Defog the mirror of customer satisfaction

By Larry Galler

November 24, 2011

Print / Reprints /
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on linkedin | Share More

PLEASE GO TO; http://www.janiservu.com/ for similar articles!!!

Advantage Cleaning Services Does Business Cleanings For Cuba, N.Y. 14727!!!

Are you looking at a foggy mirror when thinking of how your customers think of your company? What’s your belief and what is the reality?

Are your customers happy or satisfied or angry with your service? How do you know? How do you really know?

In a study of corporate chief executives conducted by an international consulting firm it was discovered that 75% of those executives believed their firms provided “above average” service.

When their customers were surveyed, however, the majority had the opposite opinion; almost 60% stated they were upset with their most recent service experience! I’d call that a huge disconnect between belief and reality. Maybe those CEO’s are using Alice in Wonderland’s mirror to look at the way their company services their customers. Maybe you are looking at the same mirror!

Rather than ask or discuss why there such a difference between belief in the level of service and the customer’s reality I’m going to ask a different question. What level of customer service do YOU believe your firm delivers?

Is your answer based on looking into Alice’s mirror, or do you have data? What criteria do you use to measure your level of customer service? Is it the same criteria that your customers use?

One business owner in an industry that delivers a high-personal-touch service wanted to know what her customers felt about the work quality and service they received and, if it wasn’t as good as they felt it should be, how it could be improved. So she asks them.

Twice a year she invites a half-dozen “average” customers to a breakfast meeting and asks for the good, the bad, and the ugly. When she finds areas that the business needs to improve she works to improve them, developing feed-back information loops, ways of measuring raw data to discover methods of improving, methods of training staff to a higher awareness of the customer service contact points, and ways to deliver their service with more courtesy, timeliness, and consistency.

There are many ways to discover this information depending upon the type of product or service you sell from follow-up phone calls, emails, mailed surveys, and personal meetings. They all work. The important thing is to discover whether you are satisfying your customers and, if there is a disconnect between your belief of your customer’s level of satisfaction and the reality from their perspective. And, if you find that your customers are not as happy as you think they should be, to develop improvements fast.

As you design and implement changes don’t just think you are increasing customer satisfaction, find out. It’s important to continue asking for new data. Don’t let your belief fog the mirror of customer satisfaction – clean it with real data from your customers.

Larry Galler specializes in coaching owners of small businesses to grow their business through effective marketing, customer retention programs and systemizing their business practices. Explore how he can help you during a free coaching session by calling (219)464-9463 or e-mail larry@larrygaller.com. Visit his website at www.oneyeartogreatness.com.