ABSTRACT

In the United States, where customer satisfaction measurement (CSM) is more mature and companies have several years of trend data, many have developed 'business performance models' enabling them to forecast financial performance from shifts in their CSM data. Some companies have built fully validated models that precisely quantify the relationship between customer satisfaction and various desirable business outcomes from customer retention and recommendation through to sales and profitability. Ideally, employees should be rewarded for achieving high levels of customer satisfaction, enabling them to share in the financial benefits that accrue to the company. Professor Claes Fornell of the University of Michigan Business School, the developers of the Swedish customer satisfaction barometer and American customer satisfaction index, is in no doubt that customer satisfaction is an economic indicator. In view of the overwhelming evidence that customer satisfaction pays, companies would be well advised to measure customer satisfaction regularly, using an approved methodology to ensure a reliable result.