Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Introduction

Quality management is the tool, by which customer satisfaction is acknowledged, measured and ultimately provides a methodology that allows an organization to create a product or service to satisfy a need. However, satisfaction cannot be obtained without understanding your target market and your client's desires. Several methods of measurement have existed to assess customer satisfaction and is one of the few remaining ways of an organization can gain a competitive advantage in this economy. As the United States has transitioned from an agricultural society to a manufacturing center and now, a service oriented work force, measuring and understanding customer satisfaction is of greater importance. The changing economy has exposed many issued laden within the mortgage industry as a collective but also provides a vast opportunity for improvement in quality management. My employer, CitiMortgage, is the 4th largest mortgage servicer in the nation with over 4.3 million customers and an unlimited segment of potential clients that are home owners. Improved quality is a way for the organization to grow in these trying times.

Identification of best practices

The net promoter score or NPS is used to measure customer satisfaction and understanding the perceived value of the organization to the client. NPS ask the client to respond to the question, "How likely are you to recommend our organization to a friend or colleague?" The response to the previous question is categorized on a scale of 0 to 10. A NPS score of 9 or 10 identifies those clients who are most likely to recommend the organization to another individual. A rating between 7 and 8 identify those who were satisfied with the process but unlikely to positively or negatively influence buying habits of those close to the consumer and are also considered passive clients. Lastly, scores ranging from 0 to 6 indicate "detractors" or clients who are more likely to speak vocally about any negative experiences. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) is a form of performance measurement related to a specific described goal and applying KPI is reflects the company's mission and focus. KPI takes raw data and interprets the information into several main categories or key indicators such as quantitative, practical, directional, actionable, or financial. To maximize the effectiveness of KPI measurements, an organization must have clearly defined goals, requirements, expectations, it must be measureable, and the ability to trigger the desired results. This idea is further described by KPI's S.M.A.R.T. acronym that stands for Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time.

Other general methods exist like round tables, mystery shoppers, interviews, comment cards, online surveys, POS audits, observation, competitor studies, immediate transaction feedback, and external and internal feedback from stakeholders.

Linkage to your organization's practices

My organization measures a client's NPS at the beginning as well as the end of the process to gain understanding on how their experience and service level evolved over the process. The first NPS feedback is based on the clients experience with a mortgage consultant who guides the client towards the best program while a second survey is requested from the client upon the completion of the customers finance request. The two tier approach allows my organization to monitor the consistency of service levels throughout the process. This is extremely important for business since the initial contact is incentivized incrementally based on the origination