Customer satisfaction analysis

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A customer satisfaction analysis is used to determine the satisfaction of customers with a company's products or services. It is used by many companies as an instrument to better understand the needs and expectations of their customers and to identify problems early on.

Definition of terms

Customer satisfaction is formed when the customer's comparison between their expectations and the degree of fulfillment or the subjectively perceived performance is positive, that is, when their expectations have been exceeded. If this comparison turns out negative, customer dissatisfaction arises. Customer dissatisfaction can lead to a change of provider if there are alternative offers from other providers that are acceptable to the customer.

For customer satisfaction and its analysis , it is not only the objective quality (of a product or service ) that plays a role, but also the quality or performance subjectively perceived by the customer.

The customer satisfaction analysis is based on customer surveys in which customers comment on and evaluate an object to be surveyed (such as a product, a company, a service). Following the customer survey, the customer reviews are subjected to a satisfaction analysis (possibly by determining indices ).

The customers surveyed for the customer satisfaction analysis can be consumers (B2C: business-to-consumer ) or companies (B2B: business-to-business ).

reasons

Customer satisfaction analyzes are carried out by companies because:

  • satisfied customers usually come back and buy more,
  • satisfied customers tell others about their positive experiences ( word of mouth ),
  • Satisfied customers would even be willing to pay a premium price for the products or services of a shop or supplier they trust .

aims

The goals of a customer satisfaction analysis can vary depending on the industry, customer type or individual corporate strategy . In general, it serves u. a .:

Components / procedure

There are six different components and questions that must be clarified within a customer satisfaction program or that determine how a customer satisfaction analysis should be proceeded:

1. Who should be interviewed?

The person who buys the product, who consumes it ( B2C ) or who makes the purchasing decisions ( B2B )? Do you want to include potential or lost, churned customers?

2. What should be measured to determine how the performance of a company, product or service is assessed and how it can improve?

General questions are asked (for example, to determine the overall satisfaction of the customers with the product, service or company, the likelihood of a recommendation or repurchase) as well as specific questions (for example, satisfaction with company employees - professional appearance, friendliness , Competence, service orientation; satisfaction with the product - product quality, product design, product range; satisfaction with delivery - delivery times, delivery reliability; satisfaction with service - response time, processing time, handling of complaints, quality of advice, customer orientation, problem understanding). The content of the specific questions always depends on the industry and the company's area of ​​activity.

3. How should the survey be carried out?

Oral surveys with audio and video recordings , telephone surveys , written surveys (with paper questionnaires ) or online surveys are suitable, depending on the industry, product or service .

4. How should satisfaction be measured?

In the surveys, customers are asked open and closed, scaled questions . In the case of open questions, customers can describe their experiences in detail, and expressions such as “very satisfied”, “delighted”, “extremely enthusiastic” or “extremely dissatisfied” indicate their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. For closed questions, scales are used (for example from 1 = "very satisfied" to 5 = "very unsatisfied" or vice versa from 1 = "very unsatisfied" to 5 = "very satisfied", from 1 = "very good" to 10 = " very bad "or from 1 =" very bad "to 10 =" very good ").

In addition, the importance is determined by direct query using a scale or by statistical derivation by means of correlation , because companies should rather focus on the satisfaction level of the criteria that are important to the customers.

Another component of the measurement is the NPS (Net Promoter Score) , which is used to determine on a scale from 0 to 10 how likely the customer is to recommend the company, product or service. The 10 stands for "extremely likely", the 0 for "extremely unlikely". If the respondents decide for 9 or 10, they are among the so-called promoters, if they choose a number between 0 and 6, they are among the critics. Those who choose 7 or 8, as so-called “passive satisfied people”, are not considered when calculating the NPS. The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors (critics) from the percentage of promoters. (NPS =% promoters -% critics).

5. What do the measurement results obtained mean?

The measurement results obtained are used to determine a global customer satisfaction index. There is no generally applicable definition, but the index is determined differently depending on the industry and application ( B2C or B2B ). The index can e.g. For example, only the value for overall satisfaction or the two main parameters of overall satisfaction and recommendation or several criteria queried are included with a certain weighting.

The individual results for the queried criteria also provide information on the strengths and weaknesses of the company, product or service (e.g. on a scale from 1 to 10, an average value of over 8 means that the company is a market leader or a is an excellent supplier; averages of 7 and 8 indicate a good rating, but you should be careful not to fall down; averages below 7 indicate deficits). However, these evaluations should always be related to the meaning or importance .

6. How can customer satisfaction surveys be used to the greatest possible benefit?

The customer satisfaction index only represents a value at a certain point in time. It is important to follow the development of the index over time (through tracking studies or trend analyzes ). Competitive comparisons ( benchmarking ) also make sense, as the satisfaction index is also determined for products and services of competitors and strengths and weaknesses compared to the competition are highlighted.

If you continuously supply survey data in larger organizations, customer satisfaction is a fixed parameter in management's tools for development analysis, early detection and in the performance comparison of the individual business premises.

In general, after the analysis is complete, it is important to create action plans and catalogs of measures with the employees (e.g. in working groups and workshops ) that eliminate the weaknesses identified in the analysis and build on the strengths. Actions can be carried out at short notice, such as B. Send newsletters, improve the billing system or set up a hotline for technical information. In the long term, a general cultural change in the company may also be necessary, which is more difficult to implement. It is important to involve all employees and management in the action plans and implementation.

Areas of application

A customer satisfaction analysis can be carried out on a national and international level, B2B as well as B2C . Another variant is the analysis of "internal customer satisfaction" (determination of the satisfaction of internal customers, i.e. departments of a company are assessed by customers from other departments within the company). Many market research institutes and service providers have specialized in customer satisfaction analyzes in a wide variety of areas.

literature

  • Homburg, Ch. / Becker, A. / Hentschel, F. (2003): The connection between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, in: Bruhn, M./Homburg, CH. (Ed.): Handbook customer loyalty management - Basics - Concepts - Experiences, 3rd edition, Gabler, Wiesbaden, pp. 91-122.
  • Homburg, Christian (ed.): Customer satisfaction. Concepts - methods - experiences. 6th edition, Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006
  • Pepels, Werner: Lexicon of Market Research, DTV-Beck, 1997
  • Töpfer, Armin (Ed.): Measuring and increasing customer satisfaction, 3rd extended edition, Luchterhand 2002

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