SME survey

Do you know how happy your customers are?

80% of companies say they deliver “superior” customer service. When the same question is asked from customers, only 8% of people think these same companies are really delivering! (Source: Bain & Company). This is quite a shocking statistic and shows the disconnect between how companies think they are doing compared with the actual feedback from their customers.

So, this survey dipped its toe in that particular pool to see what some business owners said (60 respondents). As can be seen in figure 1, when asked “Do you know how happy your customers are?” – 91.7% indicated that they did.

The subsequent question: “How do you know?”, was asked to establish if there was any direct correlation with what business owners thought and what the reality was. Particularly based on the above statistic.

Figure 2 indicates the different methods used to obtain customer feedback to justify the thoughts of 91.7% of respondents. (Please note – those that answered the survey could choose any of the options and suggest their own methods). Encouragingly, it seems that the majority of businesses that took part in this survey are actively getting feedback from their customers so that they can keep on track to provide the customer service levels expected by purchasers of their product/service.

Referring once again to the opening statistic, if you only perceive that you are providing excellent customer service and are not actively seeking feedback to confirm that; then maybe the first indication you will get is your customers going elsewhere. After all, you are only as good as your last sale. Avoid that by utilising some of the methods the contributors to the survey are undertaking.

Figure 1 Figure2

Get involved

To take part in the next survey about vision, mission and values – visit here: https://forms. gle/oFcR2eZx7LCk8qiv6. The results will be shared in the next edition of this magazine.