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Measuring client satisfaction

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Every organisation is apt to believe that it is providing a good service to customers/members within budget limitations.

However organisations are unlikely to know whether their service delivery meets the expectation of the customers unless steps are taken to measure customer satisfaction. This may be achieved by surveying customers.

There are three basic issues that such a survey should address.

 

Issue 1:	Is there a good match between the services provided by the organisation and the services desired by the customer/ member?
Issue 2:	Is there a match between the quality or standard of service provided by the organisation and that desired by the customer/ member?
Issue 3:	Are there mechanisms in place to allow the customer/members the opportunity to influence the services provided by the organisation?

It is important for organisations to gauge as accurately as possible the needs of customers/members for service. To provide too little service is to run the risk of dissatisfied customers who will leave and go elsewhere, whereas to provide too much service is to burden the organisation with unnecessary financial costs. It would be prudent for organisations to implement a system for continually evaluating the needs of the customer/member and to gauge their level of satisfaction. A regular analysis of customer opinions allows the organisation to make corrections to services provided.

Some facts about customers

(Source: adapted from Lovelock [1994], Gerson [19921, and Morgan [1989].)

 

	Only 4 per cent of customers ever complain; some simply suffer in silence, while most simply go elsewhere.
	People who stop buying from or dealing with a particular business do so because:
	1% Die 3% Move away 5% Seek alternatives or develop other business interests 9% Begin doing business with the competition 14% Are dissatisfied with the product or service 68% Are upset with the treatment they have received
	It is six times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an old one.
	Happy customers, or customers who have their complaints satisfactorily resolved, will tell three to five people. One study revealed that one unhappy customer told eleven other people, who in turn told five other people (a negative-word-of-chain of 1 + 11 + 55 = 67 people).
	Between 54-70 per cent of customers who complain will nevertheless continue to be customers if their complaint is resolved to their satisfaction.
	Organisations which provide superior customer service can charge more, create greater profits and achieve greater market share, because customers will generally pay a premium for superior customer service.

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