My issue with focusing on turning very dissatisfied customers into satisfied one is this: psychology tells us, and qualitative (and I would argue quantitative) market research confirms that there are some people, some small percentage of the customer/consumer base, that simply is never going to be satisfied. No matter what you do for them, they are never going to be happy with you. The damage is done.
Now I am not a psychologist (but I do play one on tv, ……er, no!). But as an experienced focus group moderator, I have observed over the course of thousands of groups that there are people who are simply unhappy. Why? It is not for me to say or speculate. But they are. You have probably observed this as well if you have set in enough focus groups or in-depth interviews.
This small group (the two to three percent) walk around with thunderclouds over their heads perpetually……and it’s raining!
Most of us have bad days where something happens and we are upset. We may snarl at the dog or get upset that the checker at the grocery counter is not enforcing the ten item rule (that guy has got eleven items!!!). But we get over it.
I suspect that the two to three percent do not.
That may be one reason why the dissatisfaction level in customer satisfaction surveys is so relentlessly stubborn.
But then what about the issue of motivating the organization to higher levels of achievement?
Your observer postulates that this lies in moving customers up in satisfaction level, from somewhat dissatisfied to neutral, from neutral to somewhat satisfied and from somewhat satisfied to very satisfied.
In my experience, many companies who have a solid customer satisfaction measurement (and improvement) system in place report satisfaction as top 2 box and bottom two box (assuming a five or seven point scale). Maybe it is time to revisit this practice.
Rather than focus on eliminating the “1”’s (very dissatisfied), a more potentially productive path might be to focus on implementing change that will make the satisfied even more so.
More to follow.
Comments welcome!
Dr. Bob
