For all companies, the importance of customer satisfaction (or CSAT) is obvious. Without customers, a company does not exist and if customers are not satisfied, the company will not grow. That makes sense. But what would you say if we told you that customer satisfaction is much more than that? That it is even an essential part of your business. Let’s go through it.
We live in a hyper-competitive world. And it is becoming difficult for companies to succeed without standing out from the crowd. Even with a good product or service.
On top of this, customers are becoming more and more demanding, and this is not going to stop. Several marketing studies have shown the importance of CSAT through reviews. Indeed, a single unresolved negative experience is only repaired with 12 positive ones. This is huge. And in today’s business environment, you can lose a client forever just with one negative review. Because people are less comprehensive toward bad experiences than before.
What is Customer Satisfaction?
The long-term success of a company is not only based on its revenue. It comes above all from customer retention. If your customers stay, your company will continue to grow and be successful. It’s a circular process. It shows you the importance of customer satisfaction. If you value and care about your customers, you can expect them to do the same for you.
Customer Satisfaction, a Simple Definition
Customer satisfaction is a marketing metric. It can be defined as the level of customer satisfaction with a company’s service or product. The spectrum is wide. It can include the product itself, its functionalities, as well as a service like customer service, for example.
This metric is useful in many areas and really contributes to the success of a company. It really should be part of your strategy because it can simply make you earn a lot. A satisfied customer is a loyal customer. But also, one that will make you reach a wider audience through word of mouth. Do you get the importance of CSAT? It’s worth it.
The Importance of Customer Satisfaction
As we have already said, the success of a company is closely linked to customer satisfaction. And even more today, when many businesses claim to be customer-centric. Even if it seems obvious, take care of your customers and they will take care of you.
But the importance of customer satisfaction comes also from other reasons.
Let’s go through them together:
Create Customer Loyalty
Even if getting new customers is important, keeping the existing ones satisfied is a major growth lever. Because happy customers are customers who can buy from you again. Bain & Co, the creators of the NPS®, did a study. It shows that “5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit”. This is huge. But for this to be possible and for your existing customers to become loyal, they must be satisfied. We have come full circle.
In short, to avoid losing your customers, always make sure that your customers are satisfied and stay satisfied. Surveys can help you check the status of your business. And, to keep them satisfied, all means are good. Ask their feedback about a well-functioning product, attentive customer service, helpful support, user-friendly website, welcoming store… Everything that is valuable to them.
Differentiate From the Competition
In a hyper-competitive market, giving importance to CSAT is key.
If you had a recommendation for a company or a product, would it influence your opinion? Probably. And positive feedback definitely comes from a good customer experience. In other words, if you provide a great customer experience, you create an environment where satisfaction is high. And, therefore, where there are a lot of company’s defenders.
A PwC study revealed that “73% of all people point to customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions”. For a product as well as for a service. Millennials even trust online reviews as much as friends and family. And for 72% of customers, they won’t even take action until they read the reviews. And it is sure that these statistics will continue to rise.
Customer satisfaction can help you to measure the satisfaction of your existing customers. And therefore also to differentiate yourself from the competition for new customers. And this is not unimportant.
Avoid Customer Churn
Obviously, every self-respecting business wants to keep its customers and, above all, not lose any. Focusing on the importance of CSAT can help you reduce customer churn.
In addition, according to an Accenture study, the main reason for customer turnover is the poor quality of customer service. And not the product’s price.
Furthermore, in 2018, Microsoft shows that 61% of respondents to a survey have switched brands because of poor customer service. And this is not going to stop.
A satisfied customer is a customer who trusts you. So highlight the importance of customer and focus on customer satisfaction to avoid losing them. And there are tools to help you measure customer satisfaction simply and efficiently, such as satisfaction surveys.
Help Smart Business Choices
To run a business, there is a lot to do and think about. And if you are looking to grow, the challenges multiply even more.
What if customer satisfaction could, once again, help you? Well, if you want to be sure that you are in tune with the market, who can advise you best? Your customers, of course! Consider a product launch, improvements of an existing one, marketing campaigns or customer service enhancements… Always ask your customers what they think. And there are many ways to do this through surveys. You will take the right direction, adjust what is not working and maybe even get new ideas
Attract New Customers & Minimise Negative Word-of-mouth
It is clear that customer satisfaction allows you to reduce customer churn and therefore to have loyal customers. But these same customers can also become your best ambassadors. Let’s take a look at this.
If your customers are satisfied, they will recommend your company and your services. And any publicity is good publicity. Especially when you know how important reviews are to consumers’ decisions. According to a Nielsen study, 92% of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family more than any marketing activities. And 70% put their trust in opinions they find online.
On the other hand, negative reviews should not be taken lightly. Their influence on a company’s reputation is considerable and negative word-of-mouth can quickly become your worst nightmare.
According to McKinsey’s research, a single dissatisfied customer will tell 9 to 15 people about his or her bad experience. Put that on a company-wide scale … the impact can quickly become catastrophic. And even more at a digital level. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos illustrated it very well: “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” It is clear that customer churn will always exist. But it is essential to avoid dissatisfied customers and negative word of mouth. In other words, take care of your customers, they will give you back.
What’s Now?
Give importance to and focus on improving customer satisfaction (CSAT) is definitely valuable for every business which wants to succeed.
Taking care of your customers and making sure you are always improving their satisfaction will bring you many benefits. First, your customers will remain your customers. And, while differentiating yourself from the competition, you may even attract new customers. From a business point of view, making the importance of customer satisfaction central will also help you make more informed decisions.
To find out the level of customer satisfaction, you need to measure it. And there are many tools to help you do this, such as satisfaction surveys. You can choose between several types of surveys on Naxai, our online platform: NPS ®, CSAT or CES surveys. The choice is yours, but with Naxai, it is simple, fast and efficient. The question now is: what are you doing for your customer satisfaction? One thing is certain, do something now 👉 we are here to help!
