One of the main issues is around the fuzziness of the word "satisfaction." The measurement and strength of conviction will vary from customer to customer or even across departments and branches of the same company to be a meaningful benchmark. One experience which satisfies one customer might be meaningless to another.
Furthermore, some experts question whether you can measure levels of satisfaction and what they actually mean. Nick Wreden from FusionBrand asks “Does "somewhat satisfied" mean that we do a superlative job in most categories but a poor job in others, or does it mean that our performance is adequate in all areas? What does "90 percent of customers are satisfied" mean? That 10 percent of customers are impossible to please or that operations are not firing on all cylinders?”
The second issue relates to the methods used in the measurement of satisfaction. Think back to the last research survey you took part in. Online/postal response surveys usually have very low response rates and also have the major issue of self-selecting respondents. In other words, the only people who respond are people who have something to say, either good or bad. Either way, the response is often not representative of your overall client base and therefore cannot be a representative voice of your client base. Equally, if you are asking your customers face to face, the polite factor will come into play. Most customers will not say anything to your face which could be construed as either unconstructive or negative.
The final issue with customer satisfaction concerns the concept of value for money. Your customer is satisfied because they received what they perceived as good value for the price they paid but what is that price? What is good value for one person is an expensive experience for another dependent on a wide range of factors including their beliefs, other experiences good and bad, their levels of finance, their lifestyle, their ambitions and often the level of understanding of the product/service to name just a few factors.
"Even if your customers rate you with the highest level of “satisfaction”, they do not stay loyal to you."You are probably asking yourself whether this is true for you, so look at your own organisation. Just ask yourself whether your satisfied customers are 100% loyal. According to the Harvard Business Review, between 65 - 85 % of customers that chose a new supplier said that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their former supplier. So even if your customers rate you with the highest level of “satisfaction”, they do not stay loyal to you. So what can you do?
This is the million dollar question and it all comes down to knowing and understanding your customer. This is the fundamental principle behind all good marketing practice…what does your customer need and what do they want?
If you satisfy the need, you will by definition have “satisfied customers” but they are not “wowed customers”. They have received the product/service that they needed and more importantly, that they expected. But is that enough for them to consider it good value for money?
The bottom line is that your customers expected you to deliver a good product, which was fit for purpose, on time and at the correct price. This is how they are judging whether you are “satisfactory” but with this level of expected service you have not emotionally exceeded their expectations. To do this you need a wow factor which satisfies some of your customers’ wants. This is not a case of reducing queue lengths at the supermarket checkouts, which is expected. It is about providing individual rewards for loyal behaviour such as personalised loyalty card bonuses.
The message is simple. If you understand what your customers both Need and Want, you can look at adding in the important loyalty generating wow factor. By creating an emotional wow concept of “value for money” on top of the solid, reliable and expected base of a “satisfactory” product/service level you will keep your customers coming back time and time again.
Nicki Bury from Haybury Marketing is a specialist in educating small and medium sized businesses and organisations in accountable, measurable marketing techniques. For further information call 08450 757 756, email info@hayburymarketing.com or visit www.hayburymarketing.com for free marketing hints and tips.
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