We all want our customers to be happy with our business. However, when it comes to customer satisfaction measurement, we are often unsure of how to quantify just how well we are doing.
Net Promoter Score
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) asks customers to answer one question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a colleague or friend?” Customers must rate their response on a scale from one to ten. Nines and tens are classified as “promoters.” Zeros to sixes are called “detractors.”
Your NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors. The higher the NPS, the better.
Using Net Promoter Score is a very scientific and methodical way to do customer satisfaction measurement. However, I believe it belongs in a collection of tools and tips you can use at your company.
Do you know your NPS?
Smiley Rank Support
I like the simplicity of 37signals’ Happiness Report. As they state, their goal is happiness, not satisfaction. In an email response from their customer service folks, they give the customer three simple choices to rate the interaction. Was it great, OK, or not good. These easy choices, combined with simple graphics, easily let customers express their opinion.
How could you allow customers to express their level of satisfaction through a simple tool or interface?
Product Reviews and Ratings
Product reviews and ratings are great forums for you to see what people think about your offerings. These can be hosted on your own website or on other online stores or review sites. Keep in mind that reviews tend to bring out those most polarized by your products. You’ll likely get reviews on the extremes of the spectrum: stellar reviews and very negative reviews with few in the middle.
Monitor what is being said in these reviews and adjust your products and service accordingly. Remember, that customer satisfaction measurement doesn’t just have to be done on your site. Look everywhere your products are being discussed.
Where are people reviewing your products? What are they saying?
Monitor Customer Sentiment
Social media offers an always-on way to see what your customers are saying about you. You can use sites like Twitter and Facebook to provide direct customer service. However, you can also analyze what is being said by others on these same platforms to see if the overall sentiment toward your company and products is positive or negative.
Track the types of comments made on social media and classify them into positive and negative buckets. This will let you start to see patterns in what others are saying about you.
What are people saying about you right now?
Customer Satisfaction Measurement Starts Now
The first step to measure your customer satisfaction is to start asking. As discussed above, this can be through simple surveys or questions you give your customers.
The important thing is that you start measuring today. Customer satisfaction measurement takes some time but it will give you more clarity into how you are performing in the eyes of your customers.