Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) – Why Is It a Myth?

Do you consider ‘a satisfied customer’ to be the greatest mark of success?

At present, when every 9 out of 10 companies are competing on customer experience rather than price, customer satisfaction metrics are thrown around a lot. As we will learn in the following paragraphs, this obsessive focus on CSAT is misplaced.

Companies strive to deliver delightful experiences and turn their customers into enthusiastic brand ambassadors. Unsurprisingly, many of them talk to media as if their goal is to increase customer satisfaction. For them, it is a tool of advancing business. Not an effective one, though.

Although they are different, people often mistake customer satisfaction with customer loyalty. Satisfaction is a measure of what consumers say, and loyalty records what they actually do.

The market is shifting towards a subscription economy and this is transforming the way customers shop. Consumers nowadays have more choices than ever. Your customers might be content with your product or service today, but that is no guarantee that they will buy from you tomorrow. Because of this unpredictable behavior, it is virtually impossible to achieve customer satisfaction all the time for all the customers. Recent studies by neuroscientists, including Antonio Damasio, have shown that emotion, rather than logic, has more influence on purchase decisions. Thus, the only option you have to work on is ‘customer engagement’. An effective customer engagement program will certainly help you during each stage of the customer lifecycle.

Focusing on the experience of each customer is the key for companies looking to differentiate themselves from their competition.

How can you improve customer engagement?

The following are some ways:

• Deliver more than just a good experience.
• Grant your customers the independence to seek support through the channels they prefer; such as online communities.
• Be customer-centric. Here are three ways to do that:
  • Shift dominant KPIs from efficiency to empathy.
  • Provide your support team the freedom to connect with customers individually.
  • Utilize data to personalize customer experiences.

Several surveys point out that the customers, who are emotionally engaged with your brand are 3X more likely to recommend your product/services and make a future purchase with you. Brands nowadays need to provoke positive emotions in customers to enjoy more loyalty and benefit from word-of-mouth marketing in a long run.A greater interaction and communication between your service and marketing teams can help your brand stand out for being human, available, and fun. They will keep customers returning for repeat experiences. Customers who are satisfied are yours for the moment; customers who are delighted are yours for life.Work on customer requirement and strive to meet it. Put extra efforts and try to exceed expectations, especially when you are expecting repeat business.

The so-called ‘Customer Satisfaction Surveys’ are primarily done to evaluate the extent to which an organization has met customer expectations. The questions need to be designed to check if the stipulated and implied requirements are met. Never ask the customer if he or she is satisfied lest you find yourself in the stockpile of confusing responses.

Not the least, we should continue to use the word ‘satisfaction’ until we invent a more precise word to camouflage our real business goals.Supercharge your business processes and deliver your customers an impeccable experience. We can help you with that.