“Customer Satisfaction” is generally defined as a marketing term that measures how products or services supplied by a company meet or surpass a customer’s expectation. Customer Satisfaction is important because it provides marketers and business owners with a metric that they can use to manage and improve their businesses. However, for those of us in the business of delivering a positive service experience for our organization’s customers, Customer Satisfaction is much more than that.
Great customer satisfaction levels build customer loyalty which drive a myriad of customer behaviors that can add up to significant revenue for an organization. Loyal customers will do business with a company business over and over again, refer friends and family to that company’s products or services as well as provide free advertising for that company via “word of mouth”. These things and more, can lead to significant revenue opportunities, especially when multiplied by hundreds or even thousands of customers.
If a company is going to take advantage of all of the positive aspects of a highly “satisfied” customer base, they must first understand; “What drives customer satisfaction?” Until an organization can answer this question, they will struggle to have a positive impact on their customers. So let’s try to answer that question now.
So, what drives Customer Satisfaction?
The drivers of customer satisfaction can be different depending on the company and/or product/services that are used by its customers. However, regardless of company or product/service, there are typically universal drivers of customer satisfaction that any company can impact to build a loyal customer base. A few of these universal satisfaction drivers are listed below:
- Fair price for product or service
- Pricing is clearly spelled out – No hidden terms and conditions.
- Easy to interact with your company, product or service (low friction)
- Convenient locations
- Easy to speak to customer service
- Products or services are easy to understand
- Returns process is easy – Do not have to fight for reimbursement on defective merchandise.
- Service oriented and attentive staff
- Positive, knowledgeable, listens to the needs of their customers, proactive problem solvers
- Little wait time for service (ie. Low hold time in a call center, not standing in line at a brick & mortar location)
- Easy to talk to an agent (ie. Customer service number is not hidden, IVR does not try to keep you from talking to a customer service agent, no language barrier when talking to a customer service agent)
- Not having to stand in line
- Store or provider has plenty of knowledgeable employees to provide service
- Simple pricing – no gimmicks
- Correct answers the first time – First Call/First Contact resolution
- Saves customers time and frustration
- Minimizes the number and length of interactions which ultimately helps to drive down the cost of servicing a customer while raising the level of customer satisfaction
- Good support after the sell – Good Customer Service
These are just a few of the universal drivers of customer satisfaction. When an organization masters these customer satisfaction drivers, it is well on its way to establishing a foundation of loyal customers from which it can grow its business. At Call Center Power, we love to help clients improve their customer satisfaction. You can learn more about how we do that through our Professional Services offering and read about our success with an international multi-level marketing company in our case study featured here.
In part 2 of our “Customer Satisfaction Blog” series, we will discuss some of the primary tools and tactics that organizations can leverage to gain valuable insights into the satisfaction level of their customers. Stay tuned……
