In this section, you are going to explore the ways in which businesses find out about their customers' satisfaction levels, both internal and external. Businesses can and do make claims about customers' reactions which lack credibility and integrity. By finding out about customer's real impressions, businesses can make improvements, change their business models or extend their products to meet customer needs. More importantly, they can also  learn what it is they do well and then do more of it.

You have probably been asked to complete satisfaction surveys at your place of study. Sometimes this can be online or via a paper form and it can be a nuisance if you are busy or not motivated to complete it. In this section, you will learn about other ways to gather this information (data) and then what happens to the data once it has been gathered.

In Unit 1 you were introduced to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and using demographic trends as a means for business to better meet local customer needs. Using this data only provides a small portion of the picture; primary research is often an invaluable resource. Primary research is new research which aims to answer specific issues or questions. It can involve interviews, questionnaires or surveys of individuals or small groups.

Information can come from customers, colleagues and management. This information could provide information about internal customers as well as external customers. For example

• McDonald's rewards employees for their customer service qualities, relying on gathering feedback from internal and external customers.

• Cunard and several other cruise companies, collect nominations from passengers, colleagues and management in recognition of quality service. Crew and officers alike are then recognised by their photographs, which are displayed in key public areas.

Feedback tools need to be created carefully so that you can find out what you need to know. Invitations for customers to provide data can appear in different forms such as:

• questionnaires

• online comments and feedback requests

• comment cards inviting feedback and offering incentives

• telephone surveys

• compliments, suggestions and complaint boxes

• quality circles where staff members, normally in similar roles, meet to discuss ways of making improvements and resolving problems

• staff surveys which are used to gather the views from all staff and, when analysed, can be compared with the feedback received from customers

• mystery shoppers who are employed to portray a customer over a period of time and in different circumstances to gather data on their experiences- business staff are unaware of the true intentions of these shoppers or the timing of their visits to better replicate realistic situations.

• Recording and sharing information by telephone- this is used frequently by businesses, especially in customer service or call centres; there are legal guidelines about recording communications, in any form, to protect both sides of the communication, such as:

-The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

-Data Protection Act

-Human Rights Act

• You have probably experienced a taped message at the start of a phone call advising uou that a recording will be made, usually for training purposes. Businesses can then analyse the contents of calls to improve services and resolve complaints. The Financial Services Act 2012 requires recorded communications when related to specific instructions.

Once feedback is collected, the results need to be analysed. This can be a time-consuming and highly skilled job and relies heavily on the quality of the feedback mechanisms and the way in whcih the methods, such as questionnaires, are structured. It is vital to consider the key information you wish to collect and develop a range of questions which will gather this information in an effective manner.

Analyse Responses

Some responses will be quantitative (numeric/closed responses) and others qualitative( text information open responses both of these need to be evaluated suitablly. The main areas businesses usually want to explore include:

• Level of customer service

• Quality of product/service

• Meeting regulatory requirements

• Balancing cost and benefits

Most types of survey seek to analyse satisfaction levels and quality. Businesses also seek confirmation of compliance, businesses are also looking to gather feedback which is easy to analyse, effective and cheap with maximum impact.

A pitfall or presenting responses by percentages is that they can be misleading. For example, saying that 89% of survey participants would recommend a product appears impressive to a customer but there may have only been 100 respondents. 89 people is not many in relation to the whole population.

Planning for Change/Resolving  Problems or Complaints

Businesses also use analysis of feedback to plan for change by resolving problems, responding to complaints or finding ways to do more of what they already do well. Microsoft does this by gathering and analysing data from users of their software to improve and refine their products and develop new software. For example when computers crash or programs close during operation the information can be fed back to Microsoft, helping them to improve the coding of the software for future updates.

First Direct's online banking services' methods of gathering feedback (including Twitter) and trustworthiness have helped them to trade on customer recommendation above any other bank by being more customer-centric (Putting customers at the centre of operations). An apparently minor complaint might become more serious according to ythe number of times similar complaints are lodged.