Measure customer satisfaction with online surveys
Measure and analyse customer satisfaction and derive suitable actions: for years, organisations have successfully used the LamaPoll survey tool to measure, evaluate and analyse customer satisfaction. Customer surveys enable companies to gather valuable feedback regularly as part of their quality management.
DIN EN ISO 9001 requires customer satisfaction to be monitored by gathering and analysing information that can help answer the question: “Are we meeting our customers’ expectations?” Identifying customers’ requirements and expectations depends on choosing the right type of survey and measurement method as well as analysing the results correctly. Customers are often unable to provide precise information themselves or can only express their expectations inadequately. Nevertheless, a successful organisation needs the most accurate possible understanding of its customers’ expectations and needs.
Online customer satisfaction surveys are therefore a key part of quality management in companies. Having successfully supported more than 10,000 projects, our team would like to share the concept, methods, experience and significance of customer satisfaction and its analysis. The following sections provide detailed information about customer satisfaction and customer delight, both of which are critical to business success.
Do you need detailed instructions on how to measure customer satisfaction using customer surveys? Download our free white paper here: Customer survey PDF
What is customer satisfaction?
A customer satisfaction survey examines the relationship between customer expectations and the extent to which their needs are met. As customer satisfaction is one of the most important factors in a company’s success or failure, you should assess the current situation regularly.
Satisfied customers are essential to your business and should be a top priority. They remain loyal, are less price-sensitive and, ideally, are willing to recommend your product.
Objectives and benefits of measuring and analysing customer satisfaction:
- Identify customer needs and requirements
- Expand the target audience
- Develop pricing policy
- Increase customer retention
- Optimise products and services
- Strengthen or improve your image
- Monitor quality
- And last but not least: increase customer satisfaction
TIP: Customer satisfaction is one of the most important factors determining a company’s success or failure. Use satisfaction surveys to assess the current situation regularly so that you can respond promptly to changes.
By the way: The LamaPoll survey tool has undergone two assessments, covering both the back end and front end, by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the Alliance for Cyber Security, the Penetration Testing Centre and IS Audit (IS Webcheck).
Create a questionnaire and measure customer satisfaction
Create your own questionnaire to measure customer satisfaction directly. Evaluate the questionnaire to find out whether your customers are satisfied or have identified areas for improvement.
To satisfy and delight your customers, you need to understand their needs. Do not be misled: people often think they know exactly what customers need, but they are just as often mistaken.
With the LamaPoll online survey tool, you can create attractive customer surveys quickly and easily. Adapt the questionnaire to your corporate design, test and launch the survey, and monitor the results in real time. Automatically generated statistics can be filtered and exported with ease. This gives you access to market-relevant information with very little effort, low costs and considerable time savings, enabling you to make informed decisions and prioritise your objectives.
Use customer satisfaction analysis efficiently and effectively
Customer satisfaction analysis provides crucial answers to the most important questions.
For example, how satisfied are your customers with your website? If they answer “less than satisfied” or “not at all satisfied”, you know that you urgently need to consider changing it.
Source: A study published by Statista
Think carefully:
Which customer survey metrics are important to you? How satisfied were your customers a few months ago?
What has changed in your company since then?
To maintain and increase customer satisfaction, you should ask relevant questions, weight them appropriately and interpret the results correctly. Let LamaPoll’s experienced team help you develop and conduct your customer survey. This will help you avoid issues such as overly long questionnaires or ambiguous wording, which could lead to unusable data, frustrated customers and potentially even reputational damage.
Always keep the bigger picture in mind when analysing and measuring customer satisfaction.
Let us see how Willy and Anton use “the problem” to their advantage:
Combra Verpackungssysteme KG on YouTube
What does customer satisfaction depend on?
Customer satisfaction depends on the extent to which customer requirements are met.
Customer requirements are generally divided into basic requirements and performance requirements:
Basic requirements are taken for granted by customers. Fulfilling them does not increase customer satisfaction, but failing to fulfil them leads to dissatisfaction. Customers generally assume that basic requirements will be met and therefore do not mention them explicitly.
» Example: The new car has brakes. Their presence does not increase satisfaction, but the absence of brakes may certainly cause customer dissatisfaction.
Performance requirements, by contrast, are explicitly stated requirements. Customers reward their fulfilment or over-fulfilment with increased satisfaction.
» Example: The new car has leather seats.
Tip: Basic requirements can become performance requirements and vice versa.
Example: Airbags were long considered a performance requirement but are now a basic requirement.
The Kano model of customer satisfaction
The Kano model adds several further factors to the concept of customer satisfaction:
- Delighters are not necessarily expected by customers but are highly valued. A small increase in performance can produce a disproportionate increase in customer satisfaction. Car example: optional equipment or distinctive design.
- Indifferent attributes are neither expected nor valued by customers, but nor are they rejected. Depending on the customer group, examples may include a sunroof or automatic transmission.
- Reverse attributes are expected not to be present and cause dissatisfaction when they are present, although their absence does not create satisfaction. Examples include rust spots or an expired vehicle inspection certificate.
A bipolar customer survey can be used to distinguish between the different types of customer requirement:
The customer answers two differently worded questions about the same attribute: one functional and one dysfunctional.
Functional vs dysfunctional questions
The customer answers two questions about the same attribute:
- How would you feel if your car had brakes?
- How would you feel if your car did not have brakes?
The combination of answers to the functional and dysfunctional questions determines the classification:
- Functional: I expect that + Dysfunctional: That would bother me greatly → Basic attribute
- Functional: I would be very pleased + Dysfunctional: That would bother me greatly → Performance attribute
- Functional: I would be very pleased + Dysfunctional: I do not mind → Delighter
- Functional: I do not mind + Dysfunctional: I do not mind → Indifferent attribute
- Functional: That would bother me greatly + Dysfunctional: I expect that → Reverse attribute
Relevant customer demographic data should be taken into account during analysis.
For example, something generally taken for granted as a basic requirement might be a delighter for men over 50. A performance requirement may already be a basic requirement for one demographic group while another considers it an indifferent attribute.
Customer satisfaction questionnaire templates
Reliable, flexible and GDPR-compliant: our clear recommendation. As a professional football club, we depend on a powerful yet user-friendly survey tool. With LamaPoll, we have found exactly that. We use the tool across the company, both internally for employee surveys and externally for customer and fan surveys. We were particularly impressed by the platform's high flexibility and ease of use. Thanks to hosting in Germany, LamaPoll also meets the highest data protection standards, which is a decisive criterion for us. The customer service is also excellent: enquiries are answered quickly, competently and in a friendly manner. We are completely satisfied and can recommend LamaPoll without reservation.
