Later this week I’ll be attending the Net Promoter Conference in San Francisco.  I’m really looking covering this event for Research Access.

Customer satisfaction (or CSAT) measurement is a highly specialized, but vitally important, part of the research world.  

Yet I think there are many researchers and marketers who aren’t terribly familiar with the ins and outs of customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement.

Here is a quick ABC guide to what you need to know about CSAT.

S

Satmetrix 

Satmetrix, known as the Net Promoter Company, is the firm that administers the Net Promoter methodology.

A

ACSI

The ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) is a methodology for measuring customer satisfaction.  It factors in the following variables:  customer expectations, perceived quality, perceived value, customer complaints and customer loyalty.

T

Tracking

Customer satisfaction and loyalty are fluid; therefore, most measurement programs involve tracking scores consistently over time.

I

Indicator

Customer satisfaction is a leading indicator of business success; that’s why it’s so important to understand it and take action based on it.

S

SCI

The Secure Customer Index is a customer satisfaction measurement methodology developed by D. Randall Brandt.  The SCI combines three elements – overall satisfaction, likelihood to continue using the service, and likelihood to recommend.

F

Future

The purpose of customer satisfaction research is to assess current attitudes toward a company in order to predict purchase behavior in the future.

A

Answering the Ultimate Question

Answering the Ultimate Question is a book by Fred Reichheld which outlines the Net Promoter methodology.

C

Calculating Your Net Promoter Score

The Net Promoter score is just what the name implies – the net of customers who are “promoters” minus those who are “detractors.”  The core Net Promoter question asks on a scale of 0 to 10 how likely a customer is to recommend the company to a colleague or friend.  The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of customers who give a score of 0 through 6 (“Detractors”) from the percentage who give a score of 9 or 10 (“Promoters”).

T

Truth

Like all research, customer satisfaction research is a search for truth.  There are different approaches, but the search for truth must continue unabated.

I

Index

Most customer satisfaction methodologies yield an index; a single score which is easy for an organization to understand, and, importantly, can be the basis for positive action.

O

Out of Luck

Firms that ignore customer satisfaction altogether will soon find themselves out of luck.

N

Net Promoter

Net Promoter is a customer satisfaction measurement methodology, developed by  Satmetrix, Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld.  The Net Promoter Score is obtained by asking customers about their likelihood to recommend a company to a friend or colleague.

You can use this link to get a discount if you’d like to join me at the Net Promoter Conference in San Francisco, February 1-3, 2012.

I hope to see you there!