We touched on the subject of customer perception in our “How to Uncover Customer Expectations and Perceptions” blog, but it’s definitely something that needs to be discussed further. The importance of assessing customer perception to improve customer satisfaction can’t be overlooked for many reasons, including your own personal sense of success.
What do we mean by “your own personal sense of success,” you ask? Well, look at it this way. …
Assessing Customer Perception to Improve Customer Satisfaction
Some aspects of success can be measured, but in other senses, it’s all about how you feel. If you shut down at the end of the day and feel that you made your customers happy or generally had a great day, in some ways that’s success. On the other hand, if you feel disappointed and that you could have done better, well, that’s when you tell yourself “tomorrow is a new day.”
However, you don’t want misunderstandings with clients or customers to be the cause of what brings you down, especially if they happen repeatedly. That’s where assessing customer perception to improve customer satisfaction will make a difference in your success, financially and mentally. Discovering possible misunderstandings early on during a transaction could mean avoiding disappointing a customer, helping you sleep better at night.
How to Identify or Prevent Misunderstandings
Communication before, during and after a project is key to clarifying customer perception and, as a result, improving customer satisfaction.
The “Overboard” Idea
Have you ever seen the movie “Overboard” starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell?
In the beginning of the movie, Hawn’s character refuses to pay the carpenter (Russell) for the closets that he made on her yacht because they were not made of cedar. He tells her that she may have wanted cedar but did not ask for cedar and therefore would have to pay him additional money to redo the closets. She says the job was not done to her satisfaction and that she would not pay him anything – eventually tossing both him and his tools, as you may have guessed, overboard.
The moral of the story in this case? … First, her past experiences led her to assume she would get a specific product, leading to her failure to communicate her desires about what type of material she would prefer to be used. Second, regardless of her preconceptions, as the customer, she should have clearly identified what she wanted, such as specific design specifications and the material. Third, the business representative’s part was to make sure all those specific details were worked out before the project began.
If a business cannot provide what is expected, its representatives can either modify their processes to comply or refer the customers to more ideal sources. Even in doing so, the business can avoid having “dissatisfied customers.”
Identify Risks
Both parties should identify risks at the beginning of a project. If they do so, both the customer and the business can take steps to resolve these problems if they should occur, such as by setting extra money aside just in case.
Methods of Monitoring
Assessing customer perception to improve customer satisfaction involves monitoring the project before, during and after its completion. Soon, you will naturally know how to determine customer satisfaction through communicating with customers, keeping records and maintaining contact with them after the project is done.
Contact Trident QMS for More Information
If you need additional information regarding assessing customer perception, we’ll be happy to talk with you about it. We can be reached through our Trident QMS website or by phone at 520-314-4343.
