How do you track customer satisfaction as a field service engineer?

1 Why customer satisfaction matters

Customer satisfaction is not only a reflection of your technical skills and professionalism, but also a key driver of customer loyalty, referrals, and repeat business. Customers who are satisfied with your service are more likely to recommend you to others, renew their contracts, and purchase additional services or products from you. On the other hand, customers who are dissatisfied with your service are more likely to switch to your competitors, complain online, and damage your reputation.

2 How to measure customer satisfaction

There are several ways to measure customer satisfaction, but the most common and effective ones are surveys and feedback forms. Surveys and feedback forms allow you to collect quantitative and qualitative data from your customers, such as their ratings, comments, suggestions, and complaints. You can use different types of surveys and feedback forms, such as post-service surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES). You can also use different channels to distribute your surveys and feedback forms, such as email, SMS, web, or mobile app.

3 How to improve customer satisfaction

Measuring customer satisfaction is not enough; you must take action to improve it. As a field service engineer, you should set clear and realistic expectations with your customers before, during, and after the service. Provide high-quality and consistent service by following best practices and standards, using the right tools and equipment, and checking your work. Show courteousness and respect by treating customers with kindness and empathy, listening to their needs and concerns, addressing them politely, thanking them for their business and feedback, and going the extra mile by delivering more value, faster service, or better solutions. Offer discounts, incentives, or freebies to exceed expectations, follow up with customers after the service, and resolve any issues or complaints promptly.

4 How to use technology to track customer satisfaction

Technology can help you track customer satisfaction more efficiently and effectively. Software and applications can be used to create, distribute, and analyze surveys and feedback forms. Automating the process of sending surveys and feedback forms to customers after the service, as well as setting reminders and follow-ups, can increase the response rate. You can customize the design, content, and format of your surveys and feedback forms to suit your brand, service, and customer. Additionally, you can integrate your surveys and feedback forms with your CRM, ERP, or other systems to collect and store customer data. You can also use APIs, webhooks, or other methods to connect your surveys and feedback forms with other platforms. Analyzing the data and insights from your surveys and feedback forms using dashboards, reports, and charts is possible. Advanced analytics such as sentiment analysis, text analysis, or predictive analytics can help you understand your customers' emotions, opinions, and behaviors.

5 How to learn from customer satisfaction

Tracking customer satisfaction is a great way to measure your performance, identify strengths and weaknesses, and benchmark yourself against peers. As a field service engineer, you should review your customer satisfaction results regularly, looking for patterns, trends, and outliers. Celebrate successes and acknowledge failures, then act on the feedback by implementing changes, improvements, or innovations. Test and measure the impact of your actions and adjust strategies as needed. It's also important to share your results with your team and manager. Seek their feedback and guidance, learn from their experiences and best practices, and collaborate with them to improve customer satisfaction.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?