Anne Miner

Which of these two options makes better business sense:

1. Let the dis-satisfied customers leave, and invest the energy of your sales team in capturing new customers, or

2. work to resolve their issues and retain the customers you already have?

That’s the question I was asked recently and the answer is, it depends.

It depends on whether the unmet needs, issues and problems experienced by customers fall within the scope of what your business is both willing and able to deliver. If the issues are outside this scope, the best solution may be to help the customer find an alternate supplier. And, in doing so, make a graceful exit from the relationship so that the former customer is an advocate of your organization. If you simply push them out without providing some guidance, you may find the former customer becomes...

The purpose of a business is to satisfy customer demand – that is, to satisfy needs and wants that customers are both willing and able to pay for.

If you are the only source of a particular product or service (e.g., you have a monopoly), or you have your customers firmly bolted down with long-term, water tight contracts, you might be tempted to believe that:

• there is no need for you to concern yourself with customer satisfaction and,
• there is no benefit to your organization to measure customer satisfaction.

And, you may be right – in the short term.

In the short term, you may have customer retention because they have no alternative, as could be the case in a regulated environment, or the cost of switching may be too great, as could be the case with a punitive termination clause in your contract.

What happens when...

A recent question on the Market Research Bulletin, a LinkedIn discussion group, prompted a lengthy and heated discussion about the word “survey” and the negative connotations associated with this word. It all started with the following statement and question, “the word ’survey’ is outdated and has a negative connotation associated with long-boring questionnaires. Can we re-invent another word or phrase that is more sexy and engaging to respondents?”

In order to respond, let’s break this inquiry down into its components   …

First of all, the word ’survey’ is in common use in a variety of industries and is most certainly not outdated. As a noun, a survey is a study, a detailed critical inspection that typically involves measurements and observations. As a verb, to survey, is to inspect, examine, observe, evaluate, typically from multiple viewpoints or angles. None of the dictionaries I consulted made any reference to questionnaire and none gave any indication that this...

In business, there’s a concept called the Pareto Principle, commonly known as “The 80/20 Rule.” The Pareto (or “Pareeto” as some pronounce it) Principle was named after Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who observed that 80% of his country’s land was owned by 20% of the population. Since then, it’s come to represent the concept that a small population can produce the biggest share of just about anything – “a few are vital, many are not.”

How can the 80/20 Rule be used for customer satisfaction measurement?

At The Dunvegan Group, we repeatedly observe that 20 – 25% of a business’ customers represent 75 – 80% of its revenue. Senior executives see these numbers and believe they should be focusing their efforts on satisfying that 20 – 25% of their customer base. It’s a theory that’s applied in many businesses.

At The Dunvegan Group, we’ve seen many...