Citation
Narasimhan, K. (2003), "Customer Satisfaction Measurement Simplified: A Step‐by‐Step Guide for ISO 9001:2000 Certification", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 84-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520310456735
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
In this age of global competition measuring customer satisfaction has become imperative. In ISO 9000:2000 great emphasis is placed on measuring and monitoring system performance with reference to customer perception and satisfaction. In this book Terry Vavra demonstrates how to identify customers’ requirements, measure the level of satisfaction, and analyze and report the data collected. Terry is president of Marketing Metrics, Inc., a marketing consulting firm specializing in measuring and improving customer satisfaction and retention. Terry has over 30 years experience as a client, educator and a consultant. He had worked as associate professor of marketing in the MBA program of the Lubin School of Business, Pace University, New York.
The book comprises eight chapters grouped into five parts, and three appendices. The five parts are respectively entitled “Discovery, design and deployment”, “Deduction, discourse and development”. At the outset in the Introduction to the book Terry gives background information to ISO 9000, its evolution the conventions used in the book, and how the book is organized. In each chapter, the topics to be discussed are listed at the outset. Then each of the steps is discussed in a sequence, and concluded with checkpoint(s). The chapters conclude with a revisit to the list with answers for the issues. Some chapters contain toolkits (detailed description of specific tools or procedures) and author’s personal experiences that provide a bit of “real world experience”. The book includes a CD‐ROM that contains templates and many graphs, which would be useful in organising, analysing and reporting the customer satisfaction measurement process.
The first part “Discovery” contains three chapters. In Chapter 1, the author covers seven steps involved in dealing with understanding customer satisfaction measurement and its role in the ISO 9001‐2000 standard. In addition to clarifying how to define customer satisfaction and reviewing the reasons for doing it and the requirements for documentation, some of the theory underlying customer satisfaction are dealt with. Chapter 2 on identifying an organization’s customers involves eight steps. The need to recognize the different types of customers (or stakeholders), how to segment the customers, create database, interviewing customers and sampling methods are covered in this chapter. Identifying customers’ requirements, which involves five steps, is the theme of Chapter 3. It is emphasized that rather than assume what customers’ needs they should be asked, which involves classifying needs into primary (motivation to purchase), secondary (requirements) and tertiary (performance measures). Also covered are the method of matching customers’ needs with internal practices, and dimensions of product and service quality.
The second part on measuring customers’ satisfaction comprises two chapters. After briefly comparing quantitative and qualitative research methods, nine steps involved in deciding when, what, and how to measure are dealt with in detail. In the following chapter entitled “Measuring satisfaction”, both macro and micro issues of how to write effective questionnaires are covered in nine steps.
The next part, with one chapter, is on analyzing the information collected from customer surveys. It informs the reader how to avoid “paralysis by analysis”. The use of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, cross‐tabular analysis, and sorting open‐ended responses are briefly explained. The fourth part is also covered in one chapter. In this Dr Vavra succinctly explains how to avoid writing biased and incomplete or misleading reports based on the data collected and analyzed. He focuses on how to discuss the survey results in the report in an effective and stimulating yet economical manner. The use of thermometer charts, bar charts, trend line charts and quadrant charts are briefly explained with examples.
The final part, comprising a chapter, deals with issues concerned with ensuring continuous improvement, by identifying the owner, establishing credibility for the information, giving feedback to management, employees and customers, creating a quality improvement team and establishing a quality function deployment grid.
Three questionnaires, one each for hardware manufacturers, software manufacturers and service providers are given appendices. Also provided is a list of recommended reading and references used in the text.
The text is easy to read and the book contains much useful basic information. Readers who are new to the field need to refer to the sources cited to gain more detailed information. The exhibits used help in understanding the concepts underlying the theory.