Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction referred to in the Business Administration, in sales and in the trading psychology an abstract construct of social research, the most - is described as the difference between customer expectations and satisfaction of needs - if the confirmation / Disco company Tion model is assumed. Customer satisfaction can be considered as the result of a complex comparison process in which the consumer, after the use of a tangible good or service, its subjective experience (actual output) a comparison value ( nominal power ) faces. Exceeds the performance expectations, the customer is very or even extremely satisfied ( delighted ). Compliance to both, he is satisfied (which is for a sustainable customer retention / loyalty too little). If his expectations are not met, it is somewhat or very dissatisfied ( angry ).
Description
The most common measurement approaches for customer satisfaction rely heavily on social science methodology ( see also opinion research, customer satisfaction analysis).
Customer satisfaction is an indicator of the quality of customer loyalty programs and quality management. It plays a central role in the current marketing theory and practice, therefore, the management of customer satisfaction has become a major challenge for many managers, particularly for trade manager. In determining the optimum customer satisfaction customer value is taken into account.
If a customer sees fulfilled his expectations for the performance, so the actual state corresponds to the target state, the customer is satisfied. In this case one speaks of confirmation. If the expectations are exceeded, the customer will be thrilled. Here is also spoken by positive ion disco company. When expectations are not met, however, that the actual performance is below the target performance, the customer is disappointed or is in a state of negative ion disco company. In consideration of learning processes that can occur Learn paradox: " Satisfied first time buyers can become dissatisfied repeat buyers. Dissatisfied first-time buyers may be to satisfied repeat buyers. "
Often, the customer satisfaction is determined via surveys for an operation to find approaches to improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty usually associated. The measurement of customer satisfaction is also required in the context of quality management according to the ISO 9000 series of standards. As a reliable way to monitor customer satisfaction, in Germany the research project Kundenmonitor of Germany.
Consequences of customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is considered an important cornerstone of market-oriented corporate management, because a high level of customer satisfaction leads to a (positive) impact of:
- The willingness to recommend
- The repeat purchase behavior
- The purchase of additional products of the company ("cross -buying readiness " )
- The willingness to pay a higher price for the product
And allows the provider:
- Extension of the target group
- Development of pricing policies
- Optimization of product policy
- Cost advertising for the offered product
- Generating recommendations or references
- Increasing customer loyalty
Satisfied customers can act as active reference, ie they tell others about their positive experiences. In the long term customer satisfaction can be used to economically desirable solidify customer loyalty (brand loyalty or business or store loyalty ). On the other hand, dissatisfied customers for any business a great danger. It has been shown that dissatisfied customers tell their negative experiences significantly more likely than their positive ones. In addition, hiking disappointed customers from the company and switch to another provider. With a good quality assurance and complaint management of this migration can be prevented, customers are bound to a company. Permanent dissatisfied customers can be excluded under certain circumstances by the company (customer exclusion, Demarketing ).
When customer satisfaction plays, among other things, the quality of products or services, and - especially in the trade - the possibility of alternatives products in the assortment a role. Customer satisfaction is perceived by the customer fulfilling both its self-evident expectations (basic factors ) as well as his wishes explicitly expressed ( performance factors). Consequently, then at this point the enthusiasm of factors need to be called that - of Kano were introduced - such as base and performance factors. The latter are those factors with which it is possible to trigger exactly what customers most binds to a company, enthusiasm. You are not expected by the customers and influence the satisfaction therefore exclusively positive. Kano defined next several other factors, but these are for the measurement and management of customer satisfaction is of secondary importance.
Basic requirements
These include all the performance components whose fulfillment the customer ' tacit ' presupposes. The customer assumes that his order (see customer order ) is agreed and timely complied with and that only the services (products) it will be billed were actually provided (supplied ). If they are not met, which makes the customer unhappy. Basic requirements to be kept by the customer for granted. If these are exceeded, the customer shall not rewarded this performance typically.
Performance requirements
It is made by the customer expectations (specifications ) and measurable performance requirements. Do they meet not fully up to expectations, dissatisfaction comes on - the expectations are exceeded, satisfaction increases. Performance requirements ( oral or written surveys ) can be detected with the classical methods of market research.
Dissatisfaction can have two causes: excessive expectations of the customer or poor performance of the provider. In the context of customer relationship management customers are to be identified with inflated expectations and either "transformed " or its own services to be adjusted accordingly (see also Customer Care Concept).
The Customer Experience Management ( CEM) is based on such analyzes in order to create positive customer experiences. This CEM relies not only on direct impacts, such as willingness to buy, sales or the intensity of use, but specifically also to indirect effects such as the word of mouth. Compared to CEM, the Customer Relationship Management (CRM ) is defined less about the actual preferences of individual customers, but more from the company's perspective on dealing with customer data such as Age, location, preferences. Critics of the classical approach see why CRM is a discrepancy between the approach of the company alleged to customer expectations and their actual performances. The use of CEM, however, is more a matter of basic customer orientation of the company.
The distinction between basic factors and performance factors goes back to the two-factor theory ( Herzberg ). In this typology, building developed Kano was named after him Kano model, in which he introduced a number of other factors:
- Enthusiasm requirements (not to be expected by the customer, but if present, estimated)
- Insignificant factors ( be neither expected nor appreciated by the customers, but also not rejected )
- Return Rejected factors (by the customer as absent expected).
Delimitation of static from dynamic customer satisfaction
The dynamic view of customer satisfaction over time constitutes a development of the static view dar. This so-called satisfaction dynamics extends the static view, which satisfaction is considered as a pure aftermarket phenomenon for a process-oriented study of the evolution of satisfaction dynamically over time.
The previously dominant concentration of satisfaction research on statistical analyzes opens up from methodological problems, with the longitudinal analyzes required to study the dynamics of satisfaction.
Customer Satisfaction Index ( Customer Satisfaction Index)
The customer satisfaction index and customer Satisfaction Index is a sophisticated and efficient analytical tool to characterize the development of customer satisfaction. To determine the customer satisfaction index, customer satisfaction is queried with each of the criteria ( the difference between the performance requirements and perceived performance ). In contrast to previous approaches, in modern studies, the importance is not requested but is computed ( to be used for this purpose Korrelations-/Regressions-/Kausalanalysen ). This prevents, for example, a frequently observed effect, the claim inflation (everything is important). In addition, as also the scope of the questionnaire is significantly reduced, since there is not two questions must be asked ( "How important ..." and " How satisfied ..."). The target variable for weighting the loyalty serves. The core sizes as determined actual satisfaction and importance are then incorporated into the calculation of customer satisfaction index ( CLI).
The indicator (KPI ) allows a comparison over several periods in terms of trend analysis and is suitable for internal or external operation comparisons ( benchmarking). In addition, the CLI (Customer Loyalty Index or customer loyalty index) is distinguished.
Other instruments in the customer satisfaction management are the Net Promoter Score and the CSP, Customer Satisfaction Power. CSP, that measure customer satisfaction combined with the expectation of the votes of respondents rating a product or its properties. The basis for the measurement of expectations the Kanopotential, which will be charged for each person interviewed simultaneously with the evaluation of the property.