Measuring Customer Satisfaction  |  SEPTEMBER 2015 
Greetings!


 

Every for-profit, for-cause and even governmental organization cares about customer satisfaction.  When someone wants to measure customer satisfaction the natural instrument is a survey, but we all know that surveys can be problematic (more about this later).  This case study documents a process for measuring customer satisfaction based on an implementation project with a financial-services Client.  The survey we created was robust, had a high response rate, and provided valuable insight to the management team.  Best of all, the CEO is the first person to get the data and is responsible for follow-up; he did not delegate to the manager of client service.  This sent a powerful message to clients and employees that client satisfaction starts at the top. 



Sincerely,
Mitch Millstein, Ph.D.
 
IN THIS ISSUE
Whats new in Lean
Measuring Customer Satisfaction

WHAT OUR CLIENTS
ARE SAYING

"

We engaged with Supply Velocity to help us embed process improvement at all levels of the business. Our team learned to let the data drive decisions, to use Lean tools to help us see our processes critically and objectively, and to create a control plan to manage all of the tasks that were the outcome of the data study.

 

The project turned out to be very significant to the company and most importantly, our customers. We reduced our customer wait times by 40%, and cut in half the labor cost to fulfill customer orders.

 

In addition, as a result of this project, we have started to build a Lean mindset and culture, which is part of our strategic mission to save our customers money. Supply Velocity has been a valued partner in this mission."

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Cyril Narishkin
Partner

* 25 years of executive and operations experience.
* President, Paric Interiors
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Mitch Presented "Whats new in Lean"

 
July 10th I presented "What is new in Lean" for the Midwest Manufacturing Leaders.  100 people heard me discuss taking Lean beyond the facility and making your supply chain Lean.  My co-presenter was Ray Keefe, recently retired Executive Vice President of Manufacturing for Emerson.  If you would like a copy of this presentation send me an email (mitch@supplyvelocity.com).  
Measuring Customer Satisfaction

The case study below is a summary.  For more details click on the full white-paper.

 

The problems with surveys

Most companies that want to measure customer satisfaction create a survey.  These efforts usually fail for multiple reasons.  

  • The "annual" survey measures satisfaction during too short a duration
  • Response rates are low
  • There are too many questions
  • Questions are not well defined and can create inconsistent answers
  • You don't know if non-respondents feel differently than those who responded

Surveying is a process not a one-time event

Our Client instead created a 5 question survey that is delivered every month to 1/12th of its customers.  Surveying should be a continuous process, not something you do once a year.  


Ask the high level question first

We began the process with asking a high level question.  Our Client is a financial-services firm that prides itself on client service and being a premium provider.  Therefore, after much brainstorming, the team decided that we wanted to know, "are we worth a premium?"  

 

Less is more when it comes to survey questions

The team came up with the following definitions of premium financial services:

  • A trusted adviser
  • High quality service
  • Few errors
  • Resolve problems quickly and painlessly
  • Clients feel special
  • Total experience is wonderful
  • Timely response for info/service, availability/access to people/team, proactive

These turned into the following five questions:

  • How would you rate your primary contact?
  • How would you rate your experience with our firm?
  • How many errors have you experienced over the last year?
  • If we made an error how have we done resolving the problem?
  • What can we do better?
Define the scale in very specific terms
One reason that firms get inconclusive results from surveys is the vague definition of the scale (the words associated with 1 through 5).  Often 1 = poor, 2 = below average, 3 = average, 4 = above average and 5 = outstanding.  This type of scale creates tremendous opportunities for measurement error.  (What exactly does above average mean?)

Below is just the first question on our survey (for all five questions see the linked white-paper).  

 

What describes your primary contact at our firm?

  1. Below average
  2. No different than others
  3. Helpful
  4. A trusted adviser 

Acting on the data

Another reason surveys often fail is they get discussed then forgotten.  At our financial-services Client the data goes to the CEO who shares the results with everyone.  In addition if any customer answers any question with a 1 or 2 he is immediately contacted and calls that customer to resolve their problem.  When was the last time the CEO of your bank called you?  

 

For more information, or if you want us to help you create a customer satisfaction, send Mitch an email (mitch@supplyvelocity.com).