The basic concept of business-to-business CRM is
often described as allowing the larger business to be as responsive to the
needs of its customer as a small business. In the early days of CRM this became
translated from "responsive" to "reactive". Successful
larger businesses recognize that they need to be pro-active in finding
[listening to] the views, concerns, needs and levels of satisfaction from their
customers. Paper-based surveys, such as those left in hotel bedrooms, tend to
have a low response rate and are usually completed by customers who have a
grievance. Telephone-based interviews are often influenced by the Cassandra
phenomenon. Face-to-face interviews are expensive and can be led by the interviewer.
INTRODUCTION
CRM is based on the premise that, by having a better understanding of the
customers' needs and desires we can keep them longer and sell more to them.Info Quest performed a statistical analysis of Customer Satisfaction data encompassing the findings of over 20,000 customer surveys conducted in 40 countries by InfoQuest.
The conclusions of the study were: -
A Totally Satisfied Customer contributes 2.6 times as much revenue to a company as a Somewhat Satisfied Customer.
A Totally Satisfied Customer contributes 14 times as much revenue as a Somewhat Dissatisfied Customer.
A Totally Dissatisfied Customer decreases revenue at a rate equal to 1.8 times what a Totally Satisfied Customer contributes to a business.
Consider the following situations...
A large, international hotel chain wanted to
attract more business travelers. They decided to conduct a customer
satisfaction survey to find out what they needed to improve their services for
this type of guest. A written survey was placed in each room and guests were
asked to fill it out. However, when the survey period was complete, the hotel
found that the only people who had filled in the surveys were children and
their grandparents!
WHY?
Business travelers don't have the time or the
interest in participating in this kind of survey!
A large manufacturing company conducted the first
year of what was designed to be an annual customer satisfaction survey. The
first year, the satisfaction score was 94%. The second year, with the same
basic survey topics, but using another survey vendor, the satisfaction score
dropped to 64%. Ironically, at the same time, their overall revenues doubled!
WHY?
The questions were simpler and phrased
differently. The order of the questions was different. The format of the survey
was different. The targeted respondents were at a different management level.
The Overall Satisfaction question was placed at the end of the survey.
Although all customer satisfaction surveys are
used for gathering peoples' opinions, survey designs vary dramatically in
length, content and format. Analysis techniques may utilize a wide variety of
charts, graphs and narrative interpretations. Companies often use a survey to
test their business strategies, and many base their entire business plan upon
their survey's results. BUT...troubling questions often emerge.
Are the results always accurate? ...Sometimes
accurate? ...At all accurate? Are there "hidden pockets of customer
discontent" that a survey overlooks? Can the survey information be trusted
enough to take major action with confidence?
As the examples above show, different survey
designs, methodologies and population characteristics will dramatically alter
the results of a survey. Therefore, it behooves a company to make absolutely
certain that their survey process is accurate enough to generate a true
representation of their customers' opinions. Failing to do so, there is no way
the company can use the results for precise action planning.
The characteristics of a survey's design, and the
data collection methodologies employed to conduct the survey, require careful
forethought to ensure comprehensive, accurate, and correct results. The
discussion on the next page summarizes several key "rules of thumb"
that must be adhered to if a survey is to become a company's most valued
strategic business tool.
QUESTION TYPES
Survey questions should be categorized into three
types:
Overall Satisfaction question - "How
satisfied are you overall with XYZ Company?"
Key Attributes - satisfaction with key areas of
business, e.g. Sales, Marketing, Operations, etc.
Drill Down - satisfaction with issues that are
unique to each attribute, and upon which action may be taken to directly remedy
that Key Attribute's issues.
The Overall Satisfaction question is placed at
the end of the survey so that its answer will be affected by a more in depth
thinking, allowing respondents to have first considered answers to other
questions.
QUESTION DESIGN
A survey, if constructed properly, will yield a
wealth of information. The following design elements should be taken into
account:
First, the survey must be kept to a reasonable
length. Over 60 questions in a written survey will become tiring. Anything over
8-12 questions begins taxing the patience of participants in a phone survey.
Second, the questions should utilize simple
sentences with short words.
Third, questions should ask for an opinion on
only one topic at a time. For example, the question, "how satisfied are
you with our products and services?" cannot be effectively answered because
a respondent may have conflicting opinions on products versus services.
Fourth, superlatives such as
"excellent" or "very" should not be used in questions. Such
words tend to lead a respondent toward an opinion.
Fifth, "feel good" questions yield
subjective answers on which little specific action can be taken. For example,
the question "how do you feel about XYZ Company’s industry position?"
produces responses that are of no practical value in terms of improving an
operation.
THE PERILS OF PAPER
Though the fill-in-the-dots format is one of the
most common types of survey, there are significant flaws, which can discredit
the results. For example, all prior answers are visible, which leads to
comparisons with current questions, undermining candor. Second, some
respondents subconsciously tend to look for symmetry in their responses and
become guided by the pattern of their responses, not their true feelings.
Third, because paper surveys are typically categorized into topic sections, a
respondent is more apt to fill down a column of dots within a category while
giving little consideration to each question. Some INTERNET surveys,
constructed in the same "dots" format, often lead to the same
tendencies, particularly if inconvenient sideways scrolling is necessary to
answer a question.
In a survey conducted by Xerox Corporation, over
one third of all responses were discarded because the participants had clearly
run down the columns in each category rather than carefully considering each
question.
TELEPHONE SURVEYS Though a telephone survey
yields a more accurate response than a paper survey, they may also have
inherent flaws that impede quality results, such as:
First, when a respondent's identity is clearly
known, concern over the possibility of being challenged or confronted with
negative responses at a later date produces a strong positive bias in their
replies (the so-called "Cassandra Phenomenon".)
Second, studies have shown that people become
friendlier as a conversation grows longer, thus influencing question responses.
Third, human nature says that people like to be
liked. Therefore, gender biases, accents, perceived intelligence, or compassion
all influence responses. Similarly, senior management egos often emerge when
trying to convey their wisdom.
Fourth, telephone surveys are intrusive on a
senior manager's time. An unannounced phone call may create an initial negative
impression of the survey. Many respondents may be partially focused on the
clock instead of the questions. Optimum responses are dependent upon a
respondents' clear mind and free time, two things that senior management often
lacks. In a recent multi-national survey where targeted respondents were
offered the choice of a phone or other methods, ALL chose the other methods.
Taking precautionary steps, such as keeping the
survey brief and using only highly-trained callers who minimize idle
conversation, will help minimize the aforementioned issues, but will not
eliminate them.
o THE NEED FOR A HIGH RESPONSE RATE
The objective of a survey is to capture a
representative cross-section of opinions throughout a group of people.
Unfortunately, unless majorities of the people participate, two factors will
influence the results:
First, negative people tend to answer a survey
more often than positive because human nature encourages "venting"
negative emotions. A low response rate will generally produce more negative
results (see drawing).
Second, a smaller percentage of a population is
less representative of the whole. For example, if 12 people are asked to take a
survey and 25% respond, then the opinions of the other nine people are unknown
and may be entirely different. However, if 75% respond, then only three
opinions are unknown. The other nine will be more likely to represent the
opinions of the whole group. One can assume that the higher the response rate,
the more accurate the snap-shot of opinions.
THE ACCURACY OF TERMS
Totally Satisfied vs. Very Satisfied
......Debates have raged over the scales used to depict levels of customer
satisfaction. In recent years, however, studies have definitively proven that a
"totally satisfied" customer is between 3 and 10 times more likely to
initiate a repurchase, and that measuring this "top-box" category is
significantly more precise than any other means. Moreover, surveys which
measure percentages of "totally satisfied" customers instead of the
traditional sum of "very satisfied" and "somewhat
satisfied," provide a much more accurate indicator of business growth.
Other Scale issues.....There are other rules of thumb
that may be used to ensure more valuable results:
Many surveys offer a "neutral" choice
on a five-point scale for those who might not want to answer a question, or for
those who are unable to make a decision. This "bail-out" option
decreases the quantity of opinions, thus diminishing the survey's validity.
Surveys that use "insufficient information," as a more definitive
middle-box choice persuade a respondent to make a decision, unless they simply
have too little knowledge to answer the question.
Scales of 1-10 (or 1-100%) are perceived
differently between age groups. Individuals who were schooled using a
percentage grading system often consider a 59% to be "flunking."
These deep-rooted tendencies often skew different peoples' perceptions of
survey results.
SOME ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
There are a few additional details that can
enhance the overall polish of a survey. While a survey should be an exercise in
communications excellence, the experience of taking a survey should also be
positive for the respondent, as well as valuable for the survey sponsor.
First, People - Those responsible for acting upon
issues revealed in the survey should be fully engaged in the survey development
process. A "team leader" should be responsible for ensuring that all
pertinent business categories are included (up to 10 is ideal), and that
designated individuals take responsibility for responding to the results for
each Key Attribute.
Second, Respondent Validation - Once the names of
potential survey respondents have been selected, they are individually called
and "invited" to participate. This step ensures the person is willing
to take the survey, and elicits an agreement to do so, thus enhancing the
response rate. It also ensures the person's name, title, and address are correct,
an area in which inaccuracies are commonplace.
Third, Questions - Open-ended questions are
generally best avoided in favour of simple, concise, one subject questions. The
questions should also be randomized, mixing up the topics, forcing the
respondent to be continually thinking about a different subject, and not
building upon an answer from the previous question. Finally, questions should
be presented in positive tones, which not only helps maintain an objective and
uniform attitude while answering the survey questions, but allows for uniform
interpretation of the results.
Fourth, Results - Each respondent receives a
synopsis of the survey results, either in writing or - preferably - in person.
By offering at the outset to share the results of the survey with each
respondent, interest is generated in the process, the response rate increases,
and the company is left with a standing invitation to come back to the customer
later and close the communication loop. Not only does that provide a means of
dealing and exploring identified issues on a personal level, but it often
increases an individual's willingness to participate in later surveys.
AND FINALLY
A well structured customer satisfaction survey
can provide a wealth of invaluable market intelligence that human nature will
not otherwise allow access to. Properly done, it can be a means of establishing
performance benchmarks, measuring improvement over time, building individual
customer relationships, identifying customers at risk of loss, and improving overall
customer satisfaction, loyalty and revenues. If a company is not careful,
however, it can become a source of misguided direction, wrong decisions and
wasted money.
InfoQuest Customer Relationship Management
Limited, based in the U.K.,
has an international network that conducts comprehensive customer and employee
satisfaction surveys, using such pioneering techniques as the ConSensor Survey
Device, Neural Network Analysis (ProfitMaxsm), and our proprietary Revenue
Index. InfoQuest has delivered over 70,000 surveys in 52 countries in 20
languages. It is seen by its customers as being the most cost-effective,
efficient and actionable business-to-business customer satisfaction survey
technique available.
