Why do most companies measure the wrong numbers in customer satisfaction?

 

 

Last month I had the opportunity to make Customer Satisfaction presentations at a number of senior management forums.

The discussions following my presentations convinced me that there is a genuine and growing interest in the delivery of good customer service. These conversations also made me aware that the managers of many organisations do not know what to measure and some measure the wrong things.

In telephone contact, customer service managers appear to be too preoccupied in monitoring and improving the connect time to an Agent. Although getting through to a real person in a reasonable time is important in providing good customer service, it is far from the be all and end all of the process.

Far more critical are measures such as First Call Resolution and Keeping the Customer Informed or Providing a Solution Within an Acceptable Time Frame. Rarely do I see them reported on. This is disappointing because frontline staff have a far better chance of controlling and improving these important measures than connect time, which is largely determined by traffic flow and staffing levels.

Best practice companies do the simple thing: via regular surveys, they ask their customers about the level of service they receive from the company. This is the best way to monitor key measures such as first call resolution.

Progressive companies then take the next step: they ask the customer a number of open-ended questions. The information derived from this, is highly effective in gaining an understanding of what is important to the customer and what other competing companies are doing. The smart companies then group this information into various themes and use it to develop action plans to further monitor and improve their performance.

Make no mistake, this is not easy stuff. You need the right processes and measures, and most importantly a team that is committed and focussed. They also must be incredibly thick skinned to push through the changes required to execute client-driven improvements. It takes a lot of work to get it right, however, those that do, differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Paul van Veenendaal

 

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