Improving customer satisfaction in Organizations
A customer is one of the most important assets to an organization. How an organization or its staff interacts with said customer(s) can affect what their (customers) later decision ; This can range from their future purchase decisions and whether they will recommend a product to others to posting on social media about the service/ product they received. Moreover, Gaining or losing customers can directly affect an organization's sales performance, marketing costs as well as share and stock prices, and in some cases even sustainability. As such, all if not most companies utilize various means to measure their Customers’ Satisfaction level.
"Customer satisfaction" is a term/ metric that marketing, public relations, and customer service departments use to refer to how services or products influence a customer's view of a brand. It can also be used to measure an organization’s economic well-being and show how well said organization tends to its customers’ needs. Although Csat is the most common tool used to measure Customer Satisfaction, many professionals advise using it in conjunction with other Customer feedback tools to get a more accurate representation of the customer. An article by Harvard Business Review states that for an organization to improve its Customer satisfaction score, it must establish harmony and balance between three factors; those are Expectations, Quality, and Value.
Customer expectations describe how customers envision each service/ product an organization offers. Meeting Customer expectations has many positive perks. It can improve brand reputation which in return attracts more potential customers or even have existing customers spread the word and advocate for the brand they love. Yet another advantage is that customers who have their expectations met are likely to become loyal; Many financial sources state that satisfied customers tend to stay loyal to the brand which is very advantageous to an organization. On the downside, The more positive experiences a customer has, the higher their expectations become. Although most businesses aim to exceed customer expectations at all times, it is not always possible or in their best interest to do so, especially if said decision is not sustainable or costly which can ultimately harm the business and its customers.
In most cases, it has been observed that it is best to provide a consistent positive, and maintainable customer experience instead of always aiming to exceed them at a high cost. To work towards meeting a Customer’s expectation, one must ensure that all relevant surveys adopted are being reviewed and addressed in a timely fashion and to have all concerned departments updated on all important matters. Moreover, there should always be policies in place to either directly or indirectly cater to customers’ expectations and feedback. For example:
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Product/ service quality is another significant factor that is directly linked to customer satisfaction. It involves providing consistent, efficient, and friendly services to all potential and existing customers. When a company focuses on maintaining quality services/ products, Existing customers are more likely to return to re-experience the Product/ service they enjoyed the first time. The latter not only contributes to a greater loyal customer base but can potentially lead to more customers overall especially in scenarios where loyal customers actively advocate for the service/ product they experienced.??
There are various ways to improve Quality to cater to Customer Satisfaction. Below are examples of Quality retention When a product being offered to a customer is in the form of a service(s):
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When it comes to physical products, on the other hand, it is more or less the same approach. Various Businesses constantly review their social media pages or forum postings for reviews, instruct their staff to be professional and proactive when dealing with prospective/existing clients, and be diligent in monitoring the various adopted metrics.
The last of the 3 factors is Value. Based on a brief personal research, I learned that value most closely resembles price. To be more precise, It is the difference between the total benefit expected from a product/ service and the total cost incurred to obtain said product/ service. Cost (before purchase) refers to the inconveniences, research, decision making plus finances that the customer had to go through before reaching their final decision of utilizing a service/ purchasing a product whilst benefits refer to the Product/ service itself, its quality, customer service, and customer experience in general.
Value can be viewed as subjective because the benefit in this case is relative to that particular customer. From an organization’s viewpoint, it can sometimes be beneficial but it can also have a negative impact all the same. An example would be raising the price of a well-known and highly valued item (exclusively valued due to its price); This can potentially discourage regular customers from returning which is a high cost in itself; According to an article on StoreConnect, “Acquiring a new customer can cost up to 5 times, more than the cost of retaining an existing Customer.”. Alternatively, an organization can make an effort to study how their customers view their services as Valuable; In return, they can potentially win over new customers or add to their loyal customer base.??
Harmony between the factors of Expectation, Quality, and Value impacts Customer Satisfaction; which in turn can affect a range of other metrics like Loyalty, Post purchase satisfaction, and even shares/ stocks. As such, All if not most major companies and organizations worldwide must utilize a variety of metric tools or combinations of that and other means to ensure success and competition.
In summary, all organizations need to observe Customer Expectations as they can directly affect their chances of success in general Also, understanding expectations is a good way of differentiating yourself from the competition and building a list of loyal customers. Providing Quality Customer care and building rapport with Customers is also very important. when a customer is served efficiently, swiftly, and in a friendly manner, they are more likely to return and even become a loyal customer due to new gained trust. Some may also advocate for the product/ service they received by posting on social media or simply spreading the word by mouth. Although the value of a product/ service is relative to the customer, it is equally significant and various organizations dedicate a lot of time to help understand the value that they provide to their customers as this has proven to help attract new customers and provide overal better service to existing customers.??
Although Customer Satisfaction is never guaranteed, it is important to remember that customers always come first. For better or worse, it is in the best interest of businesses to provide a generally positive experience for their customers and to constantly look for new ways to improve or sustain current services/ products. Lastly, Customer complaints can generally be viewed as a negative experience. Especially since it involves a lot of research, time, and resources to resolve perfectly. However, the positive side is that it gives Organizations an opportunity to discover new means of improving ways of dealing with existing customer complaints and prevent potential future complaints from occuring. Customers who have their problem resolved flawlessly and professionals are more likely to become loyal to the organization than those who don’t get their complaints addressed.
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