Exceeding Customer Expectations—Step 4: Assure Satisfaction

80% of companies say they deliver superior customer service, but only 8% of these customers think the same companies deliver superior customer service. This statistic indicates that we're often out of touch with our customer's perceptions. We simply assume that our customer is satisfied and happy.

The last step in our model for exceeding customer expectations is to assure satisfaction. We do this in two ways, by asking for feedback and measuring satisfaction. The best way to know if our customers are satisfied is to ask them. You could consider sending satisfaction surveys or reaching out via phone or email and asking, "How are things going?"

For example, one key metric used in several organizations is a customer satisfaction score. We get that score from a very basic question like, "How would you rate your experience interacting with our sales, customer service, support department?" Your customers can answer on a scale from very unsatisfactory to very satisfactory. It's a simple metric that can provide insight into a customer specific experience.

A net promoter score is also used by companies to see if their customers would recommend their services to others. This is a great indicator of customer loyalty. A great way to connect with customers is via surveys. These surveys could be delivered via email, live chat, or via phone. Assuring satisfaction doesn't have to be difficult. The key is to connect with your customers in some way and let them know that we like their feedback and input on the service.

Secondly, think about the measures you have in place. Things like service level, customer retention numbers, average response time, time spent with customers, et cetera. Help us understand how we're being successful. You could also look at things like social media mentions. As we know, social media has had an immense impact on the relationship between the business and the customer.

Bottom line, we must have some way to know how we're doing and how the service we provide is perceived.