Customer Satisfaction Scores - more than a metric?

There have been several blog postings recently which discuss the importance of treating customer satisfaction scores as more than a simple metric such as 5 Customer Experience Management Myths and Should Customer Feedback Scores Drive compensation? Two different topics but both are underpinned by the important discussion of how to use scores effectively.

One of our food & beverage clients, since implementing its own customer feedback programme, has seen significant growth in its customer satisfaction score, market share and competitive profile - all having a positive effect on ROI. In the past three years since starting its programme this particular organisation has seen customer satisfaction scores grow rapidly, leaping from an initially low score of 8% in 2008 to 36% in 2010. As a result this organisation has seen a direct correlation between sales results, operational excellence and its customer satisfaction score.

This example also confirms the theory that measuring the success of a customer satisfaction programme is about so much more than just keeping scores – it’s what you do to react to issues that really drives customer loyalty. Our customer saw its most visible improvement when it implemented a closed loop environment, which enabled employees to take instant action on low scores/complaints to resolve customer queries in a timely and effective manner, leaving the customer satisfied with the way their interaction had been dealt with