The Customer Satisfaction Audit (Business)

It is becoming clear that the only sustainable competitive advantage in the future will be one that is based on satisfying customers thoroughly. Yet research shows that less than one third of all companies have a well-developed and coherent customer satisfaction process linked to operating strategies and plans. (Even though many companies do have elements of a total customer satisfaction process in place.)

This audit, which includes important sections on managing the customer satisfaction process itself, is the ideal business tool for any company setting out to analyse and improve customer satisfaction levels.

The audit begins by explaining the customer satisfaction process in detail, then analyses why companies fail to satisfy their customers and sets out a framework – the Stages of Excellence Framework – within which you can develop and implement an effective customer service program. Overall, it will help you to:

• Understand and define customers’ needs and requirements
• Analyse your current capabilities
• Assess your competitors’ capabilities
• Measure gaps between your capabilities and your customers’ requirements
• Identify and compare the available options for gaining a strategic service advantage
• Analyse costs, benefits, risks and trade-offs
• Develop new strategies, prioritize initiatives, target results and apportion resources
• Structure service offerings and set goals

The audit includes a detailed guide to the audit process:

• How to set-up and staff the audit team
• How to create an audit project plan and lay the groundwork
• How to gather, analyse and share results
• How to write audit reports, make recommendations and deal with resistance to those recommendations.

The final section of the audit includes more than 20 pages of detailed questions and checklists – ready for use at each stage of the self-assessment audit.