Customer Satisfaction

QUANTITATIVE/QUALITATIVE RESEARCH & CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction and quantitative/qualitative data work hand in hand. Simply put quantitative research goes in depth to ask precise questions like “how much did you pay for this item?”, “did you use a discount coupon for your item?” , “on a scale of 1-10 how satisfied were you with the customer service you received; 1 being the worst and 10 being the best?” versus qualitative research attempts a softer approach by asking questions such as “did you have any dislikes about our product?”, “what would you change about the service you received?”, “how do you feel about the customer service you received at the checkout today?” Qualitative research is more directed towards how a person feels and qualitative research is more theory based and the data normally is numerical.

Quantitative research is utilized by organizations in the form of surveys that have a numerical scale for the consumer to use in order to give their opinion of the product. “The Net Promoter Score is a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a brands customer relationship. The Net Promoter Score is obtained by asking customers a single question on a 0 to 10 rating scale: How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?” “ Based on their responses, customers are categorized into one of three groups: Promoters (9-10 rating), Passives (7-8 rating), and Detractors (0-6 rating). The percentage of Detractors is then subtracted from the percentage of Promoters to obtain a Net Promoter score” (OIresearch.com, 2011). The quantitative approach can be invaluable to an organization as the results of the survey can let the organization know first-hand the level of customer satisfaction that they are or are not receiving. In the words of Bill Gates “your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” (OIresearch.com, 2011).

References

OI Research, (2011). Customer Satisfaction....