4 Metrics You Need To Track to Measure Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty

Measuring the satisfaction of your customers is a tricky business because, for the most part, they are not going to come right out and tell you. However, there are several ways that you can employ to gauge their satisfaction and address any problems that may have arisen.

One of the most valuable resources a business can have is conducting surveys and is, in fact, one of the very few ways to effectively collect customer satisfaction. While you most likely already knew that, are you using all of the metrics available to you?

The Metrics

More often than not, businesses continue to measure customer satisfaction using wrong or insufficient metrics. Measuring the right customer satisfaction metrics, on the other hand, can help you promptly know how you're doing, about your customers' satisfaction, expectations and needs. This is your cheat sheet for the right metrics you can, and perhaps should, apply.

Rate of Return

The customer rate of return is one of the easiest seen metrics a business can use. In small startups and large companies, the more a customer returns, the strong the loyalty is considered to be. From a business standpoint, you need to treat each new customers like a first date - if you impress them, they will build a relationship with you. As the customer builds that bond, they will tell their friends and your business will grow through word of mouth, which indeed is one of the best forms of advertising and one that can aid any business greatly. However, that same aspect can work against you if they had a negative experience; for this reason other metrics will help you learn more about your customers.

NPS

NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, which focuses on a single question “How Likely Are You to Recommend This Product/Service to Friends or Family?” This question is crucial as it helps businesses to gauge what customers are likely to come back. Questions that typically follow will help hone in on what specific ally made the experience so great or horrible. While the NPS is great for gauging who will become a return customer, you need to be able to measure what influenced them to come back!

Customer Expectations

Meeting your customers’ expectations is the main goal of a business. What is crucial to meeting these expectations, is simply asking “Did you find everything okay,” sounds like a line you hear just about everywhere. There are statistics on that line, that is why it is so popular. Making a customer feel as though you care about their experience strengthens their brand loyalty, but also helps the business realize where a niche may be missed. In large companies, there are many services that are covered, but not everyone needs them. If you can offer “niche products” a customer is more likely to find what they need. Offering a balance of products, having a clean facility, maintained equipment, and an outstanding team is all a part of meeting customer expectations.

Overall Satisfaction

The final metric that is important you look at is the overall customer satisfaction your company holds. While places of business would like nothing more than to keep customers satisfied 100% of the time, all the time, it is not a realistic right off the bat. While keeping your customers happy with your brand or product is crucial to staying above water, progress is more important. If you have a poor score when you first start out, but after some changes, your score rises, then you are making good progress.

What Works For You?

Understanding customer feedback, or how it is gained has no specific formula. What works for one person may not be totally applicable to another. However, everyone can learn a few tips and tricks, no matter how long you have been established. It is ideal to build your surveys and feedback forms to help you capture the metrics we described above. They are sure to give you an insight into your customers' satisfaction levels, their loyalty and recognize issues. After all, customers' satisfaction is paramount and measuring it right is half the job done, and done well.