Measuring Customer Satisfaction - Term Paper Example

? Measuring Satisfaction Number Introduction Every expects quality goods and services to be commensurate with their spending. The current world of ever precise standards complicates customer satisfaction. Today, there are products that would shock the previous generations, and yet people quickly become accustomed to them. This implies that customer satisfaction is increasingly becoming harder to achieve with each passing day. Similarly, human lifestyle is becoming more and more complicated with increasing stress levels. In light of these factors, turning new customers into returning customers in these conditions is ever complicated. And even if a company won a significant chunk of customer base, some of them could abandon its products and services for another within the same industry. According to Asif, Javed, and Saleem (2011), a company which intends to register significant gains has a constant perception of the customer for purposes of guaranteeing them satisfaction. Direct communication with customers clearly brings out their aspirations. Such an informal response is important to any organization but difficult to implement and control in big companies such as in multinationals. This is because such corporations operate across different cultural backgrounds. For this point, surveys are important pointers to customer satisfaction (Zamil, & Shammot, 2011). Nonetheless, establishing a customer satisfaction initiative is more than just doing a survey. In most cases, surveys merely result in the theories that indicate where the organization needs to focus on. Putting the theories to practice is more important. Measuring customer satisfaction There are many possible dimensions that a company could take to measure customer satisfaction. These may include measuring; quality of service, swiftness of service, pricing, grievances or problems in the delivery of a service, trust in the company staff, the accessibility and the relationship between customers and the company, a description of other services needed, and the company’s positioning on the consumers’ minds (Asif, Javed, & Saleem, 2011). Very often, key long lasting adjustments which incorporate the customer preferences require an overhaul within the organization. Measures aimed at training of the employees, and ensuring cultural change, have been attributed to best customer satisfaction levels (Zamil, & Shammot, 2011). The basic business goals should prevail, however. These include; making sure that the outcome of customer satisfaction does not eat into much of the company profits or cause more customer churn. Additionally, increased market shares, stronger brands and brand name, and satisfied staff are other important organizational aspects, which should not be sacrificed. Nonetheless, a company must be ready to pay a price for guaranteeing customers of satisfaction. Costs will soar. More time will also be spent on preparing an action plan. According to Brady, Voorhees, and Brusco (2012), employee training may be needed to enhance the customer service. It is notable, therefore, that the repercussions of measuring customer satisfaction may be quite involving and the successes of such initiatives depend on the positive input of the senior executive teams. Contact with customers The easiest way to establish how customers receive goods and services and what they expect of the company is to talk with them (Zamil, & Shammot, 2011). Addressing each customer individually, regardless of the number is one of the best ways to achieve customer satisfaction. This approach is beneficial because an organization will get an individual response from each customer. The use of this method results in the collection of different information based on the dimension of the question or the customer understanding. The use of customer surveys involving standardized questionnaires ensures that a company will gather uniform and necessary information from the customers. The use of a questionnaire will “outsource” the input of the customer as they complete the form with less or no reward at all. By carrying out a customer survey about how to serve them better, the respondents (customers) will feel valued, and like the company more. Focus Groups Focus groups are a proven way of acquiring informal contributions from a set of clientele. Through this method, a small group of customers or prospective consumers can respond to structured questions or a particular material (Zamil, & Shammot, 2011). A company can seek the services of a professional organization and have the whole session recorded on video or just have an informal group conversation. In either case, an organization will cash in on the opportunity to collect ideas about the various customer preferences as well as gather various proposals for new services. And apart from the individual reactions of various group members, the company will stand to gain from the ideas that come as the participants reinforce positive practices and point out the flaws of weak ideas. Client Advisory Groups Client advisory groups also provide clear measurement of customer satisfaction. The approach provides regular customer input. Though such groups can play the role of a focus group, they can be structured in such a way that they provide permanent input. A company may compensate group members, or just foot their dinner bills every time they meet. Such groups are immensely beneficial to the company, as they provide an input based on the perception of customers (Brady, Voorhees, & Brusco, 2012). They also offer a sounding panel that addresses specific issues; and enhance the company-customer relationship, thus improve more customer dedication to the successes of the organization. Additionally, such groups can move close associations with future prospects being at the centre of organizational progress. Advisory boards can be used by any type of business to gain information about the nature of customer reception of the company’s goods and services. Starwood Hotels Inc. Starwood Hotels Inc. is a multinational company that focuses on the provision of hospitality services. The hospitality giant measures customer satisfaction in various ways such as implementing strategic submission of complaints; evaluation of customer anticipations in related industries; seeking the input of intermediate customers; analyzing client preferences from both internal and the perspectives within the industry; and formulating appropriate customer expectations (George, & Vincent, 2012). At that, the organization’s top management team implements various promotional techniques, varying from opinion polls and structured questions to the use of social networking sites, purposely to achieve meticulous assessment of the modern trends based on the demand for hospitality services. These organization’s programs meets best practices of a multinational company. Conclusion Customer satisfaction is an essential factor in every business as it impacts brand name, reputation and profits. It is more profitable to retain an existing customer than to look for a new one. Starwood should notice the difference between content customers and highly content customers in its attempt to achieve effective customer satisfaction. Owing to the fact that many of the factors effecting customer satisfaction are all-encompassing, the company should set up cross-functional groups to formulate and put action plans to practice. One of the proven ways of realizing this participation is by involving different teams of employees throughout the process. The company should also focus on the supply part of the provision of hospitality services, as many repeat customers will have no otherwise but to seek the services from the company’s market rivals in places where it is yet to make a presence. References Asif, U., Javed, K., & Saleem, W. (2011). Measuring Customer Satisfaction in Fast Food Industry a Case from Pakistan Fast Food Industry. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(4), 306-318. Brady, M.K., Voorhees, C.M., & Brusco, M.J. (2012). Service Sweethearting: Its Antecedents and Customer Consequences. Journal of Marketing, 76(2), 81-98. George, A., & Vincent, M. (2012). Accounting for customer satisfaction in measuring hotel efficiency: Evidence from the US hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), 642-647. Zamil, A.M., & Shammot, M.M. (2011). Role of Measuring Customer Satisfaction in Improving the Performance in the Public Sector Organization. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 2(3), 32-41. Read More