Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Conducting customer satisfaction surveys is simply the first step in implementing a strategy to improve your customer service. Once you have the data you have to use it to take concrete steps to improve customer service or you will have wasted your time and money.

This means that you need to take action to rectify the problems identified in customer satisfaction surveys as soon as you get the results. Implementing a basic strategy to deal with these problems is the first step in solving them and improving your customer service.

Deal with the Worst Problems First

Look over the results of customer satisfaction surveys and categorize the results into three categories: worst, probable and potential problems. The worst problems will be those that are damaging customer service and costing the company right now.

An example of the worst would be a reservation line at a hotel that refers most of the callers to voicemail. This would cost the company money because it is not meeting the needs of real customers calling in now with the intention to spend money. Such a problem would need to be dealt with immediately to stop the company from loosing business.

A probable problem is something that will be a problem in the near future. An example of this would be a lack of customer service personal who deal with an expected increase in business. If the customer satisfaction surveys indicate customers are having a long wait to talk to a customer service representative now you may not have the resources to deal with an expected increase in business.

A potential problem is an issue that could develop into a problem. An example of this would be customer service representatives who don’t know enough about a new product. This could indicate deficiencies in the company’s customer service training program.

Dealing with the Problems

Once the customer satisfaction surveys have identified the problems you will have to deal with them now. The best way to do this is to put somebody, such as an executive or even the head of the company in charge of solving the problem.

Appoint a responsible person who can get things done to take charge of the issue and hold them responsible. Ask them to create a strategy with verifiable results and implement it.

Simply conducting a survey and writing a report about it will be a waste of time and money if nobody is tasked with dealing with the problems identified.