regularly, typically through your website or a call center.
• In this method, you’ll estimate the average purchase frequency and money spent by a group of customers, then find those customers who are below the norm. These customers are “at risk,” and you can use their purchasing information to launch retention campaigns.

For more on measuring customer loyalty, contact us at 585-230-5765 or email
 
Sales@interpersonaldevelopment.com