Root Cause Analysis in Research

Businesses all over the world are starting to take a more scientific approach to market research. Even beyond data analysis, there are ways to use various scientific methods to find ways to alter business models and help your company profit. One such example is root cause analysis.

Root cause analysis is a systematic method of discovering the truest reason a problem occurred. The idea is that by implementing root cause analysis into your customer satisfaction research, you will be able to spot problems and reduce customer loss.

Many companies take a Band-Aid approach to customer defection, dealing with the symptoms caused by the problem rather than the problem itself. For example, if the customer defects because of a bad customer service experience, then the company works on customer service training or fires the employee, etc. Root cause analysis takes it further.

Essentially, it continues to ask “why” until the company has uncovered more than simply why an employee gave poor customer service. It uncovers exactly what the customer service problem is, why it occurred, etc., so that the company can fix the problem at its root, ensuring that it never happens again. Root cause analysis is also a more systematic approach to dealing with these problems.

An article published at Baylor University gives a good example with the following: “The simplest way to perform a root cause analysis is to ask why 5 times.” Once you get to the point where it is impossible to answer the question any further, you have found the root cause. When you fix that root cause, the problem should go away forever.

There are many different styles of root cause analysis, some of which are simple and others that are much more complex. But the basic premise behind all of these is the same – find the root cause to remove the problem altogether, so that any subsequent issues associated with that initial problem are gone forever. Businesses that integrate root cause analysis into their customer retention techniques, rather than simply looking for ways to solve the symptoms. When you can remove the root cause of why customers are leaving your business (or likely to leave your business) you can fight the problem at its source and retain more of your customers in both the short and long term.