Chapter III

INTRODUCTION TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchases depend on the offers performance in relation to the buyer expectation. In general satisfaction are a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance relation to his/her expectations. If the performance falls short of expectation, the customer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectation customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds the expectation the customer is highly satisfied. Customer satisfaction cannot be very difficult. After all you either satisfied with the services you receive obtaining people's

or you are not. If you dont you are not. If it is that easy, then

opinion about how satisfied they are with relatively straightforward matter- or is it? Customer satisfaction is a marketing tool and a definite value added benefit. It is often perceived by customers as important as the primary product or service your organisation offers. It looks at what is involved from 3 different angles, the first is from the view of an organisation wishing to understand, and measures, how satisfied its customer are with the products and services they receive from it. The second is from the perspective of are search agency that has been asked to obtain feedback from customers and about their experiences when dealing with companies. Finally it considers the issue from the perspective of consumers who participate in surveys, including both business customers and members of general public Although companies conduct customer satisfaction research for various reasons, the overall goal is to help them stay as close to their customers as humanly possible. From customers and clients and converting it into actionable steps to improve their performance. Some want feedback from customers about existing or new products and services. Others want to know how to target their resources on issues of concern to customers. Still others want to demonstrate a commitment to listening to their customers. As a by-product, customer feedback can provide actual

examples of good and bad practices for employee training and continuous improvement efforts. The organizations objectives define what it wants to learn from customers and guides how the information is collected. Experts advise that first defining measurable objectives will allow organizations to learn the effectiveness of your survey, and it will help you in reinvesting the information you learned. In general, the research focus is how reliably the organization fulfils customer satisfaction and what can be done to improve. The most active verb when you speak in the vocabulary of customer satisfaction is to improve. How frequently an organization measures customer satisfaction depends on the nature of its service and what it wants to gain. For instance, if customers make daily decisions about the services offered, frequent measurement is appropriate. Many consumer product and service companies need this type of day-to-day or weekly information. The National Performance Review (NPR) found that best-in-business organizations solicit feedback from customers before, during, and after service. The methods chosen for measuring customer satisfaction depend on customer Characteristics, time availability, costs, and the information an organization hopes to Gather. Many of the top performing companies identified by the NPR used sophisticated market research techniques: Feedback was obtained through customer focus groups, customer usage and attitude surveys, supplier and partner surveys, and detailed telephone, mail, and personal interviews. In one case, thousands of customer surveys were mailed out each week. Another company maintained a detailed database containing all pertinent facts about its customers requirements.65 Common methods of gathering customer satisfaction information in the commercial world include 1-800 numbers, comment cards, telephone surveys, mail-based surveys, focus groups, group interviews, and direct contact between customers and employees. Recently, online surveysthrough pop-up windows, links, or email invitationshave become popular with many companies. Each method or combination of methods has advantages and disadvantages.

MEANING OF CUSTOMER SATISFICATION Customer satisfaction is a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and part of the four prospective of balanced score card. IN a competitive market place were businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy customer satisfaction drives successful private sector business. High performing businesses have developed principles and strategies for achieving customer satisfaction. This paper presents a framework or set of ideas for using customer satisfaction principles and strategies to improve the quality responsiveness, and possibility of public sector privately provided services in vulnerable communities. The framework suggested that resident who live in tough neighbourhoods can be supported through customer satisfaction strategies to become empowered individuals Who informed perspectives influence decisions about what, how, when, and where services are available to them. Customer satisfaction is the customers response to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectation and the actual performance of the product as perceived after its consumption. DEFINITION

Codotte, woodruff and Jenkins (1987) define customer satisfaction as

"conceptualized as a feeling developed from an evaluation of the experience. HERE, the timing of satisfaction response is driving consumption. BUT there is general agreement with kotler (2003) that "customer satisfaction is a person's feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance in relation to his or her expectation". In short customer satisfaction is "The provision of goods or services which fulfil the customer expectation in terms of quality and service, in relation to price paid".

Importance of customer Satisfaction

Because the concept of customer satisfaction is new to many companies, it's important to be clear on exactly what's meant by the term. Customer satisfaction is the state of mind that customers have about a company when their expectations have been met or exceeded over the lifetime of the product or service. The achievement of customer satisfaction leads to company loyalty and product repurchase. There are some important implications of this definition: Because customer satisfaction is a subjective, non quantitative state, measurement won't be exact and will require sampling and statistical analysis. Customer satisfaction measurement must be undertaken with an understanding of the gap between customer expectations and attribute performance perceptions. There should be some connection between customer satisfaction measurement and bottom-line results. "Satisfaction" itself can refer to a number of different facts of the relationship with a customer. For example, it can refer to any or all of the following: Satisfaction with the quality of a particular product or service Satisfaction with an ongoing business relationship Satisfaction with the price-performance ratio of a product or service Satisfaction because a product/service met or exceeded the customer's expectations

Objectives
Understanding the expectations and requirements of all your customers Determining how well your company and its competitors are satisfying these expectations and requirements Developing service and/or product standards based on your findings

Examining trends over time in order to take action on a timely basis Establishing priorities and standards to judge how well you've met these goals

Principles of customer satisfaction

Golden rules of good service Every agency should have a set of customer service principles that drives them to serve their customers to the best of their ability. Generally, these core principles include: Speed Quality Customer satisfaction

Reinforce Principles of Customer Service To cultivate core customer service principles at your agency, try these strategies:

The Golden Rule: What if your roles were reversed, and you were the one with the question? Just like your mom used to say: Are you treating people the way you would want to be treated?

Perfect the top tasks: Make sure that your team pays special attention to those things most important to your customers . . . their Top Tasks. Are they easy to find and complete? Do frequent user testing to validate.

Coordinate: Do you have a central place for customer questions and answers? If not, start today to build it! The Web is a natural customer service hub, so make sure everyone in your agency knows they should use your website as the definitive place to find answers to customer questions.

Boilerplates are great: Develop a list or database of the most frequently asked questions (and answers) that come into your office via phone, email, or the Weband make sure that everyone in your agency who responds to questions knows how to find it, and uses it to respond to customer inquiries.

Smile: Yes, people really can hear it in your voice, so smile when you answer the phone, or when someone walks into your office.