Measuring Customer Satisfaction
Introduction
In order to have a successful business, there must be customers. Customers are considered those who obtain goods or services. Clients may be viewed as those who seek professional advice or guidance. Those who acquire, or agree to acquire, ownership (in case of goods), or benefit or usage (in case of services), in exchange for money or other consideration under a contract of sale are buyers or purchasers (Business Dictionary Definitions, 2011). However businesses view themselves as having customers, clients, buyers, or purchasers, it is important for them to recognize who they are and what it takes to keep them. Years ago the idea was that satisfied customers had a huge impact on the success or performance of the company. Most researchers defined customer satisfaction in terms of how well the company’s goods or services does compared to the expectations of the customer. Some even view customer satisfaction as a characteristic of a total quality culture in an organization. Studies have found that companies who have a higher percentage rate of keeping their customers are more profitable than those with a lesser percentage rate.
Identification of Best Practices
Per Evans & Lindsey (2009) in Managing Quality, “To create satisfied customers, the organization needs to identify customers’ needs, design the production and service systems to meet those needs, and measure the results as the basis for improvement” (pg. 190). Likewise, if a company wants to engage customers, then they need to build customer loyalty. A loyal customer will do whatever it takes to do business with the company of their choice regardless of the price of the company’s goods or services. An organization has to obtain customer feedback in order to know how well they are meeting the customer’s expectations and if they are in fact building