What Other Service Areas Should We Benchmark? (2 of 4)
by Service 800, Inc.

The four-week series includes the following articles:

• What Types of Benchmarks are Available?
  
• How is Customer Satisfaction Different from Customer Loyalty?
  
• Are There Unique Considerations When Measuring Service Satisfaction Abroad?
  
• What Are Some Ways to Overcome Cultural Issues When Measuring Service Satisfaction Abroad?

How is Customer Satisfaction Different from Customer Loyalty?

Knowing how satisfied your customers are is crucial to running your service organization. Another factor that you shouldn’t overlook is customer loyalty, not to be confused with customer satisfaction. Just because your customers are satisfied doesn’t necessarily mean they’re loyal.

“Customer satisfaction is a passive state because customers don’t have to do anything to be satisfied,” stated Dr. William Bleuel, director of the Customer Institute at Pepperdine University.

“Customer loyalty, on the other hand, is an active state requiring a relationship between customer and company where the customer is putting energy back into the relationship,” said Dr. Bleuel. “The transition from a satisfied customer to a loyal customer is a transition from a passive state to an active relationship between the customer and the company providing the product or service.”

“Organizations should be just as concerned with how loyal their customers are as with how satisfied they are,” continued Dr. Bleuel. “Loyal customers are easier to sell to and easier to forecast revenues from.”

The SSPA Customer Loyalty Benchmark is one of the first of its kind designed specifically for the computing technical services industry. Gathering data for the loyalty benchmark is just as simple as it is for the customer satisfaction benchmark. SERVICE 800 uses various follow up techniques to compile answers to questions such as: How do you rate your level of satisfaction with our service? Would you buy from us again? Would you recommend us to a friend or associate? A high score on all questions results in a high customer loyalty score.

Individual organizations who participate in the Customer Loyalty Benchmark can see how they compare to other service companies from a loyalty perspective, determine whether they are healthy or not, and place the appropriate resources into improving their customers’ loyalty.

If you are interested in measuring customer loyalty, the SSPA Customer Loyalty Benchmark is available to all qualified SSPA members.

Next Week - Are There Unique Considerations When Measuring Service Satisfaction Abroad?

To Contact Us — To discuss this topic, any other Benchmark Benefits article, or to provide topic suggestions, please contact Jan DeMatteo at jan@service800.com.

For More Information — For additional information about the SSPA SoftwareMetric Customer Satisfaction Benchmark, SERVICE 800, or other benchmark programs, visit www.service800.com/benchmarkprograms.asp.

About SERVICE 800
Founded in 1989, SERVICE 800 designs and administrators real-time customer satisfaction measurement programs, helping service organizations follow up with their customers within hours or days of service events. The company utilizes a distinctive follow up telephone interview process along with e-mail, web, and other survey techniques to measure customer satisfaction. With offices in Minneapolis and London, SERVICE 800 has been measuring customer satisfaction for corporations throughout the world for over a decade.