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GUIDESTAR RESEARCH WHITE PAPER
GUIDESTAR RESEARCH -
WHITE PAPER - DECEMBER 2005 2
What to Measure
A basic and effective baseline customer satisfaction survey program should focus on measuring
customer perceptions. How well does your company deliver on the critical success factors and
dimensions of the business as defined by the customer? For example, is your service prompt and is
your staff courteous? How responsive and understanding of the customer's problem are your
representatives? The findings of company performance should be analyzed both with all your
customers as well as by key segments.
Sometimes an organization's customer service personnel are included in the survey so that a gap
analysis can be performed to determine differences in perceptions between the service providers
and the customers.
Relevancy of Dimensions & Factors
An effective customer satisfaction survey reflects what respondents care about most. Pre-survey
interviews with customers to surface and identify the dimensions and factors they consider
important ensure that the survey questionnaire does not overlook one or more important areas
and specific service details. If at all possible, pre-survey interviews, especially when developing a
customer satisfaction baseline questionnaire, should be conducted with customers to ensure all
important service dimensions are included.
More Return for your Research Investment
In today's highly competitive environment, companies need an extra edge to enhance and build
upon their relationships with customers. Many of our clients find that high quality customer
service can make the difference in winning and retaining customers or losing them. Research
shows that organizations that employ customer satisfaction research that goes beyond customer
satisfaction, loyalty and retention measurements to identify and measure perceived customer
value can deliver much more return on their research investment.
By determining which factors produce the highest perceived value by customers, research can
provide the knowledge to both correct deficiencies in today's customer service and assist in
building high value strategic, customer service offerings for the future. Special sets of questions
can built into surveys to learn about the perceived value of services and how a company stacks up
against its primary competitors in delivering on the critical value factors.
Organization of a Basic Customer Satisfaction Survey
•
Section 1. Overall dimension rating questions
•
Section 2. Ratings by service dimensions and specific service factors
•
Section 3. Respondent demographics
Section 1. - Overall Rating Questions
This first part of the survey (or the first part of each dimension rating section) will typically have
an overall rating question for each major customer service dimension plus one or two related
open-end questions at the end of the dimension's section.
Scale and question examples:
(5 point scale - Excellent, Good, Average, Fair, Poor)
(5-point scale - Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Neutral/Not Sure, Dissatisfied, Very Dissatisfied)