Customer Satisfaction traditionally is viewed as a function of delivery i.e. what you promised the customer and what was delivered. The aspects judged are product and service interaction with customers with aspects of brand positioning / promise were not factored into into such assessments.
In recent engagements, some of my clients were stumped by an interesting dichotomy
CSAT findings do not indicate any significant quality or service escalations and overall satisfaction scores were high, however the outcomes on advocacy and loyalty (particularly the appetite for new / higher order programs) were muted.
A closer examination of the verbatim comments indicated the influence of brand / positioning is increasing not controlled by traditional marketing channels i.e. testimonials, brochures or corporate videos but rather becoming “Experiential” i.e. perceptions been formed by how firms and personnel deliver, posture of teams in meetings and language i.e. is it skill augmentation, specialized/niche skills , program management or actually delivering advisory.
This leads to an interesting conclusion, not all happy customers are your advocates,
- Some customers believe you are only suited for certain skills (which is harmful in the long term) while they are happy to use you in some scenarios, there remains a risk of switching over to another “premium” service provider.
- There are a subset of customers who actually will bet on you to go the extra mile, so it is important to build on the latter and convince the former to trust you more.
“What got you here won’t get you there – Marshall Goldsmith” While it is good to focus on “Here and Now” in Customer Experience Assessments, it is equally important to keep an eye on the future