|
Rockbridge specializes in service quality measurement, offering capabilities for customer satisfaction surveys, development of
service standards and customer retention studies. Our company's underlying philosophy in customer satisfaction engagements is to help clients maximize their return on quality by providing best-of-class tools along
with concrete guidance on courses of action. We offer a range of proprietary tools that have proved their value through years of refinement in client settings. Rockbridge has conducted customer satisfaction initiatives in scores of industries, including telecommunications, banking, consumer credit, travel, power utilities, advertising,
and media. We have adapted these tools to the evolving Internet economy, applying them for online services, e-commerce businesses, web-sites and software. We have designed satisfaction surveys
for several Fortune 500 services firms. In 1996, Rockbridge headed the design team for the household satisfaction survey for the United States Postal Service, which is one of the largest satisfaction surveys in
existence (a $5 million program). Our client's have unique needs, so Rockbridge offers a variety of customer satisfaction tools. Our approaches include:
- SERVQUAL —
This is an internationally acclaimed method for assessing the quality of a service, and is proving to be especially powerful for evaluating intangibles such as e-commerce systems, web-sites and
associations. SERVQUAL was developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry through years of extensive research across industries. This methodology provides a gap analysis between perceived performance
and expectation, and between customers and internal stakeholders. SERVQUAL recognizes a range of areas common to all services, including reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and intangibles.
- Events-based Measurement –
This approach quantifies the outcome of service encounters in terms of observable events rather than attitudes. Compared to approaches that rely on attitude scales,
experience-based results are less biased, easier to interpret, and more useful for action planning. For example, instead of asking a customer to rate service on an attitudinal scale, such as
"poor" to "excellent," an events-based survey will ask what happened, how often, how long, etc.
- Value Driver Analysis –
Rockbridge can design (or re-design) a customer satisfaction survey to identify the sources of added-value that drive retention behavior and loyalty. Our process includes the use of special scales that are more closely linked to customer choice, more predictive performance dimensions, and analytical approaches that clearly identify value-drivers. The end-result is a more useful survey for obtaining customer feedback than a traditional satisfaction survey.
- Customer Retention Analysis –
We help companies measure the cost impact, underlying causes, and best strategies for reducing customer attrition. We deploy innovative tools for assisting in this process, including segmentation of lost customers (e.g., mercenaries, disaffected, Benedict Arnolds, etc.) and the development of an Attrition Risk Model (ARM). The ARM helps managers quantify and deal with the issue of customers who leave even when they are satisfied.
- Standards Development –
Rockbridge can help establish service quality standards for variables such as turnaround times, frequency of contact, error rates, etc. The flexible output from our models is useful for re-engineering efforts, resource allocation decisions, and training.
- Modeling –
Rockbridge offers advanced methods to assist in quality improvement efforts. Our techniques in this area include: key driver analysis (to identify the top drivers of satisfaction or retention), benefit segmentation (to identify customers with different needs), simulations of changes in service delivery, and trade-off studies to help design an optimal service relationship.
How we Work with Clients on Customer Satisfaction Engagements. A successful satisfaction initiative involves a close partnership with our client. We will typically begin an
engagement with a management meeting which examines the competitive environment, delivery issues and project goals. In talking to customers, we stress the use of both qualitative and survey methods — we use
techniques such as focus groups to flush out customer issues and surveys to set goals and quantify priorities. Rockbridge also gathers data internally, through employee focus groups and surveys, comparing this
feedback to customers' to identify gaps in perception and root causes behind problems. After gathering the first wave of customer feedback, we often assist our clients in implementation through management
workshops. Rockbridge also provides its clients a technology advantage in measuring customer satisfaction. We now conduct many satisfaction surveys over the Internet. We have also developed
systems for disseminating performance metrics over the web, increasing the speed of customer feedback and saving time and money on distribution. Rockbridge keeps its clients at the forefront of quality
measurement, while offering solid approaches with proven value. Articles on Customer Satisfaction
|
