Customer Satisfaction Made easy

Satisfaction A plan for actively listening to customers of Labor Market Information Products and Services A resource handbook from the Customer Satisfaction Work Group of the Workforce Information Council Copyright 2003 Table of Contents Topic Page Introduction – Why Measure Customer Satisfaction? 1 How to Measure Customer Satisfaction 2-3 Step 1 – Pick a Product or Customer Group 4-6 Step 2 – Set the Stage for Assessment 7-31 What do you want to find out? 7-10 Sample Problem Definition Statement 8-10 How you can best find the answers? 10-31 Qualitative Approach 11-12 Quantitative Approach 13-14 Guide for Using Focus Groups 16-18 Guide for Using A Mail Survey 19-20 Guide for Using A Telephone Survey 21-23 Guide for Using a Personal Interview 24-26 Guide for Using an Internet Survey 27-29 What to Ask 30 Sample Survey 31 Step 3 – Conduct Research and Take Action! 32 Documenting Demand Conclusion 33 I n t r o d u c t i o n – Why measure customer satisfaction? Because it’s required! The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 says states need to “consult with customers about the relevance of the information disseminated through the statewide employment statistics system, in order to continuously improve the system.” The two key parts of this statement are: • Consult with customers • Continuously improve the system It’s also a requirement of the One Stop LMI grant from the Employment and Training Administration! Because we have to prove “return on investment!” In times of increased accountability in government, every activity needs to prove that taxpayers’money is used efficiently and effectively. To ensure that LMI products retain their value to customers, we need to continuously ask customers if our products are meeting their needs. We also need to create new products that are responsive to customer demands. Asking our cus-tomers about our products provides proof that LMI products are a good investment. Because we can’t afford not to! With limited funding, we have to make sure that every dol-lar we spend on developing and disseminating infor-mation products (whether its for printing or updating a website) is being spent on a product people will use. The BEST way to make sure our products are being used is to ask the people who use them. Customer satisfaction assessment is a great opportunity for states to make positive changes in the future of the labor market information system! 1 How to measure customer satisfaction? This handbook will help states make customer satisfaction assessment as easy as 1, 2, 3! In order to make it this easy, there are some things you should do and should know. Form an evaluation team. The team will oversee the collection of customer satisfaction feedback and then perform three responsibilities. 1. Make changes to products and services based on that feedback; 2. Share satisfaction processes and results with other states; 3. Share satisfaction processes and results with federal representatives to make systemic changes. Consider having a publications specialist, an analyst and a projections professional on your team. This team may already exist as the group who deter-mines your LMI product content. Customer satisfaction assessment does not necessarily have to be a statistically rigorous exercise. The process outlined in this handbook is based on solid descriptive research methodology, but it is different from the types of research normally conducted in “LMI shops.” While you may have to meet strict standards for response rate based on a stratified random sample to meet the requirements of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, customer satisfaction assessment is based on a “dialogue” with your customers. This dialogue may not be conducted the way you would conduct a BLS survey. You should document the demand for your products and services. In addition to finding out if customers are satisfied with your products, find out how many are actually using them, how they are using them and where those users are located. We have a special section at the end which addresses this issue. 2 Create Customer Lists. Many of the processes outlined in this handbook will require you to have a list of your customers. You may want to consider creating these lists if you do not have them already. These are lists of customers who receive or use a partic-ular document or LMI product you produce. You have many tools in the toolbox of customer satisfaction research. You may want to conduct a survey, you may want to have a focus group or conduct interviews with your main customers of a particular product. Remember, when you ask just one customer their opinion of a product, you have started to listen to the customer. When you change a document based on what a customer said, you are engaged in the process of continuous improve-ment. This leads to the final point: You can’t do it all at once! This handbook will walk you through conducting customer satisfac-tion research. At first, it may seem a daunting task to find out what all your customers think about all of your prod-ucts. But, you have to start somewhere and you can’t do it all at once. Remain calm and dig in! 3 ... - tailieumienphi.vn