Chakrapani on CSAT

We have referenced this article a few times in recent weeks. It discusses the idea that customer satisfaction, while important, is not yet as usual a measurement as it needs to be. It states that most people misunderstand what customer satisfaction is designed to measure, and that the current idea of how satisfaction leads to purchasing power may be vastly misunderstood.

It ends with the following statement: So, do customer satisfaction measures matter? In my view, not really, the way they are generally collected and interpreted now. Can they be made to matter? Absolutely, but it takes time, commitment and willingness to get past vague and insensitive measures like the customer satisfaction index.

Any customer satisfaction measurement, to be useful, must indicate changes in processes currently in place. This is obviously quite the bold statement. It acknowledges that customer satisfaction DOES matter, but that the measurements themselves are currently inaccurate ways to just whether or not things like changes in satisfaction are important.

The truth is far more complicated, and likely in between both customer satisfaction theories. While the article is right that a change in satisfaction may not necessarily indicate an immediate increase in purchasing power, it gives the idea that the change doesn’t matter.

For example, if customer satisfaction improves by 2 points (say, from 5 to 7) but revenue doesn’t increase, did that increase matter? I believe it still does for a variety of reasons: Knowing that it didn’t increase revenue is important to know. You can then start to understand trends more, and look deeper into the data to find out what’s important.

One can assume that even if the increase in customer satisfaction doesn’t lead to more revenue, a decrease in satisfaction likely would lead to a decrease in revenue. Knowing that you have moved customers from a 5 to a 7 on the customer satisfaction scale gives you a buffer – now you know that your satisfaction efforts were successful, and you have the advantage (most likely) when it comes to keeping customers. Customer satisfaction isn’t a one and done process.

Once you’ve managed to move people on the satisfaction scale, your next step is to figure out how to move them further. This is just a few of the reasons that customer satisfaction is still valuable, despite Dr. Chakrapani’s objections.

What matters is that the researcher understands how to use it, and doesn’t necessarily assume everything should be taken at face value.