Driving Satisfaction Is Easy

Driving Customer Satisfaction Is Easy With Effective Strategies.

Here’s How

THREE PROVEN METHODS TO DRIVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Throughout my career I have been able to significantly increase customer satisfaction, in my case patient satisfaction. But these methods will work in any customer centric arena. 

Examples from my career- 

1. Savannah, GA
   • increased patient satisfaction from the 1st percentile (lowest of the low) my first day, to the 82nd percentile, 18 months later.  Despite reducing staff from 198 FTEs to 128!    
2. Virginia
   • grew patient satisfaction from the 15th percentile to the 80th percentile.
3. Arlington, Virginia
   • improved patient satisfaction from the 12th to the 75th percentile in 8 weeks. 
4. Georgia
   • pushed patient satisfaction up from the 5th to the 65th percentile. 

I have never, not dramatically increased customer satisfaction levels as a leader. Here are 3 key methods from me to you.

A. See with the same eyes the customer sees  I asked a food service team them about their customer satisfaction scores. They self reported a stellar 95% satisfaction.  Service delivery and the quality of the food the food was poor. My observations were backed up by comments from 50 customers. spoke with.  I told them they were more like a 10% satisfaction, honest and direct feedback that offended some. I asked, how can you rate yourselves a 95% when your customers think you’re a 10%? You’re never going to improve.  Three months later, when patient surveys were used they were rated an 8%.   

The goal of our team making customer rounds is not to gather compliments. It is to learn what we can improve.  Nobody wants to hear negative feedback, but that’s how we improve. The best internal customer surveyors match customers scores.  They understand the expected standard.  We must see how the customer sees our performance. Only then, when we embrace of short falls, can we improve. 

B. Stop doing this and do more of that.  I listen for 2 things when I speak with customers. What did we do well, so we can do it more often. What can we do differently, so we can stop doing what doesn’t work. 

C. Improve service recovery.  For this example, lets imagine customers have an internal satisfaction scale of 1-5 where 1 is poor, 2 is fair, 3 is moderate, 4 is good and 5 is excellent. When we have disappointed the customer, most businesses understand some type of response is needed.  But, most don’t understand WHAT response is needed. 

For example, if the restaurant got your order wrong and you think of your experience as a 1 on the scale, what is the appropriate response?  My experience is most would say, get them what they ordered, but I would argue that response is a 3 moderate at best.  The least I would expect as a customer is to end up with what I wanted. So, we moved the customer perception needle from a 1 to a 3 at best.  But we’re not looking for 3’s! 

I ask teams I consult with to tell me what a 5 response is.  They tell me, give them the right order, say you are sorry and give them a free drink, which is pretty good, like a 4, but it’s still not a 5!  So, what does a 5 look like? Get their order right, apologize, give them the meal for free, give them a 25% discount on their next meal.  That’s a five!  

But some people will say, that’s too much, you’re going to lose money!  What better incentive to do things right the first time than to have a painful consequence when things go wrong?

In taking the customer experience from a 1 to a 5, you have given the customer a story to share about your greatness. When they share the story, you will gain more customers. When they come back to save 25%, you are earning 75% more than you would have had if they remained unsatisfied.  

Driving Customer Satisfaction Is Easy With Effective Strategies

KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. See with your customer’s eyes, their standards are your standards.
2. Do more of what you do well. Stop doing what you don’t do well. 
3. Improve service recovery- a poor first impression needs an outstanding recovery experience.  

LINKS

https://whatgreatleadersknow.com

https://centerforappreciativeinquiry.net/resources/what-is-appreciative-inquiry-ai/

https://hbr.org/1990/07/the-profitable-art-of-service-recovery