Improving Your Measurement of Customer Satisfaction: : A Guide to Creating, Conducting, Analyzing and Reporting Customer Satisfaction Measurement Programs

Citation

Landrigan, M. (1999), "Improving Your Measurement of Customer Satisfaction: : A Guide to Creating, Conducting, Analyzing and Reporting Customer Satisfaction Measurement Programs", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.1999.16.4.1.2

In the preface, the author states that his goal was “to assemble a book which can serve as a definitive source of customer satisfaction measurement technology′′ and “to provide practitioners and students with a comprehensive text on every issue relevant to conducting, analyzing and reporting smart and effective customer satisfaction surveys′′ (p. xv). He was not indulging in hyperbole. He has achieved this formidable task. This is truly the definitive text that should be required reading for anyone who attempts customer satisfaction measurement (CSM).

The book is organized around a process model “offered as a ‘road map′ of the advocated process′′ (p. 1). The process model divides the text into four areas of focus:

1. 1.

   <L LTYPE=″NUMBER″>

2. 2.

   <LI>(1)Issue discovery

3. 3.

   <LI>(2)Program design

4. 4.

   <LI>(3)Assessing delivery

5. 5.

   <LI>(4)Findings discourse

Chapter 1 presents an extensive background of CSM including historical perspectives, economic support for the practice of CSM, and the key constructs of satisfaction and their interrelationships. There is a good mix of academic theoretical models and demonstrated business practices that reveals the author′s multifaceted background. (Dr Vavra is both a teacher and a practitioner, and this dual perspective is evident throughout the text.) This chapter also includes an interesting discussion of the assignment of responsibility for CSM within the organization. Vavra points out, “if there is today a lack of uniform effort directed toward satisfaction measurement and improvement, it is most likely because of the uncertainty (and lack of uniformity) of which department or discipline within the organization is most responsible for customer satisfaction′′ (p. 30).

The Issue Discovery section offers many practical tips (including software recommendations) on gaining access to customers (Chapter 2), as well as detailed process descriptions for identifying key measurement issues (Chapter 3). The latter section includes internal models and external techniques. All models and techniques presented include logistics, a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages, samples, and reporting suggestions.

The material covered in the Program Design section (Chapter 4) comprises an entire course on questionnaire design. The author presents, in amazing detail, all of the decisions to be made within questionnaire design (e.g. types of questions, the sponsorship issue, trade‐offs among the various data collection methodologies) in a balanced manner. The second half of the chapter addresses the micro considerations when composing a CSM survey tool. The various question types are discussed, and 40 different types of measurement scales are presented. Again, there is an interesting mix of academic support (i.e. reliability and validity constructs) and practical examples (“Actions to Avoid in Writing Survey Questions′′ p. 163) that would be excellent training for a practitioner who did not come from a social sciences research background.

Data collection logistics and CSM analytic tools take center stage in the book′s Delivery section. Chapter 5 acknowledges the ubiquity of satisfaction measurement and offers strategies to address the “desensitized American business community and public′′ (p. 189). The author includes comparisons of field procedures, survey cosmetics, sampling techniques, and data recording. The reader might be tempted to dismiss such minutiae (paper quality and the color of the questionnaire?), but I have found that these are elements that make significant impacts on return rates and compliance.

Chapter 6 takes the details into the realm of statistics and offers a thorough discussion of three basic data analysis categories:

1. 1.

   <L LTYPE=″NUMBER″>

2. 2.

   <LI>(1)Basic (univariate and bivariate) numerical analysis.

3. 3.

   <LI>(2)Advanced numerical analysis.

4. 4.

   <LI>(3)Analysis of verbatim responses.

Vavra stresses the importance of an analytical plan and slips in a mini‐statistical textbook (including salient formulae). The stats, however, are presented in an approachable manner. It was especially helpful to see actual examples of analytic output for many of the multivariate techniques. The areas that might appeal most to the non‐statistician readers are:

1. 1.

   <L LTYPE=″BULLET″>

2. 2.

   <LI>how to select banner variables and how to order them;

3. 3.

   <LI>filtering;

4. 4.

   <LI>risk analysis; and

5. 5.

   <LI>tips on diagramming cause‐and‐effect analyses.

Chapter 7 offers a comprehensive range of graphs and charts that can be utilized for CSM data results. There are many basic and interesting variations, including my personal favorite, the “two‐by‐two′′ or quadrant chart. (I′ve always liked this chart because it presents actionability and precipitates strategy discussions.)

When Vavra moves into the Discourse section, the concepts jump to a higher plane. (One hopes that the managers and executives that could most benefit from a discussion of these ideas had the patience to move through the earlier chapters.) Chapter 8 rolls out the big statistical guns (i.e. factor and cluster analysis, multiple regression, multidimensional scaling, and discriminant analysis). While most practitioners will have a statistician to run and interpret multivariate analyses, they should be knowledgeable about these techniques. For instance, a marketing manager′s ability to grasp the underpinnings of complex statistical analyses and to couple it with a business sensibility will many times complement a more conservative statistician′s interpretation of these results. Most helpful for the practitioner are:

1. 1.

   <L LTYPE=″BULLET″>

2. 2.

   <LI>“decisions you will have to make′′;

3. 3.

   <LI>case examples; and

4. 4.

   <LI>statistical output examples (with interpretations).

Chapter 9 provides specific tools needed to keep CSM relevant by monitoring changes in performance. Vavra not only lays out the factors and events that precipitate change, he suggests a prototypical monitoring program to address them. He, as usual, includes examples and case studies.

The final two chapters are a collection of thought‐provoking discourses on achieving buy‐in of CSM results and the impact of globalization. Almost any of the chapter headings could be journal articles in themselves, as the author addresses such topics as:

1. 1.

   <L LTYPE=″BULLET″>

2. 2.

   <LI>The relationship between satisfaction and profitability;

3. 3.

   <LI>Organizing for improvement;

4. 4.

   <LI>Methods for directing change;

5. 5.

   <LI>Linking satisfaction to employee compensation; and

6. 6.

   <LI>Globalizing satisfaction management.

This book tells the CSM professional what to do and reinforces it through academic references and support, case examples, and restating. Dr Vavra generously shares processes that have worked for him and his expertise, as well as assembling a virtual “panel of experts′′ to weigh in on every conceivable aspect of the CSM process. A reading parallels conversations with social scientists, field supervisors, questionnaire design specialists, statisticians, presentation specialists, and business executives. One caution, however ‐‐ you must have the patience to page through dense text. There are many charts and displays, and headings to help in mining the gems that are thickly sprinkled throughout. The appendices and bibliography add to making this a most comprehensive reference tool. Dr Vavra′s opus would not only make an ideal textbook for both undergraduate and MBA level courses on customer satisfaction measurement, it can serve as a remedial and affirming exercise for the CSM practitioner.