Why would you want to exceed customer expectations? Think about it from another perspective.

1. If one of your suppliers doesn’t give you what you want you will stop using them.
2. If a supplier just gives you what you want you will carry on using them but if something better comes along you will switch at the drop of a hat.
3. If one of your suppliers exceeds your expectations you will become loyal to them and a competitor would have to offer a lot for you to even think of switching.

Now which type of supplier do you want to be to your customers? 1. Someone not meeting expectations? 2. Only just meeting them? 3. Exceeding them? Can you see the financial implications of each of the three examples?

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A lot of buzz is going around about how you shouldn’t measure customer satisfaction and how you should instead be more interested in customer loyalty as that is the better predictor of repeat purchases. This implies customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are two unique and different things; that you mustn’t measure one and must aspire for the other. Well I disagree. As far as I am concerned, they are two points on the same continuum. Should you aim for one rather than the other? That depends on your business model.

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Companies often ask why they can’t do customer satisfaction surveys themselves. In an ideal world you should be doing this yourself on a continual basis. Unfortunately there are many obstacles to conducting a customer satisfaction survey in-house. Some are: the nature of the salesperson, the ability to conduct an unbiased assessment, lack of resources, and ensuring you are using the best theory base.

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It is a question I always get asked by prospective clients: “How will our customers react to a customer survey?” And it is an important question too. The last thing you should do is antagonise your customers by doing something they don't like.

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• A bit confusing. Should have been done with straight questions. Don't think about an ideal supplier, just ask us what the problems are
• A good exercise
• A good idea - a way to check service levels
• A good idea for companies to do this with their customers
• A good idea, if they read it
• A unique outlook for a survey whereby they should be able to see if problems are unique or if there are trends
• A very good idea as there is no better way of conveying what we have done now to the rep when he visits
• Admire the fact you have gone to the trouble to do this but the MD could have come and asked these questions and I would have told him
• Always good to get input
• Awesome thorough process
• Been 10 years here and this is the first time anyone has asked me. It shows you value your client and think it is excellent
• By doing surveys like this, problems can be identified and services and products fine tuned
• Can't do any harm to do this
• Comfortable with it
• Could have been done over the phone or by email
• Creates awareness of what the perceptions of their customers are. They should take advice that clients give and take advantage of opportunities suggested.
• Customer orientated
• Depends on what you are going to do with it. I am very critical on the benefit until I see what happens
• Different process. Allows one to reflect and think broader than the last incident and highlight real concerns
• Easier this time round
• Fine
• Fine to do this as long as it is utilised and gets to the right people
• Fine, no problem to do this as long as they can get something out of it
• Fine. Fantastic to get someone here vs. telephonic surveys
• Found it interesting that someone can come from outside and give honest feedback
• Found it purposeful and it is something that a supplier can use to better themselves.
• Gives us the opportunity to say what we are dealing with
• Good
• Good
• Good
• Good as it makes you think about what you are getting and what you'd expect
• Good for companies to know what their clients think of them
• Good for companies to see how they can improve their customer service
• Good idea
• Good idea to do this
• Good idea, but account manager needs to see this
• Good idea. Hopefully shows that we matter to them.
• Good idea. The questions are relevant.
• Good that they do this
• Good that they do this
• Good thing as you know where to improve
• Good thing to find out where their weaknesses are
• Good thing to get input from customers
• Good to find out what the perceptions of their clients are and this will have value based on the follow up received
• Good to see what we feel. If we saw senior people at least twice a year, they wouldn't have to do this.
• Good, interesting
• Happy to do this as long as they take the feedback and do something about it
• Happy to do this as long if my feedback is used
• Hope that they use the feedback they are getting
• Hope they take this information and use it to better their services
• Hopefully something will happen and this will help us
• I appreciate it. It shows that the supplier is trying to get more involved.
• I do not like being quizzed; I vote with my feet. It is good you are doing the survey, nobody else is doing it and it says you are serious
• I felt like this was a school exam. Cannot say I enjoyed the process
• I hate these things
• I hope they read this
• I like what you are doing
• I think it is great that you guys are doing this
• I was not looking forward to it but I was comfortable with it. Made me see how I actually viewed them instead of based on their last bad experience
• I would like to get  some sort of feedback or summary of their findings for the whole survey
• If I could get what I want in terms of reporting, this will have been very useful
• If it is going to add value, then it is worthwhile
• If they are willing to do this, it shows that they are trying to improve their business
• If you want honest answers this is the way to get them
• Interesting to see that they are doing this now
• It is a good idea. A company can only change if they know what to change. It is all about people's perceptions of where their strengths and weaknesses are.
• It is a good thing for companies to know what their customers are thinking and experiencing
• It is a good thing to do this as long as the feedback is used
• It is easier to talk to a third party than to talk to them
• It is good, depends on what you will do with the information
• It made me think
• It will be interesting to see the outcome. There are obvious factors that will shine and areas of concern
• It's a good idea for them to do this to find out where they are in the market
• It's a good idea to do this
• It's good for them to find out what their customers think.
• Liked the process
• Liked the process
• Made me think
• Made me think about what I want from an ideal supplier
• Makes you think about what you are paying for and what they can do for you
• Necessary
• Need to get feedback from their customers. Would like to do this in six months to a year again to see what's changed.
• Nice because it gets you thinking. It makes you aware of the good and bad things your provider is doing and where there can be improvements. Also creates an awareness of self improvement
• No problems
• Not too bad and unique. It shows you are serious about knowing what we want. Nobody has done this on me before
• Not too bad!
• Not what I expected
• Ok
• Okay
• Opens you eyes and makes you think. The questions are good in terms of making one aware of overall dealings with a supplier. The external consultant approach allows one to give more open feedback
• Pretty good idea. It shows initiative and direction they want to take. Now what will transpire and will issues be addressed?
• Quite an interesting experience. Good for them to know where their shortcomings are and what they have to look at.
• Quite good. It made me think
• Should give them a more real eye view of what their customers think
• Should have done a survey before they made all their recent big changes
• Something that has never happened to me before. It gives me an idea someone is trying to do things right. Think it is wonderful
• The fact that they are doing this survey shows that they have concerns in their business. Someone from management should have come here long ago and I would have told them the same things I have told you.
• The process is good. Depending on how they take it, it should be very good for them
• Think  that a survey like this will be an eye opener for them
• Think it is a good idea for them to do this
• Think it is good as long as it is effective in a constructive manner
• Think it should have been shorter, but it is good that they find out where they are at with customers. If there are trends in terms of problem areas, one would want to know that they will act on them
• Think this is valuable - it does give an independent perspective
• Thinks the process is good
• This is a great process. It could be very helpful
• Thought the process was very good
• Unprepared for this
• Very good
• Very good for them to get to know what the different regions feel - Vaal Triangle is very different from the Reef
• Very good idea. The customer understands that the supplier is trying to improve and it gives insight to the supplier as to what the customer wants
• Very good, able to conduct an objective analysis
• Very good. They need to understand what we require.
• Very interesting and thorough. It has given me good ideas for the SLA
• Very interesting process

I am sure you have participated in many surveys, either online, telephonic, or face to face. When was the last time anyone contacted you to thank you for your input or to comment on what you said? I am willing to bet never. And if they did I bet you still remember which company it was because it made such an impression. With this knowledge next time you do a survey make sure your customers remember you many years later.

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Any profit is a good profit not so? Wrong. A bad profit makes as your long term viability questionable whereas a good profit boosts sales and decreases costs.

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Much has been written about the dangers of having a Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) and although we create and use a CSI, Customer Relationship Auditing wholeheartedly endorses some of these concerns.

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Right off the bat, let me state I do not believe in random sampling when choosing customers to interview. (Nor do I believe that customers should be anonymous. Customers participate in surveys because they want to see improvements, so how can you improve service to a specific customer if you don't know who they are?) 

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A client thought they were solution providers until we analysed their customers’ needs. It turned out their customers wanted a solution provider and thought their supplier (my client) was a box dropper; a very nice friendly crowd, but still a box dropper.

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