If we assume that a company can achieve more turnover by focusing on existing customers and serving them optimally, then it is very important to continuously monitor customer satisfaction. But what is a convenient and quick way for organizations in the leisure industry to independently conduct a small customer satisfaction survey (KTO) among customers or visitors?
by: Dimitri Lahaut
The importance of customer satisfaction surveys
Research shows time and time again that customer satisfaction has a positive impact on a company's profits. How does that work?:
• Satisfied customers are more loyal to a brand or company.
• And loyalty leads to brand loyalty.
• For example, with brand loyalty, a customer is willing to travel a greater distance to obtain the favorite brand.
• The customer is also willing to pay a higher price for the brand he really wants. In addition, it is conceivable that the brand-loyal customer will not quickly switch brands when the competitor conducts a promotional campaign.
• In addition, fewer marketing costs are required to convince brand-loyal customers to (re)purchase a particular service or product.
The survey questions
Customer satisfaction is shaped by several aspects, including price, product and service quality. A survey is needed to measure customer satisfaction with these different aspects. The survey consists of questions that address the various aspects of a service and/or product in a structured manner. I take the satisfaction of moviegoers as an example. The survey can then have the following parts:
Product:
- How do moviegoers rate the sound and picture quality?
- How do moviegoers rate the film programming?
- How do moviegoers assess the accessibility of the cinema (e.g. sufficient parking spaces and public transport)?\
- How do moviegoers evaluate the information regarding film showing times?
- How do cinemagoers assess the extra facilities offered (e.g. gaming, café, DVD shop, etc.)?
- Et cetera
Service quality:
- How do moviegoers rate the service provided by staff (for example at the box office)?
- How do cinemagoers assess hygiene (e.g. in the cinema halls or toilets)?
- How do moviegoers rate the queues?
- Et cetera
Price:
- How do moviegoers rate the buffet prices?
- How do moviegoers rate admission prices?
- Et cetera
The survey questions are mainly 'closed questions'. This means that the participant must choose from a number of fixed answer categories for each survey question. It is therefore necessary that the creator of a survey carefully considers these response categories. Nothing is more annoying for a participant (respondent) if his answer is not included. In any case, it is wise to think carefully about the survey questions. After all, the question can only be asked once. In addition, the survey is also a 'visiting card' of the organization. Customer satisfaction surveys often use statements on which the customer must indicate the extent to which they disagree or agree with the statement. Examples of such survey questions are shown below.
You can find tips for creating a good questionnaire here: http://www.mindz.com/blog/10815/Tips_voor_het_maken_van_goede_vragenlijsten_voor_marktonderzoek
Collecting and processing the answers
This survey must be completed by as many customers or visitors as possible to obtain a representative picture. Keeping the non-response rate low is important in the context of 'self-selection' (motivated people select themselves for research, which means that the results are no longer representative). By drawing up a well-organized invitation and a good survey (which lasts a maximum of 10 minutes), non-response can be kept low. But rewards also motivate people to participate in the survey. Often it's about the idea, try to be creative with it.
Nowadays there are many free tools for conducting customer surveys via the Internet (e.g. SurveyMonkey.com). All you need for this are the email addresses of customers. These customers will then receive an email with an invitation to participate in the survey and a link to the relevant online survey (clearly indicate the purpose of the survey in the email). Of course, it is also possible to conduct the surveys on site by handing out paper versions (for example at the cash register or in the foyer). The paper surveys can also be sent to the customer's home address with the question whether they want to return them after completing them (make sure you have a good and clear accompanying letter). The entrepreneur must of course have the customer's address. The disadvantage of paper surveys is that the research data must somehow be processed into clear tables and graphs (e.g. in Excel). This takes considerably more time than using an online survey tool where graphs are often automatically generated.
What to do with the research results?
There is no point in conducting a customer satisfaction survey without something concrete being done with the survey results (and the report disappearing into the infamous drawer). So action must be taken, but what kind of action? In any case, the measures must be supported by the entire organization. This can be achieved by organizing workshops in which employees are involved. The research results are discussed and discussed during the workshops. The employees themselves map out the most important research results in order to come up with solutions for the causes of the bottlenecks at a later stage. There may also be follow-up research. For example, if it turns out that the prices are considered too high, a so-called price investigation can be conducted. Concepts that are central to price research are: price acceptance, price behavior and price sensitivity. In any case, it is important that management takes the customer satisfaction survey seriously!
Dimitri Lahaut is a Marketing Intelligence Specialist in the leisure industry ( www.bureau-lahaut.nl )