How to do it right - client satisfaction research?

Geachte Maxim,

De enige keer dat ik iets heb gemerkt van een klanttevredenheidsonderzoek was toen ik een tijdje geleden UPC belde met een klein probleem. Voordat ik een agent aan de lijn kreeg, moest ik aangeven of ik na afloop van het gesprek mijn mening wilde geven over hoe ik geholpen was (prima, trouwens). Maar verder lees en hoor ik alleen maar dat klanttevredenheidsonderzoeken zo belangrijk zijn, gevráágd wordt me nooit iets - nou ja, op die ene keer na dan. Trouwens, ik denk dat de meeste bedrijven ook zonder onderzoek wel weten of hun klanten tevreden zijn. Zo moeilijk is het toch niet: behandel je klanten zoals je zelf behandeld wil worden. We zijn immers allemaal ook klant! Of ben ik nou naïef?


Met collegiale groet,





Henk Verbooy
Hoofdredacteur CCM

I see the question in two different contexts. Corporate customers will have to be managed differently than retail customers. This point will be agreed by you too.

For Corporate Customers, there are many ways in which you can measure Client Satisfaction. The easiest way is through email. Else you can also send across a link to your website where you may ask them to fill in the details you want and rate you on certain parameters and save the information in your database. This looks more professional and easy to use. One more method to get client satisfaction is through telephonic or even better face to face interview. This is more appropriate for large customers or prospective large customers. There can be many more but these are the most popular ones is what I think.

For retail customers, it is difficult as the quantity is large, although the proper medium would be emails, link to websites, market research companies, etc. Although the questionaaire here has to be short, precise and to the point unlike in the corporate clients.

I hope this helps.
Regards
Gaurav

Hi Maxim,

To answer the first question, yes, by all means get your customers to give you feedback on their experience with their company. This information is invaluable and the more you can get and the sooner you get it, the better.

For the medias to use to acquire it, I would suggest asking your customers at the time of their purchase what THEY prefer, as then you're more likely to get their participation and candor. I think using a cross section of email survey links, snail postcards (please, if you're going this route, pay for the postage!) are the most likely to get their action, while phoning, well, you could be playing tag a long time. Remember to ask the questions in such a way that you truly do get real feedback, not just lip service. You could also add some time of nominal incentive for completion, but whatever you do, make it all very EASY for them to participate.

Good luck!
Deb Kolaras

Maxim,
It always strikes me that so many people worry about how, when, if, where to find out about their customer’s satisfaction rather than simply pick up the phone and ask some of them. Is it because businesses are afraid of their clients?

I can’t believe how difficult we are making it. Look, no customers ever has complaint about a genuinely interested and friendly supplier ringing him up and say in plain, honest, friendly words “Mr. Client, you have just bought our product, and I would like to know how you feel about doing business with us?”. You don’t need to survey hundreds, call 10 clients and do it yourself, and will be eye-opening.

Don’t think about timing, just do it. Do it yourself, every information relayed through someone else will be manipulated, and especially untrained contact centre staff has no interest of telling you that clients where not happy with them.

Links: http://www.remborpartners.com

Janne Mikkola suggests these experts on this topic:
Ville Tapio http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=7111659&authToken=4evq&authType=name&goback=%2Eavq_174313_8406612_0_*2
Teppo Nieminen http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=72994&authToken=bTxy&authType=name&goback=%2Eavq_174313_8406612_0_*2
Check FountainPark, they have good methodology and tools as well.
BR Janne