Measuring Customer Satisfaction

In today's competitive and technology-driven marketplace, it is important that organizations place considerable focus on customer satisfaction if they want to experience growth, create and sustain a competitive advantage, and increase profitability. It is particularly essential for organizations to understand that technology has birthed a new, fast-paced environment and in order to be an industry leader, customer satisfaction must be measured effectively and swiftly.

To aid in product innovation, creative service delivery and business success, it is necessary for organizations to have a practical approach to customer satisfaction measurement. Today's customer has options when it comes to who they receive their products or services from which makes customer satisfaction a significant component of an organization's overall business strategy. Repeat purchases are said to make up nearly 70% of all sales (Griffin, Gleason, Preiss, & Shevenaugh, 1995). Although, the percentage can be debated, there is no debate that sales from repeat customers keep companies in business and typically, repeat customers are usually satisfied customers.

According to Evans & Lindsay, "customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction takes place during moments of truth--every interaction between a customer and the organization" (2009, p. 208). In an effort to measure customer satisfaction, best practices must be identified and implemented. The best practices are those that can be utilized for any industry type and other practices can be added to tailor-fit to a particular organization as they see fit. The following are a number of best practices in measuring customer satisfaction:

* Foster close relationships with customers (Evans & Lindsay, 2011)

* "Measure what matters" (CFI Group and Interactive Intelligence, Inc., 2008, p. 3)

* Design scientific, organization-specific questionnaires (CFI Group and Interactive Intelligence, Inc., 2008)

* Survey with purpose while using the right scale to measure customer satisfaction (CFI Group and Interactive Intelligence, Inc., 2008)

* Timely measurement of customer satisfaction level (following customer experience)

* Utilize technology to simplify (customer satisfaction via surverys, email, call, etc.) process for customer

* Keep surveys short and effective (CFI Group and Interactive Intelligence, Inc., 2008)

The best practices outlined above can be practiced in measuring customer satisfaction for both a service or merchandising organization. As an employee of a commercial insurance company, we provide services to customers through the delivery of insurance coverage via contractual insurance