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consumer satisfaction analysis
In the end, unless your consumers' requirements are met, then everything else is irrelevant. No consumers, no business. The majority of service organisations carry out some form of consumer research, but it's generally one-dimensional. Organisations want to know how they are doing against consumers expectations so that they can react and put things right. The flaw in this approach is that it relies on your making assumptions about what is important to your consumers.
The challenge is to make sure your efforts are guided by well-researched data that will take the importance of an issue into consideration rather than rely on your subjective assessment. Research that accurately identifies consumer requirements and their relative importance, as well as measuring whether current performance meets the individual need is at the heart of today's consumer insight projects.
The best consumer insight activity uses gap analysis techniques to identify where improvements in performance will result in the greatest (and fastest) gain in consumer satisfaction and will clarify where your staff, and the services they provide, misunderstand consumers' priorities.
Representative samples of your consumers take part in Focus Groups, which will identify the priorities for improvement. Their comments and observations are then translated into "statements" that are rated by respondents, either on-line, through canvassing or by simple survey form, for both satisfaction and importance. Demographics are also captured to allow detailed analysis of the results by, for example, sex, age, and geographic location.
The data is powerful, and an analysis of the gaps between importance and satisfaction results in an ability to target initial improvement activities on areas that have the greatest "satisfaction gaps", thus bringing about rapid improvements in overall consumer satisfaction.
The effectiveness of remedies can be tracked through follow-up project(s) carried out after the initial survey to gauge any shift in consumer opinion. Many organisations also use the data to quantify management effectiveness.
Insight projects are often self financing. By acting upon consumer opinion, successful organisations significantly reduce the costs associated with consumer led complaints and foster the greater loyalty of their established consumers.
If you would like to explore how our consumer insight services will benefit your organisation then please contact us.
