Checklist Description

Each interaction between company and customer is the moment of truth defining the customer's single, lasting impression of the company. This impression determines whether they will remain your customer. This checklist shows how to conduct a customer-measurement exercise.

Checklist

1. Collect customer satisfaction information:

   • regular contact (sales/post-sales calls)

   • call-centre analysis (types of query, complaints)

   • repeat business

   • questionnaire/survey (careful on the psychology of this)

   • number of returns in warranty period

   • spread of returns after warranty period.

2. Set up some product or service quality indicators as follows:

   • determine the 5-20 factors where customer perceives failure in product/service

   • weight them according to how annoying the customer views them (some more severe than others)

   • on a week-by-week, month-by-month basis, count the failures, multiply them by the severity factor and broadcast them internally so people can see how you are doing

   • the ultimate objective is zero across the 5-20.

3. Analyse the level of customer-aware activities across your area of operations. For each of the following, identify where the customer is delighted and, if you were talking to a customer, determine in which area they would like you to do better:

   • capacity forecasting volumes, stock levels, operators/staffing levels

   • order capture distribution channels, simplicity, opening times

   • pricing value for money

   • purchasing availability, lead times, payment methods (e.g. have-now-pay-later)

   • manufacture quality of material, quality of assembly, tested

   • product sufficiently featured, customizable, easy to install, easy to use