5 Ways Customer Satisfaction Research Can Drive Your Business Forward

There’s a reason customer satisfaction is often the first measure a company considers when it thinks about market research. Not only is customer satisfaction an indicator of a company’s sustainability, it can be a marketing tool, helping a company stand apart from the competition and build relationships while simultaneously reaping the rewards of direct consumer feedback. Here are five ways customer satisfaction research can drive your business forward:

 

It Helps You Evaluate Success

Sure, a company’s performance can be measured by its profits, but often a better indicator of its growth potential is how well it’s satisfying the people it serves. Satisfied customers are usually repeat customers, after all; research shows that “65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers” and that “80% of future profits will come from just 20% of [those!]” Thus, to truly capture growth potential, you need to evaluate how well (or not) your company is satisfying the needs of your current customer base, tweaking your products, policies and practices in response to the things you learn so that the majority of future sales are better insured.

 

It Helps You Manage Problems

Requesting customer feedback is also essential for managing problems. It’s hard to know what you don’t know, so having a finger on the pulse of your customers gives you quantifiable evidence of actual customer experiences and sentiments. Indeed, both current and potential issues can be uncovered during regular customer satisfaction research, allowing you the opportunity to proactively address them before they get out of hand and/or impede sales.

 

It Improves the Customer Experience

Everyone likes to be heard. Conducting customer satisfaction research can drive your business forward by serving as a way to build and market your brand, all at the same time! By asking current customers their opinions, you show you care about them and their experiences with your company. It also provides you with valuable feedback that you can then use to create even better strategies for servicing and retaining customers in the future.

 

It Promotes Innovation

Customer satisfaction research can be a great way to garner ideas about future products and services, as well. Questions about what customers want and need now can be used to anticipate future demand, enabling your company to more accurately predict the products that will and will not work down the line.

 

It Differentiates You from the Competition

All companies should be conducting customer satisfaction research, but they aren’t. Therefore, if you send out a customer satisfaction survey or make a phone call asking for customer opinions, you automatically set yourself apart from a lot of competitors. When done well, your concern about your customers and their opinions will remind them why they like your products and service!

 

Want to Learn More?

Market research is a necessary tool for all business, providing valuable insights that can be used to both assess, as well as promote, a company’s products and services. Customer satisfaction research, in particular, can help you build stronger relationships with the people you serve, making it easier for you to anticipate their future needs. If you would like to learn more about all the benefits that market research offers, please contact our team at Research America.

 

Please feel free to watch our 1-minute explainer video about our customer satisfaction research surveys.  Review samples of our work here.