In today's extremely competitive market, regardless of your product or service, you must have an edge. One of the easiest advantages to acquire, since it is right there waiting, is good customer service. By customer service I mean taking care of the customer. You do this by finding out what the customer wants, providing that item or service, then finding out if the customer is pleased. How can you ensure that your business is satisfying your customers?
[pic]Customer service is what you can provide but customer satisfaction is what you are trying to create. You can measure your own performance on whether you are meeting your pre-established goals related to customer service, but will that translate seamlessly into customer satisfaction? I don't know, it's difficult to say. Typical measures include things like; cheerful attitude, knowledgeable attendants, timely delivery, competitive pricing and so on. These are all very good ideals on how to structure your business but can measuring your own performance against your own goals really tell you if the customer is satisfied or not?
I don't think so. Your objective in providing good customer service is to make your customers satisfied. You have no choice but to measure your customer's level of satisfaction. That is the only way you will ensure that your business is satisfying your customers. It is not enough to measure how well you did, you must measure how your performance registered with the customer. Come right out and ask the customer.
Develop a simple three or four question form to solicit the customer's thoughts on your performance. Ask simple straight forward questions like;
1) Were our attendants friendly and helpful?
2) Are you pleased with the answers you received to any questions you asked?
3) Was your waiting time excessive?
4) Did you pay what you expected to pay for your product / service?
At each question provide check boxes so the customer can answer quickly but also leave a couple of lines open...