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Take a lesson from Disney

04/26/07
Ian M. Berkowitz

   Fresh o a trip with my family to the most magical place in the world, Walt Disney World, I am inspired to continue with my focus on how business owners deal with customers, clients and patrons.

    It is always amazing to me how each and every person that I come in contact with, while on and in a Walt Disney World property, seems to always smile and make -my fam ily and me feel entirely satis ed with our visit and experience. It almost seems like each and every Disney employee has gone throu-gh inten sive smile training and is always thinking of how to make each and every customer completel-y and ut terly beyond satis ed with each and every visit.

    How many of us actually set that type of goal for our own customers or clients? We all want our- custom ers and clients to have the -best expe rience, but don’t always know how to create that ultimate customer satisfaction experience. There are various de nitions of the term and many ways to measure customer satisfaction.

Satisfaction de ned

    As a de nition, customer- satisfac tion is a business term used to measure how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Most often, it is seen as a key performance indicator within he business, signaling how a business is being perceived by its customers and clients. Whether you are selling widgets or providing a ser-vice, cus tomer satisfaction is measurable.

    In a competitive marketplace where businesses compet-e for cus tomers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key di erentiator and- increas ingly has become a key element of business strategy. Some of- the great est businesses in the world believe that customer satisfaction is the key to their success.

    Getting customers to tell you what’s good about your products or services, and where you need improvement, helps to ensure that your business measures u-p to ex pectations. The greater the customer satisfaction, the greater the loyalty and promotion to others fr-om satis ed customers.

    Also keep in mind that satis ed customers can turn into m-ore satis ed customers, and ultimately can translate into increased revenue.

Conduct surveys

    One of the easiest ways -for busi ness owners to gain the maximum knowledge about custom-ers’ satis faction and measure satisfaction is to periodically conduct sur-veys. Sur veys can be informal or formal, in writing or verbal and may be taken at any time and at any place. They can be taken by you, your employees or by third parties.

    Well developed, customer service surveys cover all the key bu-siness ac tivities such as the compan-y’s prod ucts, services and support, delivery, ordering and billing, and especially its employees. As a business owner, you modify the survey to speci cally match any of your compa-ny’s ac tivities.

    A few important things to- remem ber, when developing your survey, are to ask the maximum number of questions about how y-our cus tomer is feeling when receiving your product or service. In addition, you also want to probe your customers and clients for suggestions on what you can do to improve experience with your company or use of your product.

    If you choose to conduct your surveys in writing, make sure that the survey is easy to ll out and very user-friendly. Some of the -most ef fective surveys have no ranking of quality on a scale of one to ve, no lengthy questions, but simply had a list of key business activities and space to respond, all on one page. However, if your goal is to drill down in order to obtain a -lot of in formation from your customer or client, than a more comprehensive and detailed survey may be your best option.

    The main thing to remember is to constantly obtain feedback from your customers and clients so that you are always in touch with client's feelings and perceptions on how your business is a ecting them. Ultimately, we are all judged by our customers and clients that pay us money for our services or buy our products. Their immediate and continued satisfaction should be a major priority to your business, and the more you are able to measure their satisfaction, the better you can be in meeting or even exce-eding ex pectations.

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Ian M. Berkowitz is a former attorney/advi - sor with the United States Small Business Administration in Washington D.C. During his tenure with the Federal Government he speci - cally worked in the areas of disaster relief for homeowners and businesses and government contracting. He is currently a p- racticing busi ness and real estate attorney in Boca Raton. In addition to his law degree, Ian also holds a Masters Degree in Government from The John Hopkins University.