Customer satisfaction isn't just a metric, it's a key performance indicator (KPI), and should be closely tied to strategy and organization goals. Support organizations tend to look at customer satisfaction as just-a-number or a score on their metrics chart. But customer satisfaction is fluid, which makes it difficult to measure accurately. It's easy to get caught up in the measurement process, without taking a closer look at what exactly they should be measuring and why. When this happens, it can affect the long-term success of the support organization, and also damage customer satisfaction scores. Here are four things you may be doing in the measuring that are damaging your customer satisfaction ratings:
Your practices are too intrusive.
Customers want to know that they are being heard, but they don't always want to be singled out for it. Requiring customer contact information on a survey can make them feel targeted - which in turn discourages them from being completely honest or from replying to the survey at all.
Customers want to know that they are being heard, but they don't always want to be singled out for it. Requiring customer contact information on a survey can make them feel targeted - which in turn discourages them from being completely honest or from replying to the survey at all.
One of the main goals for customer satisfaction is to make sure that you are getting enough of a percentage of your customers to respond, and that those responses are representative of the different parts of your support organization. Therefore, it is more prudent to implement practices based on what most of your customers will do. Ask yourself, "Are there more people who want to remain anonymous or not?"
Another practice I hear complaints about is sending survey reminders. While some people may appreciate the reminder, the percentage of customers who do is few. Studies show more often than not, sending multiple survey reminders sends the wrong message.
You don't provide methods for opting out of surveys.
One of the biggest reason you've started customer satisfaction surveys is to form an image or "snapshot" of the attitude and experiences of your customers about your company. This image doesn't have to encompass ALL of your customers, just most of them. You want to make sure you get enough feedback from your customer base to identify trends or drivers behind your customers satisfaction.
I've seen organizations make the mistake of forcing their customers to respond to surveys in a variety of ways. Survey reminders that are sent out too frequent, phone calls made by support staff, and no opt-out method are just a few. When this happens, it can potentially create more ill-will rather than bolster it. Research shows that most customer satisfaction surveys are responded to within 24-48 hours of the survey being received; those customers who do want to provide feedback have already done so.
Instead of focusing on getting EVERYONE to respond, make sure that your response rate is adequate, and that you are collecting quality feedback you can measure. Click here for tips on how to increase your survey feedback.
You are too focused on the answer you want to receive.
Another mistake made by organizations measuring customer satisfaction is ask the wrong questions. The most common question I get in my line of work is, "Do you have samples of surveys I can look at?" While it's great to look at sample questions and design, this is the wrong place to start. The collection and measurement of your customers satisfaction should always start with....the CUSTOMER.
First, determine the reason for your surveying. Is it short-term? Long-term? Are there specific topics you want to cover? Are you soliciting feedback to improve your processes and support? If so, what are your support goals? What are the expectations of your customers? Are you meeting those customers expectations? The tailor the questions to those goals, expectations, and processes. This method should be easy to change, as you need the flexibility to measure other issues as they come along.
Giving your customers the ability to provide additional feedback, rather than just answer questions, is also helpful. This feedback can frequently touch on other aspects of your customer service or support you didn't think to measure or report on, and gives you the ability to start digging deeper into the pain points of your customers.
You don't take the right action.
This is where most organizations drop the ball. You may have your goals and expectations lined out, the service processes in place, a method for collecting feedback, and the technology to monitor and analyze it, but then what happens to the data you are collecting?
If what you are measuring isn't being turned into actionable data for change and improvement, you're losing out on your investment of time and money. Don't just report on your monthly scores, or customer service agent performance. Take a hard took at those scores over a period of time, and try to determine trends and drivers behind those scores. Go back to that additional feedback and review the comments on a consistent and frequent basis, looking for commonalities or themes in the responses you get. This is you meat & potatoes, where you'll get the most value.
And don't let follow-up become automated. When you are made aware of a negative customer service experience (and set it up so that you are made aware right away!), have someone reach out to those customers to smooth things over. Since feedback is given within one to two days, don't let a customer go more than three days without a phone call, a personal email, or a resolution.
Putting these into practice is important in closing the loop between you and your customers, as well as ultimately increasing your customers satisfaction and the attitude they have toward you and your organization.
