Why is customer satisfaction important?

To successfully launch products or services and encourage repeat purchases, companies must build trust and foster strong connections, commonly known as "customer loyalty." By understanding customer satisfaction with their products or services, companies can pinpoint areas of dissatisfaction and opportunities for improvement. Implementing appropriate measures based on this feedback helps prevent customer attrition and enhances customer loyalty.

What is a Customer Satisfaction Survey?

"Customer loyalty" refers to customers' trust and attachment toward products or services, essentially becoming "fans." Enhancing customer loyalty can lead to reduced churn rates, increased repeat purchases, and more recommendations to others. Thus, it is a vital element directly impacting a company's revenue. One key metric for measuring this loyalty is Customer Satisfaction (CS), often referred to as a CS survey.

As a company that sells products and provides services, we are always concerned about whether our products and services satisfy our customers or meet their expectations. A customer satisfaction survey is a survey conducted to understand these aspects. By collecting data through these surveys and analyzing it quantitatively, companies can identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement in their products or services. Leveraging this data in product development and marketing strategies can help attract new customers and boost the loyalty of existing ones.
 

Insights from a Customer Satisfaction Survey

By conducting a customer satisfaction survey, companies can primarily gain insight into the following areas.

Examples of what you can identify through a customer satisfaction survey:

• Variations in satisfaction among customer segments: differences based on gender, age, and region.
• Distinguishing "repeat customers" from "one-time buyers": exploring the reasons behind repeated purchases or their absence.
• Variations in customer satisfaction based on purchase location: contrasting company responses between in-store and online shopping experiences.

Leveraging the survey results to improve products, services, and marketing strategies can lead to lower churn rates, increased repeat purchases, higher customer spending, and more recommendations and positive reviews.

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Failures in Customer Satisfaction Surveys and the Causes

Many companies conduct these surveys, yet often, the results are not utilized effectively, leading to wasted opportunities.

For example, the following situations may arise after conducting a survey:

• Despite improvements being implemented, a subsequent customer satisfaction survey showed no increase in ratings.
• Sales teams or stores feel customer satisfaction has improved, but the results do not reflect this.
• The customer satisfaction survey shows high ratings, but sales remain stagnant or even decline.

These issues often stem from the following causes.

Causes for Failure in Customer Satisfaction Surveys

1. No actions are taken to improve customer satisfaction after the survey.
2. The survey is conducted as a one-off, with no follow-up to verify the effectiveness of actions.
3. The survey is conducted without setting hypotheses.
4. The survey design does not align with the established hypotheses.
5. Inappropriate metrics are used.

If you feel the survey results could be more effectively utilized, it is essential to review the causes and identify key points to avoid failure.

Below are essential points to help avoid failure.
 

Key Points for Conducting an Effective Customer Satisfaction Survey

• Formulate hypotheses before the customer satisfaction survey: Clearly define the purpose of the survey, such as identifying reasons for sluggish sales.
• Use appropriate metrics to measure customer satisfaction: Determine target attributes, such as usage period, age, and gender.
• Design the survey based on hypotheses: Develop questions focused on satisfaction, along with attributes and repeat purchase intentions.
• Implement improvement actions after the survey: Address identified issues to improve products or services.
• Verify actions: Test hypotheses and conduct ongoing customer satisfaction surveys to ensure continuous improvement.

With these five points in mind, companies can design well-suited survey methods to measure customer satisfaction effectively.
 

Common Methods in Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys employ various quantitative and qualitative research methods. In quantitative research, internet surveys are frequently utilized; in qualitative research, group interviews are commonly conducted.

Quantitative Research: Internet Surveys

This method involves collecting data by having qualified respondents’ complete questionnaires online. Internet surveys are a mainstream approach in quantitative research due to their cost-effectiveness, quick turnaround, and flexibility regarding time and location.

Qualitative Research: Group Interviews

Group interviews gather opinions and ideas through discussions on specific themes. Typically, a group consists of 6 to 8 participants and a moderator who facilitates the session.

In short, quantitative research is a type of survey that presents results in numerical forms, such as trends, percentages, and volumes. Since the results are numerical, it is easier to interpret, aggregate, and compare data. Qualitative research, on the other hand, captures individual feelings and thoughts such as “Why did you choose to do that?” These insights are not readily quantified and are instead articulated through words. Choosing between these methods based on the item you want to investigate is a wise approach.

Steps and Key Points for Creating a Customer Satisfaction Survey

The main flow of a customer satisfaction survey follows these steps:

Let us follow these steps to conduct an effective survey.

1: Formulate Hypotheses — Clearly define what needs to be investigated and establish hypotheses.

2: Create the Questionnaire — Develop survey items and response options based on the hypotheses.

3: Conduct the Survey — Conduct the survey with the selected participants.

4: Compile and Report Data — Perform simple tabulations, cross-tabulations, and other analyses to evaluate the hypotheses.

5: Implement Actions — Based on the results, determine improvement actions, and set priorities.

6: Measure Effectiveness — Assess the impact of improvement actions.

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Conduct an Effective Customer Satisfaction Survey!

Many companies incorporate customer satisfaction surveys into their marketing efforts, but only some implement them systematically. By accurately managing customer satisfaction surveys, you can grow your customer base and lead your business to success.

At GMO Research & AI, we offer solutions like "Quick Survey" which allows you to create and distribute a survey to local consumers, collecting the necessary data in as little as one business day. We also provide "Custom Survey" which leverages one of the largest consumer networks in the Asia-Pacific region to collect targeted user data and deliver fast analysis reports.