The customer satisfaction index (CSI) is probably the most popular of all non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs). In most commercial organizations, it is usually perceived as the most indicative non-financial indicator of financial performance in the future, based on the belief that the more satisfied customers are, the more likely they will remain loyal to the company, and this will lead to financial success.

In other words, measuring customer satisfaction shows how successful the organization is in providing products and / or services in the market.

The key question this indicator helps answer is how satisfied are our customers?

Moreover, regular research over several decades has shown that attracting new customers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones. Therefore, ensuring customer satisfaction is more financially beneficial.

CSI Measurement Model (Customer Satisfaction Index)

Despite a lack of financial motivation, government organizations are also making efforts to make customers feel satisfied. Dissatisfied consumers (who compare the work of the public sector with the highest standards of the private sector) turn their anger toward individual officials, who then demand improvements from the leaders of government organizations.

Among the many advantages of measuring customer satisfaction, one of the most useful is that the indicator of customer satisfaction allows company executives to make an idea of \u200b\u200bthe gap between the current sales efficiency of products / services and customer expectations. This gives rise to the launch of actions to improve the efficiency of work with clients.

To collect information, quantitative (objective) and qualitative (subjective) methods are used. Various polls are widely used. For example, customers are often interviewed for overall satisfaction with a product / service using a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). Customer surveys are also often conducted immediately after receiving the service, where a combination of ratings, yes / no answers and quality questions is used.

And finally, many organizations distinguish focus groups among clients to obtain a better (and deeper) understanding of their satisfaction levels. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches is generally recommended.

Formula

There are many ways to measure customer satisfaction. One of them is the development of a customer satisfaction index. Essentially, CSI is a cross between all components that contribute to customer satisfaction. Since these components can affect satisfaction in different ways, they often have their own weight. The widely used American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a rating based on an analysis of customer expectations, perceived quality, perceived value, customer complaints, and customer loyalty.

Consumer satisfaction is often measured on an ongoing basis. Organizations can measure their satisfaction index on a quarterly basis with commentary on quality data. Organizations can also conduct one annual study to compare its results with other organizations.

Data source - surveys and interviews with clients.

Large customer satisfaction surveys, especially those conducted by external companies, can be expensive and are usually conducted once a year. Focus group research is also costly. However, other approaches (e.g. short questionnaires in hotel rooms) are relatively inexpensive, while providing valuable customer satisfaction data.

Target values

For a comparative analysis of customer satisfaction, there are many services both within industries and more globally. The American Customer Satisfaction Index, introduced in 1994, covers many industries / sectors, including automobiles, consumer goods, hotels, airlines and telecommunications. Participating organizations can evaluate their performance both in comparison with competitors in the industry, and in comparison with companies from other industries.

The UK Consumer Satisfaction Index covers 13 sectors of the economy, including banks, automobiles, and government services.

Example. As an example of the structure of the consumer satisfaction index, let us consider the approach underlying the ACSI index (a methodology adopted by companies in the UK and other countries). Two interrelated and complementary methods are used to measure and analyze ACSI customer satisfaction: interviewing and econometric modeling. As for interviewing, it is conducted by telephone by professional interviewers among randomly selected clients of companies and organizations.

ACSI analysts use the data to build a special model that shows ratings for measured components (customer expectations, perceived value, quality, etc.) and their interdependence. Each company and organization is assigned its own indicator of customer satisfaction, which is the weighted average answer to three questions regarding satisfaction. Since the index has a value from 0 to 100, each company receives the index value in this range. In practice, the index varies from 50 to 80. Since there is a difference between consumer surveys in different industries, three identical questions are asked when determining the ACSI index for any company. This approach allows a correct comparison between companies and organizations.

ACSI measures customer satisfaction annually for more than 200 companies in 43 industries and 10 sectors of the economy. The measurements are carried out using the incident wave method. During each quarter, data is collected for specific sectors or industries, which are then used to replace data collected 12 months earlier. To get the country ACSI value, the data received; are subject to statistical processing.

The ACSI score is based on answers to three questions, rated on a scale of 1 to 10. The wording of these questions can be found on the ACSI website (www.theacsi.org). Organizations can use these or similar questions in their customer satisfaction surveys to provide industry benchmarking and corporate index targets.

Remarks

When analyzing customer satisfaction, the following caveats should be kept in mind. First, organizations can lose business by too eagerly satisfying exceptional consumer demands without paying enough attention to the cost of such satisfaction. Satisfaction finance costs must be accounted for in any model.

Secondly, in today's fast-growing markets, customer satisfaction does not always provide a complete picture of future customer loyalty and therefore financial results. In some markets, consumers may be extremely satisfied with a product / service, especially due to a new offer: the customer may be very satisfied with the offer, but will go to the competitors, since their product / service is more attractive - this is especially true, for example, for technology sectors of the economy.

Organizations also need to constantly analyze customer satisfaction using a variety of approaches in order to have a broader and more informed understanding of consumer behavior and preferences. A survey conducted once a year is not enough, because it will not show you the trend and may depend on circumstances beyond your control (for example, negative feedback in the press).

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How CSI Helps Create Better Customer Experience

For many companies, CSI1, or the index of customer satisfaction, has become the main indicator on the basis of which long-term customer relationships are built. There is a relationship between increasing customer loyalty and increasing company revenue.

This approach allows companies to become client-centric, timely introduce new products and services, and improve the quality of service. Foreign and Russian companies in the fight for loyalty began to proactively request feedback from customers at all points of contact. This allows companies to respond quickly and change in accordance with the wishes of customers. CSI today is used by many companies in their work, from small cafes and cosmetic companies to large mobile operators and banks.

Sberbank, as part of the implementation of the client-centric model, daily performs CSI measurements in various customer service channels. The bank carefully monitors the promises to customers, including the availability of the necessary services 24 hours 7 days a week, financial security, solving the problem at the time of contact, friendly attitude, qualified service and much more.

In the offices of Sberbank posted information that the bank conducts CMC surveys about the quality of service from the number "9000". Messages with a request to evaluate the work of the bank are sent out a day or two after the client interacts with the bank, and customer satisfaction is measured in points from 1 to 10, where 1 indicates that the client is completely dissatisfied, and 10 is very satisfied. For 6 months of 2016, out of 19 million customers, approximately 1.6 million have already left feedback that are used to improve the processes in the bank. Employees of a financial institution recognize the importance of CSI indicators. Getting feedback is necessary, the essence of such a communication relationship between a client and a brand is to get to know your customers as close as possible, thereby building long-term relationships, which in turn will help to become a company more client-centric.

Sberbank also draws attention to the Readiness to Recommend Bank Index (NPS2), which is determined by telephone surveys of customers of all segments. Also, the ratio of customer requests to the number of transactions conducted by customers in various channels (CR) is kept. Separately allocated indicator FCR3 - the proportion of complaints resolved "here and now" in relation to the total volume of complaints received. This data is not just figures for a report or presentations, but a real mechanism for generating and implementing new services, as well as improving the level of customer service.

Sberbank customers also have the opportunity, without waiting for a call or CMC from the bank, to contact the round-the-clock contact center at any time and leave their feedback. You can call all the well-known toll-free short number 900, the same for MTS, Megafon, Beeline and Tele2 4 operators and available in Russia.

For the second time in a row, a study of his audience on the given metrics helped Sberbank become a laureate of the annual prize “Consumer Rights and Quality of Service” 5, held in the Russian Federation. The Bank was awarded for the implementation of the Golden Rules customer service and the launch of a system for collecting feedback from customers via SMS. According to Alexandra Altukhova, Head of the Client Experience Modernization Department, thanks to metrics, the client is at the center of the bank’s activities. “Every day we measure the level of satisfaction with our services and evaluate the quality of service in various channels. In June 2016, the NPS index reached 58%. The highest indicator is in the youth (63%) and mass segments (59%), ”said Alexandra Altukhova.

Today, it’s important to implement such metrics in every company. As the example of Sberbank showed, this helps to involve employees in more detail in resolving customer issues, motivate the team, timely identify deficiencies in work and quickly eliminate them, make realistic forecasts for the future, and most importantly, build an open dialogue with customers.

1CSI (eng. Customer Satisfaction Index) - an index of customer satisfaction - allows you to identify the value and the ratio of price, quality, availability and other factors of the company that affect customer loyalty.

2NPS (Eng. Net promoter score) - an index of determining the commitment of consumers to a product or company, as well as their willingness to recommend them to other customers. Used to measure readiness for repeat purchases. In Sberbank, the NPS of a particular channel is measured by conducting telephone surveys of customers of all segments. Sberbank index was calculated independently based on its own data and customer surveys.

3FCR (eng. First contact resolution) - the proportion of appeals resolved "here and now." Sberbank evaluates the ratio of applications resolved at the moment to the total volume of applications received.

4 Number 900 for subscribers of MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2 mobile operators in Russia. Tariffication is free when in the home region and on the intra-network roaming.

5You can learn more about the award on the website pravpro.ru. In 2015, Sberbank of Russia OJSC was a laureate of a prize in the special nomination “The Most Client-Oriented Bank”; in 2016, Sberbank PJSC won a prize in the nomination “The Most Client-Centric Bank” in the category “Financial Literacy and Openness”.

PJSC Sberbank. General license of the Bank of Russia for banking operations No. 1481 dated 08/11/2015.

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CSI Index, or How to Measure Customer Satisfaction

This article will tell you why the NPS loyalty index is inconvenient to use, explain what to actually ask customers to find out their opinion about the company, and tell you how to convince staff to change their approach to work.

To evaluate customer loyalty, companies often use the NPS1 method. Customers are asked if they are willing to recommend the brand to friends and acquaintances. However, the answers to this question make it difficult to understand what attracts or annoys consumers. Therefore, brands with a negative NPS or an indicator of 15-20% are unlikely to find out what needs to be fixed so that dissatisfied customers do not go to competitors. To more accurately assess the quality of service and identify specific areas in which the company should improve its performance, use the CSI index.

1 NPS (eng. Net promoter score) - an indicator of customer loyalty. The calculation formula is as follows. Companies are asking consumers to rate the likelihood that they will recommend the brand to friends and acquaintances on a ten-point scale. Those who put nine and ten points - “supporters”, seven and eight points - “neutrals”, six points and below, - “critics”. The loyalty index is calculated as the difference between the number of “supporters” and “k ritik”.

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What is the CSI and how to calculate it

Customer satisfaction index - an index of customer satisfaction, which shows how customers are satisfied with the products and services of the company. It is believed: with a CSI index increase of 1-2%, revenue may increase by 20%. A good value for this indicator is not lower than 95%. The index is used in b2c and b2b spheres.

Calculation algorithm. First step: choose an arbitrary number of parameters that you consider important for the company. Most often they evaluate the attitude of customers to a product or service, service, operating standards, attractiveness of advertising and the price of goods in comparison with competitors.

Second stage: ask several clients to rate the company on a five-point scale, where one point means complete disappointment from working with the company, five means delight. Find out from buyers how important this or that parameter is for them - also on a five-point scale. So you understand what consumers value in the company. For example, you think: assortment and prices are more important, and customers will answer that they pay attention to the speed of staff. Interrogate consumers by phone, in the store immediately after purchase, on the website, by email, etc.

Third stage: analyze the received responses of clients. For example, you made a calculation of the CSI customer satisfaction index for the “Service” parameter and got the results:

• 20% of respondents gave one point (very dissatisfied);
• 15% - two points (dissatisfied);
• 20% - three points (neutral);
• 35% - four points (satisfied);
• 10% - five points (very satisfied).

A rating of “neutral” means: customers are dissatisfied, but do not want to (feel shy) to give a low score. Therefore, consider such consumers to be disappointed. In this example, 55% of customers are not satisfied with the company's service - a very poor indicator.

At the same time, customers rated the importance of the service at an average of five points. Therefore, the task of the company is to improve the quality of service. Otherwise, customers will move to competitors.

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What parameters to choose for the survey

Tip. Pay attention to customer satisfaction with the quality of the product and the level of service, the overall impression of working with the brand (speed of service, the amount of effort that the client spends on the purchase). Other parameters depend on the specifics of the company.

To determine which aspects are important to your audience, interview clients before calculating your CSI customer satisfaction index. Find out what they pay attention to when ordering a service or buying a product. To help people more readily answer questionnaire questions, offer a discount or a gift. After receiving the answers, research these options. Important: it’s better to gain customer location when you first contact the company.

How many questions should I ask?

Do not include a lot of questions in the questionnaire: the answers should take a maximum of five minutes from the client. The number of questions depends on the complexity of the product or service. If you sell food in the b2c segment, seven to ten questions are enough. In b2b sales, their number can be increased to 15.

Do not delay the questionnaire. If you conduct a survey on the site, it is difficult to verify the accuracy and correctness of the information. Therefore, interview customers immediately after communicating with company employees. Otherwise, the client will forget their own impressions and provide inaccurate data. For example, car owners come to the auto center several times a month. The company made a rule: to call after each visit and get an opinion about the service. In order not to cause customer dissatisfaction with the long conversations, employees asked no more than five questions about a particular parameter. So customers did not get tired of answering, and managers did not look intrusive.

Questions periodically changed. After the first visit, they asked if the problem was solved, how quickly, what was the quality of service. After the second visit, they found out whether it was comfortable to wait in the cabin while the mechanics were repairing the car, etc. Customers appreciated this feedback, as they saw: after the polls, the situation was changing for the better.

On practice. By the time I came to the company, for two months, managers phoned customers and found out an opinion about the quality of services and the services - the main parameters for the company. So statistics on consumer complaints and comments have accumulated. The CSI index eventually reached 70%. The company faced the task of increasing the index to 95%. I analyzed the information that I received from clients and identified problem areas. Work on them was built in two stages.

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Stage 1. Work with organizational problems

Tip. To effectively deal with problem areas, divide tasks into several blocks. Their number depends on how many parameters you initially evaluated by calculating the CSI customer satisfaction index. Start with two or three parameters that customers put in the first place during the survey. So you eliminate the disadvantages that annoy consumers more than others.

On practice. We compiled a list of twenty problems that the company could influence the solution to. Among them: difficulties with dialing, carelessness in work, lack of mutual understanding between master receivers and customers, etc. Customers complained that they spend too much time in the cabin and do not understand why the wait is delayed.

The problems were divided into two groups. The first is organizational, which management can eliminate. The second - service, the solution of which requires careful work with employees and takes more time. This order was specially chosen. If we first eliminate the problems, the solution of which depends on the leaders, we will show customers that we are listening to their opinion and are ready to change. After this, we proceed to more laborious tasks. If you do the opposite, buyers will get tired of waiting for change and disappointed.

Customers did not trust the mechanics because they did not see the car in the repair area. Having identified this problem, we hung a monitor in the recreation area, and connected cameras in the repair area. At the workplaces of the master-receivers, there were signs that were told using infographics, which make up the waiting time.

Customers complained that during the repair, which lasts three to four hours, there is nowhere to wait and eat, since the car center is located on the outskirts of the city. For six months, they arranged on the territory of the cafe and did not receive negative comments in the future.

Stage 2. Solving service problems

Tip. Many managers believe that managers and secretaries are responsible for the customer’s experience with the company. However, do not forget: every contact of the buyer with the company is important. Therefore, pay attention to all stages of interaction. To independently identify problem areas, go the customer’s path and see if you as a consumer will be satisfied with the quality of the goods and service. In addition, convey to all employees the idea that any improper action will push away the buyer and adversely affect loyalty.

On practice. After analyzing the responses of customers, we identified the main service problem that 80% of respondents complained about. Customers did not understand the master-receivers when they explained the reasons for the breakdown, the details of the diagnosis or repair, etc. As a result, the customers were not satisfied with the situation and left the site unhappy and spoke negatively about the work of the auto center. Other pain points (difficulties with dialing, etc.) that irritated 20% of consumers were also identified. To eliminate these shortcomings, we worked with company employees in three steps.

Discussion of problems. I gathered the management and those employees who were concerned with service problems - master-acceptors, secretaries, repairmen. Subsequently, such meetings were held at the company on a monthly basis. She talked about the identified difficulties, emphasized their importance and outlined the negative consequences for the company's reputation. After that, we discussed each issue together. It turned out that the master-acceptors did not realize that they did not clearly explain the details of the repair and that this determined the negative opinion of customers about the service.

I recommend this step for two reasons. First: employees may not understand what they are doing wrong. Therefore, write in detail: why customers complain. Second: it is important to explain to subordinates how their work affects customer loyalty and business revenue. If this is not done, employees will be indifferent to the instructions of the management and will not change the way they communicate with customers.

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Explanations for staff. If you tell employees about changes in service standards, they will internally oppose management decisions that they don’t understand. Your task is to convey to subordinates why you should communicate with clients this way and not otherwise. At a meeting, bring employees to come up with the solution you want to implement. To do this, draw up a series of questions in advance in order to push colleagues to the correct answers.

I asked the receivers: “What do you think, if in such a situation the client does not understand something, will he ask again?” Employees assured: the car owner will ask an additional question. Then I asked: “And if in this situation you don’t understand something, ask again?” The craftsmen replied that they would not have asked the company representative at the client’s place. Then I said: “If you doubt, for example, which baby formula to buy in the store, what will you do?” Employees replied that they would consult with a person who is trusted, but not with the seller.

I led the masters to the idea that the next time an uncertain client would not come to a car center for a consultation, but would turn to a friend who would advise another company. The employees realized that the approach should be changed, and from my submission they came to a decision: to explain the repair features intelligibly to customers, to answer questions simply, to tell what, how and why the master will do with the machine.

Competition. Changing the service standards, we calculated the CSI satisfaction index for each employee, starting from comments and feedback on the work of the staff. The lowest rate at the master-acceptor was 50%. To observe the dynamics of the index, we polled customers after each visit. Every month, the results of all employees were posted on the office stand, so that the craftsmen monitored the quality of their own work and the work of colleagues and could change the approach.

The employee sees that last month customers were satisfied with the amount of time spent in the auto center by 75%, and this month - only by 60%. Conclusion: the master did not explain in sufficient detail and accessible to customers what the long wait is made up of, or he incorrectly estimated the time of car maintenance.

After all, loyal customers:

• They will recommend you to friends and acquaintances.
• They will continue to buy from you as long as necessary.
• They will not deliberately look for another brand.
• Even the discounts of competitors are not so attractive to them.
• Most likely, they will be interested in the goods that you offer them.
• They will understand with understanding technical problems, delivery problems and other temporary difficulties.
• They will give you feedback if you ask: write a review on the product or indicate what can be improved.

And in order to manage customer loyalty, it is important to learn how to measure it. This will help us become better and sell more. How to measure loyalty? Now we will tell.

# 1: measure NPS loyalty index

Loyalty Index NPS (Net Promoter Score) - the basis of the basics in measuring loyalty. It shows if customers are willing to recommend your brand to friends. It is easy to measure and just as easy to interpret:

1. You ask how likely it is on a scale from zero to ten that the client will recommend your brand to his friends: 0 - never, never, 10 - surely, even today.
2. Divide the received answers into three groups, as a percentage. Critics  - those who put it from 0 to 6. They are unlikely to advise you to someone, perhaps even will discourage you. The neutrals  - those who put 7 or 8. They seem to be satisfied, but they are unlikely to recommend you. Promoters  - those who gave you 9 and 10 points. Here they have the most pleasant impressions of communicating with you, and they will really recommend you to friends.
3. Subtracting the percentage of critics from the percentage of promoters - this will be NPS.

NPS Calculation Formula

If the number turned out with a plus sign, then you have more fans than haters. As you know, the higher this number, the better. A negative and zero value indicates that the brand has problems and it is time to do something about it.

The classic NPS ends here, but there is an extended option - this is when you are still asking why the client gave just such an assessment. It allows you to specify the claims of critics and identify strengths through the feedback of promoters.

You can collect data in different ways: send an email newsletter with a questionnaire, arrange an online survey directly on the website or in the application, tighten up a call center and conduct a mass call, make the robot ring customers automatically.

# 2: measure CSI satisfaction index

The Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) shows how satisfied customers are immediately after engaging with the brand. At the same time, CSI implies that customer satisfaction depends not only on the direct characteristics of the product, but also on how important these characteristics are to him. Using the customer satisfaction index you can find out:

• how satisfied consumers are with a particular product;
• how satisfied are they with the interaction with the brand as a whole;
• how satisfied they are with interacting with your competitors
• how satisfied different groups of clients are after interacting with you - and compare these indicators with each other;
• how the attitude to the brand has changed after conducting marketing campaigns or some other actions - for example, after training staff - if you measure CSI before and after.

CSI is measured in two steps:

1. First, they determine by what parameters they will measure satisfaction with the product. There can be a lot of them, and they depend on the specifics of the brand: Internet speed at the provider, print quality in a book publishing house, and so on. But you can take 5P criteria as the basis: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People - satisfaction with the product itself, price, place, promotion, people. For example, did the round-the-clock consultant help or did the manager politely speak, who confirmed the order by phone.
2. Then they collect data using personal surveys of CAPI and PAPI, telephone CATI and online CAWI. The polls have two sections: in the first, they find out how important each of the parameters is for customers, and in the second, how satisfied they are with these parameters. Usually, in both cases they use a rating on a scale from 1 to 7, but not necessarily. Sometimes the questionnaire includes additional questions that imply a detailed answer (like with NPS, remember?) Or allow judging satisfaction not with a single product, but with a brand in whole.

Both indices, NPS and CSI, can be used to evaluate b2b and b2c segments. And it’s best to evaluate them together: that’s how we can see if satisfaction (CSI) leads to loyalty (NPS).

In our country, as a rule, the assessment of brand loyalty is limited to these two indicators. But Western marketers highlight a number of characteristics, briefly about them.

Repurchase Ratio - buyback ratio

The buyback ratio is the ratio of “repeat” customers to “one-time” customers. The logic is this: the basis of commercial relations is the purchase, so re-purchase can serve as a reliable confirmation of customer loyalty. Important: we are talking about the same products - again, back to the provider or b2b segment, which, for example, buys raw materials or the office.

Calculate it in different ways. If the brand’s business model is based on a subscription, that is, a certain amount for services is debited from the client every month (quarter, year), you just need to divide the number of customers renewing the contract into those who stop using the services after the first cycle.

For those who work with transactions, you need to consider the average time between the first and second purchases of regular customers and the standard deviation. In general, it is difficult, but there is a tool for calculating.

Upselling Ratio - Sales Ratio

The sales ratio is similar to the buyback ratio - with the only difference being that we are talking about different products. To calculate it, you again need to divide the "repeat" customers into "one-time" ones. This indicator reflects the trust that you gain through the previous experience of your customers.

The more the second product differs from the first, the more brand loyalty. For example, take an online clothing store and an online electronics store. The first client can buy jeans once a year, because he is happy with everything. The second - first buy a smartphone, make sure that everything is in order, and buy a laptop already. Upselling Ratio at the second store above.

Customer Loyalty Index - Another Loyalty Index

CLI is a loyalty index that shows the same as NPS, plus the possibility of re-buying and buying other goods. It accordingly has three questions:

1. What is the likelihood that you will recommend us to your friends and acquaintances?
2. What is the likelihood that you will buy a product from us again?
3. What is the likelihood that you will try our other products and services?

CLI is evaluated on a six-point scale, where 1 is “definitely yes” and 6 is “definitely not.” Total CLI - average score for three responses. It is believed that this index covers more aspects of loyalty, which means it is more reliable.

However, in our country they do not really like him, because, firstly, it takes more time and human resources. Secondly, the question of reliability is still controversial, because in the results of each survey an error creeps in, and in the case of CLI, this is an error not from one, but from three questions.

NPS vice versa

This, like NPS, is a survey of one question, but here you ask customers how much they will miss you if the company ceases to exist tomorrow. And all the same ten-point scale: from 1 - “I won’t notice”, to 10 - “I won’t manage without you.”

A survey measures your emotional connection with customers and the value of your USP. So if there are thousands of companies in the market besides you that are doing the same, customers are unlikely to lose sleep due to your disappearance.

Customer Engagement Numbers - Engagement Indicators

Many people believe that online engagement indicators now play a much more important role than NPS and CLI - because they are easier to measure and influence, and they are also more closely related to income and profit.

The chief executive officer and founder of Totango, which is engaged in attracting users of cloud applications, Guy Nirpaz, suggests using these metrics primarily:

Activity time. This is the average time that customers interact with your service per day, week, month or year - depending on what is most suitable for your offer.

Visit frequency. Shows how often the user returns to your service.

Core user actions. Analyzes whether the user can experience the basic functions of the service.

As you can see, measuring customer loyalty is real. All the ways we wrote about help one way or another to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the brand and suggest where to move it.

In which he introduced a new method of measuring loyalty developed by him. Publications were preceded by several years of research on the correlation between indicators traditionally used to measure loyalty, and true loyalty, which is manifested not in words but in the behavior of the client: more frequent purchases, higher checks and recommendations of the company to friends.

There is an interesting fact that many studies of behavioral psychology write about: once having made a decision - having chosen some kind of brand, service, tariff plan, store - a person is inclined not to change his choice, unless something pushes him away. The company makes a lot of efforts to attract customers: you need to exceed competitors, customer expectations, etc. But, having received the client, the main thing is not to push him away with your actions, that is, to ensure the client experience, appropriate  expectations.

In 2013, the United States investigated the reasons why customers changed their bank. A more attractive offer of competing banks was the reason for the change of bank in only 15% of cases. Another quarter of customers changed the bank for reasons beyond the control of the bank: change of employer, place of residence, personal changes that lead to people starting to use banking services differently. In 60% of cases, the reason for opening an account in a new bank was an inconvenience for customers created by the old bank - a discrepancy with their expectations.

Identification and elimination of customer inconveniences (reduction in the share of detractors) is the main direction of the company's efforts to increase NPS

At the same time, it is important for the company to identify and eliminate problems that are significant for the majority of customers. They may be problems that are not written in the plaintiff books, which are not addressed to the call center, or which employees are not aware of. Solving problems that are loudest shouted about will not affect the overall index if only a few people face these problems.

Nosikova Olga Olegovna   Postgraduate Student, State University - Higher School of Economics, Department of Firm Marketing

The development of the service sector in our country has led to the understanding that the work of the client departments of the company in the sales and service process is essential, and sometimes even a key factor in achieving customer satisfaction. In the conditions of growing competition between companies, non-price indicators in the field of work with clients are becoming especially relevant for individual sectors of the economy, especially for companies working in the service sector.

However, in Russia today the system of measuring the opinions of consumers in the service sector has not yet been formed, which allows not only to measure their level of satisfaction, but also to take real steps to change their opinions about the work of the company. Those techniques that are actively used in the West in this regard are not applicable in Russia unchanged in view of the specifics of Russian conditions. For this reason, the author formulated requirements for a methodology for studying customer satisfaction in Russian service companies. Namely, this technique should provide opportunities:

• systematic low-cost research;
• conducting surveys that are not burdensome for a wide range of customers and do not adversely affect their attitude to companies;
• relationship with the financial performance of the company;
• comparisons between industries, companies, divisions, lines of business;
• inclusion of results in business processes, including the use of employee labor incentive systems.

Based on the formulated requirements for the methodology for studying customer satisfaction, as well as other parameters, the author conducted a comparative analysis of two competing indices: the national Customer Satisfaction Index (CSi), developed in 1989 by specialists from the Stockholm School of Economics, and pure index of the promoter (Net Promoter Score, NPS), created in 2003 by F. Reicheld, a former leader and current member of the scientific community of large international consulting th company Bain and Company. The overall objective of these techniques is to measure consumer attitudes to company services.

The CSI methodology makes it possible to comprehensively evaluate a wide range of factors affecting customer satisfaction, provides an opportunity to build a satisfaction model, multidimensional analysis of the relationship of customer expectations, perceived quality and value for consumers with customer satisfaction, and in many cases provides a strong correlation of the index with the company's economic indicators. The disadvantages of the methodology are the high costs of conducting research due to the large number of questions in the questionnaire, and the bias in the estimates due to the imposition of satisfaction assessment factors on respondents. The strictly formalized nature of the questions of the questionnaire, although it allows us to quantitatively compare the main areas of consumer dissatisfaction, but it does not make it possible to identify the root causes of this dissatisfaction.

The NPS methodology is based on the analysis of only one aspect of satisfaction - the willingness of the client to recommend the company to his friends and acquaintances, which allows conducting low-cost and not burdensome studies for clients. The questionnaire includes the question of the possibility of giving such a recommendation on an 11-point scale and one open-ended question with a request to justify the assessment. Respondents who put 9 or 10 points are considered as adherents of the company (promoters); 7 or 8 points - passive clients (neutrals); from 0 to 6 points - unsatisfied customers (opponents). The net promoter index NPS is calculated as the difference in the shares of promoters and opponents among the total number of clients surveyed. Although the NPS index does not take into account many aspects of customer satisfaction, judging by the results of foreign studies, it is quite strong, and for some business areas even stronger than the CSI index, it correlates with the economic performance of companies (Table 1).

Table 1.  Coefficients of pair correlation of the three-year dynamics of two indices (NPS and CSI) with the dynamics of company profits *

Table 2 shows the results of a comparative analysis of the two methods performed by the author.

Table 2.  Comparison of customer satisfaction techniques (NPS and CSI)

The closest to meeting the requirements developed by the author is the NPS technique. If a similar technique could be applied in Russian companies, such compliance would become complete. Due to its simplicity and effectiveness, at the first stage this technique will strengthen the understanding of the need for regular study of customers' opinions about the company. And if there are financial opportunities, it will be possible to take the next step by adding new elements to the NPS methodology, for example, creating hybrids of the methodology. In this case, the advanced NPS technique will be able to perform new functions, for example, part of the functions performed today by the CSI technique. Thus, the NPS technique serves as the so-called “foundation” for constructing a new “building” of a complex of marketing research in the field of measuring customer satisfaction.

Despite the fact that the NPS methodology today is copied and applied by some Russian companies without any scientific justification, its applicability and the adequacy of the results obtained with its help remained in doubt. After all, it is known that direct copying of methods created in countries with developed market economies and mature consumer behavior in Russian conditions often leads to errors. Let us describe the obstacles that hinder the direct transfer of the NPS technique to Russian soil.

At first,  it is unclear how the main question of the questionnaire on readiness to give a recommendation will be perceived by Russian consumers: will they understand the essence of the question, will they answer it, will the question irritate them. Perhaps, due to the mentality, do Russian citizens consider it unethical for anyone to recommend anything, even if they are completely satisfied with the company's services?

Secondly,  it is likely that Russians who are accustomed to the “school” 5-point grading system are not able to evaluate their attitude to the company on a 11-point scale. It is unclear what meaningful meaning the Russians will put in this or that gradation of this scale. If the perception of the gradations of the scale in Russia turns out to be different than in the West, it will be necessary to change the criteria for classifying a client as a group of promoters, neutrals or opponents.

Thirdly,  it is not clear how company employees will react to the new system of labor incentives based on their achievement of a certain value of the NPS indicator: will they become more concerned about improving the quality of their work or will this system only irritate them in relation to their company?

Fourth,  it is unclear whether a significant economic return on the NPS methodology in Russia should be expected: whether the customer satisfaction rate will correlate with the company's profit growth rate.

Thus, the need for scientific research aimed at creating a Russian methodology for studying customer satisfaction in the service sector became clear. And since the results of applying this methodology should be as comparable as possible with the results of applying the NPS methodology in the West, it is desirable that it would be possible only to modify the NPS methodology in order to adapt it to Russian conditions.

In order to test the applicability of the NPS methodology in Russian service companies (using the insurance industry as an example), extensive empirical studies were carried out under the supervision of the author during 2007-2008, based on which the following main results were obtained.

Fig.  Correlation between NPS and the economic growth of insurance companies (on the example of the MTPL business line, 2007–2008)
Sources.The results of our own empirical research; FSSN.

Thus, it was scientifically proven for the first time that a technique similar to NPS is applicable in the Russian service sector. As a result, the author created a new methodology adapted to Russian conditions, aimed at research and, ultimately, increasing customer satisfaction.

This technique was introduced into the practice of the Russian insurers, which confirmed the feasibility of its wide distribution in the insurance industry in particular and the service sector in general. Specially developed organizational and methodological mechanisms made it possible to build an effective system of working with company customers and establish responsibility for the quality of their services. They are focused mainly on the achievement of the economic growth of the company; they allow assessing the economic impact of the level of customer satisfaction on the service sector.

In other words, by expanding the boundaries of routine customer satisfaction surveys and carefully monitoring fluctuations in NPS, you can increase cash flow by improving customer perceptions of the company.

See: Fornell C., Johnson M.D., Anderson E.W., Cha J., Bryant B. The American Customer Satisfaction Index: Nature, Purpose and Findings // Journal of Marketing. - 1996. - Vol. 60 (Oct.). - P. 7-18; Fornell C., Van Amburg D., Morgeson F., Anderson E.W., Bryant B.E., Johnson M.D. The American Customer Satisfaction Index at 10 Years. A summary of findings: Implications for the Economy, Stock Returns and Management. - Ann Arbor, MI: The Stephen M. Ross School of Business, 2005 .-- 140 p.

Reichheld F.F. The One Number You Need to Grow // Harvard business Review. - 2003. - (December). - P. 46-56.

The survey was conducted among 500 respondents randomly selected in all regions of the insurer's presence.

For example, in Germany the proportion of respondents who found it difficult to answer does not exceed one percent. In the questionnaire there is no position “I am at a loss to answer”, and according to the instructions, the interviewers encode such answers as 5 points. Our methodical aerobatics showed that a significant proportion of Russian respondents who found it difficult to give any assessment, if the Western methodology is fully followed, can lead to an overestimation of the share of opponents' answers, and, consequently, to a bias in estimates.

The study was conducted using a mass survey by telephone of the population of Moscow using the CATI method. The author calculated the NPS of each insurance company that collected at least 100 responses. The area of \u200b\u200beach circle in Figure 1 is proportional to the company's income received in 2008 from customers in the CTP segment.

Methods for determining consumer satisfaction indices

The development of the integral value of a product into generalized and detailed consumer expectations is called consumer satisfaction tree.
  Indexing the degree of customer satisfaction allows you to quantify the contribution to the general opinion of the consumer about the quality of the object, various components.

As a rule, the standard five-point scale is used as the basis for determination methods (it is very familiar from school and naturally from institute practice).

The value of the components is determined by the table:

Characteristics of quality objects:
  Services:

The quality of the components (tree component) is determined according to the scheme:

How many people answered how they rate “reliability”, etc.

All polls are conducted among the so-called “External consumers” (remember what “external” and “internal” mean?)

So: “external consumer” can be represented by three main groups.
  Usually consumers are asked to evaluate the weight (in the form of points) of each input (component) of the tree. In the tree picture, consumers' opinions about a particular component are shown as a percentage. Based on the results, the company adjusts not only the work to improve the quality of the product or services, but also the strategy to achieve the main goal - the maximum value of the product for the consumer and its minimum cost for both parties.

The statistical results of the study of customer satisfaction can be presented for greater clarity in the form of a map of consumer satisfaction profiles, on the abscissa axis of which the components of the tree are applied, and on the ordinate axis, the opinions of consumers about these components (the average value of their assessment, expressed as a percentage).

Similar cards can be built for each group of homogeneous consumers corresponding to a certain sector of the market.

They are very convenient for comparative analysis.

European consumer satisfaction index.

It is believed that the European ud-consumer index is one of the important results of the European policy of promoting quality, which contributes to increased competitiveness and economic growth at both the macro and micro levels.

At the micro level - the UP index shows the most important asset of the company - consumer value.

Every PM index is usually designed so that its emphasis is on supporting macroeconomic policies. In particular, the UE index allows one to evaluate the real structure of competition, choose the economic principles of structural transformations aimed at enhancing competitiveness, and evaluate economic indicators in a broader sense.

Europe has gained some experience using national indices. In particular, in 1989 the so-called Swedish “barometer” of the unitary enterprise was introduced, and since 1992 the German “barometer” of consumption was introduced. They are also being developed in Austria, Denmark, France and Italy.

The barometer model is based on three levels:

• the first concerns the forces driving customer satisfaction (various aspects of understanding consumer quality, expectations, prices, etc.);
• the second - questions weighted in the UE index;
• the third - of some indicators that represent exclusively the results of customer satisfaction (for example, loyalty).

The national UE indices introduced today follow mainly this model.