Customer satisfaction is a measurement of how well a company meets customer demands and expectations. It’s more than just about dealing with low scores and complaints from clients – customer satisfaction is essential in creating better products to fit the consumer’s needs.

So is customer satisfaction a reliable measurement of quality? The perceived quality of a product or service might be difficult to measure because it’s subjective. However, customer satisfaction is an essential piece of information used for developing consistently better products.

Is Customer Satisfaction A Good Indicator of Quality?

Quality is something that everyone looks for but can’t quite define. It’s highly subjective, but there are multiple features that contribute to how “good” a product or service’s quality is. Company researchers create a certain set of criteria that dictates if their product has enough quality to be placed in the market. However, consumers have a different set of preferences on what they consider “high quality.”

Some people view “perceived quality” depending on the brand – premium watches should be Swiss, luxury cars must be German, and high-technology computers must be made by Apple. The market research also suggests that other customers view “perceived quality” as the interaction of many things that make a product excellent.

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David A. Garvin – an American professor from the Harvard Business School – introduced the “Nine Dimensions of Product Quality Management” in 1984. This model helps manufacturers and researchers understand how customer satisfaction affects “perceived quality.” By studying customer satisfaction, manufacturers and designers start developing products that resonate better with their consumers.

3 Ways to Measure Customer Satisfaction

Here are some of the tools that companies use to measure customer satisfaction:

1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

This indicator is the oldest and most basic form of measuring customer satisfaction. It asks a customer about their overall experience or issues they might have with the different aspects of the products. It talks about the product’s solidity, a company’s complaint response efforts, or a hotel room’s cleanliness. Customer satisfaction score measures anything the researcher wants to evaluate.

The typical responses to this question are somewhere within the scale of “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied.” The CSAT is computed by dividing the number of positive responses by the number of all responses. The resulting number is then multiplied by a hundred to create a percentage of the overall customer satisfaction.

However, using CSAT as the only indicator of customer satisfaction won’t be enough because it only measures the “emotional dimension.” The scores can’t predict anything about the customer’s future behavior.

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

On the other hand, NPS is concerned about a customer’s brand loyalty and the likelihood that they will recommend the brand or product to someone else. It answers the question “what is the probability that you’ll recommend our products or brand to your family and friends?”

NPS is important because it helps companies identify between promoters and detractors. Brands turn satisfied customers into ambassadors by taking the necessary steps to encourage brand loyalty. Identifying the detractors are also important because it allows the company to find different issues and points of improvement for their product or service.

3. Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a relatively new way to measure customer satisfaction. It’s concerned about the quality of customer service that the company provides. It also measures how much effort makes to satisfy the customer’s request. Low CES averages mean that customers are easily satisfied with the brand.

Aside from these three indicators, it’s also crucial to measure how well the products are made to respond to customer needs. This helps manufacturers find the strengths of a product and work better on its weaknesses.

3 Tools Used for Customer Satisfaction Measurement

After learning about the different indicators of customer satisfaction, the next step in the process is to gather data directly from the customers. Here are some of the tools used for measuring customer satisfaction:

1. Satisfaction Surveys

Satisfaction surveys are the most common and reliable way to get feedback from customers after their purchase. However, it’s impossible to ask all the customers about their experience with the brand, so the researcher must assign representative sampling.

2. Mystery Shoppers

Mystery shoppers are tasked to test a service or product and contact customer service. This allows companies to evaluate what their customers experience when interacting with a sales representative. Mystery shoppers also point out issues and different areas that need improvement during their experience.

3. Qualitative Interviews

This method requires the company to actively listen to a customer as they share their experience. It helps the brand understand their customer’s purchase decisions. The researcher usually asks open-ended questions to encourage customers to share more of their feedback. However, this method is time-consuming, which is why most companies only perform this when launching a new offer.

How to Improve Customer Satisfaction

Gathering customer satisfaction data is just to first step towards improving a company’s relationship with its customers. With the available customer information, companies must:

1. Pay Attention to Low Scores and Negative Reviews

A dissatisfied customer can turn into a brand ambassador with the right response initiated by the company. Reach out to the customers who left low scores and negative reviews then settle the issue in the right way. This allows the brand to create a positive bond with the customers instead of leaving them with a disappointing experience.

2. Be Proactive in Responding to Customers

Customer service hotlines almost always hear about frustrated customers voicing out their complaints. These clients are bound to leave low CSAT scores, but they can be prevented by keeping the complainants updated about the time it takes for the company to resolve the issue.

Responding through social media accounts usually takes around 1 to 4 hours, but it might take a lot longer if the company receives tons of messages every day. Let the customers know if it’s going to take long before you get back to them, so they’ll look for other ways to reach the company.

Evaluate Customer Satisfaction Accurately with Commence CRM

Measuring customer satisfaction is made easy with Commence CRM. Our CRM solutions are designed to improve the efficiency of business operations for small to midsize businesses. Commence CRM captures, tracks, and shares important customer information to help the business create better relationships with their customers.

Here at Commence CRM, we want our clients to boost their sales by paying more attention to customer service. Score a free trial of our software by visiting our website now.