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Customer satisfaction how and what: What is customer satisfaction?

Written on: February 23, 2023
SpangenbergGroup.com. Customer service outsourcing | Customer service optimization | Improve customer contact

In many organizations and institutions, customer satisfaction is an important issue. But what exactly is customer satisfaction and why is it important? To begin with, we have been thinking about an appropriate definition of customer satisfaction. Besides all the definitions that are already out there, we think the following definition best covers the load:

What is customer satisfaction?

"Customer satisfaction is the degree to which a customer experiences being a customer as positive. Customer satisfaction represents the extent to which your organization meets customer expectations in areas such as service, price, quality and communication."

But what does that really mean? The moment you want to meet your customers' expectations, you must first have visibility into those expectations. measure and improve customer satisfaction?

Understanding what factors determine customer satisfaction

Wanting to drive satisfaction assumes that there is a clear picture in advance of the factors that determine customer satisfaction. That is where it often goes wrong. Inside-out reasoning is used to determine which factors are likely to be important and that is incorporated into a questionnaire. If, as an organization, you really want to have insight into the extent to which certain factors are important in customer satisfaction, you will have to ask customers. In doing so, it is wise to apply some degree of segmentation, because different factors may be important to one customer group than to another. You then use these factors to test how satisfied you customers are. This process moves you from an inside-out to an outside-in approach. So from now on, you measure customer satisfaction using the factors that actually matter to you customer. After determining the right variables it is a matter of setting up a continuous cycle of measurement and improvement.

The importance of customer satisfaction

Long ago, Treacy and Wiesema formulated value strategies: product leadership, operational excellence and customer intimacy. These are still relevant today. They are strategies that allow you to stand out from the competition because you are doing better than your competitor in certain areas. Also, always check that you customer actually recognizes your differentiation. If the customer does not recognize your distinctiveness, then this is a missed opportunity. Again, it is wise to apply outside-in reasoning: ask your customer. Regardless of which value strategy you choose, you will want to know whether your customer is satisfied with the way you implement that strategy. This is precisely why you should make customer satisfaction central to shaping your strategy at the tactical and operational levels.

Improve customer satisfaction

What is customer satisfaction improvement? What does it yield? That depends a lot on what you measure and how you measure it. If you want to measure what really matters to your customer and are also willing to make changes based on the results, only then is measurement valuable. Read more about measuring customer satisfaction in our next blog.

So what is customer satisfaction? And why is it important?

Customer satisfaction is a major determinant of staying a customer or not. Dissatisfied customers are more likely to walk away and to advertise negatively. So it is important to have visibility into the factors that determine satisfaction and how those factors are scored.

Who are we?

We are SpangenbergGroup! And we can help you make your customer service an good customer service to make. Just good customer service where the basics are in order. Where customer contacts add value to the customer experience. We relieve you in the area we are good at (customer service) so you can concentrate worry-free on what you do best. Sound good? Get in touch. 

With over 25 years of experience in the field of optimizing customer contact and customer experience SpangenbergGroup can help you. The optimize customer service or outsource? Use the form or see our contact page.

Also with other questions about customer contact and customer service you can always contact with us!

Does your customer service department have long wait times?

Get in touch io. We will be happy to look into it with you!

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