Smart Marketing: The Big Picture – Customer Satisfaction Hijacked
By: Scott Hornstein, Principal Hornstein Associates.
For the most part, I think a lot of us greatly underestimate the power of customer satisfaction. We sometimes don’t define it in terms of profit and loss, but we know it’s a factor. We base decisions on self congratulatory information. Dissatisfaction augers the hole in the bottom of our customer base.
Here are two examples and four suggestions.
- At the end of a phone transaction the rep asked if I would participate in a short survey. I agreed and was asked about 10 questions. For each I responded on a scale of one to 10, with one being abject despair and 10 being sheer rapture. My responses were sevens and eights. My interviewer asked why I was not satisfied. I responded that I was satisfied — they met my expectations for courtesy, performance and professionalism. I’ll be back and I’ll bring my friends, but that doesn’t by itself rate a 10.
- It was a very hot day. I was picking up a new car and the salesman was explaining each button and display. As he finished, he (a large man) closed his door and leaned across the console. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper. With a smile spreading across his face, he put it in front of me. It was a customer satisfaction survey, with a broad highlighter stroke through all the “Outstanding” boxes. Intimidation.
Let’s get some things straight:
- Raise your standards. Customers expect to be treated poorly, but that’s no reason to fulfill their expectations. Each customer is a guest in your house, not a delivery. You don’t get a 10 just because you treat them with the respect they’re due.
- Empower the right stuff. Measure and reward the behaviors that achieve and surpass your definable standards. Tie measurement directly to the bottom line. Publicize how revenues rise and fall based on satisfaction. We know instinctively that happier customers stay longer and buy more, so prove it. Pay attention to the “net promoter”— those who would refer family and friends.
- Customer interaction is a messy business — take it like a man. Don’t manage to the time or number of interactions. Answer the person. Don’t just skate on the surface; probe for opinion and nuance. And if they’ve got something to say, listen, understand, and communicate.
- Bad news used to travel quick; now it metastasizes. People don’t just tell their friends, they post to a blog, or YouTube, or Facebook. Your reputation can be trashed in a heartbeat. Customer satisfaction is not just a warm and fuzzy; it’s a smart business investment. It can make you stand out in a world gone flat.
About the Author:
Scott Hornstein is principal at Hornstein Associates, a direct marketing consultancy in Redding, Conn. Clients include Microsoft, HP, The Phoenician. He is the co-author of Opt-In Marketing: Increase Sales Exponentially with Consensual Marketing (McGraw-Hill). Contact: (203) 938-8715; scott@hornsteinassociates.com.