Customer Satisfaction research identifies how well an organisation is performing from the

customer’s viewpoint. It allows any organisation to understand how their customers are with
the level of service they are providing at any point in time, and to track how satisfaction
levels change over time. It does not investigate the reasons or reality behind the Customer
Satisfaction, unlike Service Evaluation research but still provides extremely valuable
information – such as highlighting an area where service needs improving.

Tracking satisfaction levels can be particularly powerful when it concentrates on identifying

levels of satisfaction against the specific elements of service that most matter to customers
and which the organisation can change; and where possible, compare satisfaction levels
across competing organisations. This can also be used to highlight differences between
customer segments, potentially identifying segments at greatest risk.

Customer Satisfaction research is often used as part of a wider project designed to help an
organisation or company improve its service provision, customer satisfaction and customer
interaction.

A variety of techniques can be used depending on the aims of the project, the nature of the
organisation and the extent of the customer base but would typically incorporate a customer
survey and may include depth interviews or focus groups in order to more fully understand
the service elements which most matter to customers,

Customer Satisfaction, by nature, is dependent on an individual’s expectations and previous

experience of service.

In order get the most out of the research for your organisation, it is best for a Customer
Satisfaction research project to link to your organisation’s service standards (whether formal
or informal). For example, there may be a service standard which states that all customers
should be given an appointment within two weeks of making a request. It would be relatively
easy to ascertain whether this standard was being met in practice. But customers’ satisfaction
with how quickly they receive an appointment would need to be tested through direct
research with customers.

Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied
by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator
within business and is part of the four of a Balanced Scorecard.

In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction

is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business
strategy.
However, the importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has increased
bargaining power. For example, cell phone plan providers, such as AT&T and Verizon,
participate in an industry that is an oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of a certain product
or service exist. As such, many cell phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print with
provisions that they would never get away if there were, say, a hundred cell phone plan
providers, because customer satisfaction would be way too low, and customers would easily
have the option of leaving for a better contract offer.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer
satisfaction for firms.

Contents

 1 Measuring customer satisfaction

 2 Methodologies
 3 Improving Customer Satisfaction

Measuring customer satisfaction

Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring
customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at
providing products and/or services to the marketplace.

Customer satisfaction is an abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of
satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The state
of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables which
correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of
satisfaction can also vary depending on other factors the customer, such as other products
against which the customer can compare the organization's products.

Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L) between 1985 and 1988
delivered SERVQUAL which provides the basis for the measurement of customer
satisfaction with a service by using the gap between the customer's expectation of
performance and their perceived experience of performance. This provides the researcher
with a satisfaction "gap" which is semi-quantitative in nature. Cronin and Taylor extended the
disconfirmation theory by combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and
Berry as two different measures (perception and expectation) into a single measurement of
performance relative to expectation.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements using a
Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement in terms of their
perception and expectation of performance of the service being measured.

Methodologies
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a scientific standard of customer
satisfaction. Academic research has shown that the national ACSI score is a strong predictor
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and an even stronger predictor of Personal
Consumption Expenditure (PCE) growth. On the microeconomic level, research has shown
that ACSI data predicts stock market performance, both for market indices and for
individually traded companies. Increasing ACSI scores has been shown to predict loyalty,
word-of-mouth recommendations, and purchase behavior. The ACSI measures customer
satisfaction annually for more than 200 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors.
In addition to quarterly reports, the ACSI methodology can be applied to private sector
companies and government agencies in order to improve loyalty and purchase intent. Two
companies have been licensed to apply the methodology of the ACSI for both the private and
public sector: CFI Group, Inc. applies the methodology of the ACSI offline, and Foresee
Results applies the ACSI to websites and other online initiatives. ASCI scores have also been
calculated by independent researchers, for example, for the mobile phones sector, higher
education, and electronic mail.

The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction developed in
the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano that classifies customer preferences into five categories:
Attractive, One-Dimensional, Must-Be, Indifferent, Reverse. The Kano model offers some
insight into the product attributes which are perceived to be important to customers. Kano
also produced a methodology for mapping consumer responses to questionnaires onto his
model.

SERVQUAL or RATER is a service-quality framework that has been incorporated into

customer-satisfaction surveys (e.g., the revised Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer)
to indicate the gap between customer expectations and experience.

J.D. Power and Associates provides another measure of customer satisfaction, known for its
top-box approach and automotive industry rankings. J.D. Power and Associates' marketing
research consists primarily of consumer surveys and is publicly known for the value of its
product awards.

Other research and consulting firms have customer satisfaction solutions as well. These
include A.T. Kearney's Customer Satisfaction Audit process,which incorporates the Stages of
Excellence framework and which helps define a company’s status against eight critically
identified dimensions.

For Business to Business (B2B) surveys there is the Info Quest box. This has been used
internationally since 1989 on more than 110,000 surveys (Nov '09) with an average response
rate of 72.74%. The box is targeted at "the most important" customers and avoids the need for
a blanket survey.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

Published standards exist to help organizations develop their current levels of customer
satisfaction. The International Customer Service Institute (TICSI) has released The
International Customer Service Standard (TICSS). TICSS enables organizations to focus their
attention on delivering excellence in the management of customer service, whilst at the same
time providing recognition of success through a 3rd Party registration scheme. TICSS focuses
an organization’s attention on delivering increased customer satisfaction by helping the
organization through a Service Quality Model.

TICSS Service Quality Model uses the 5 P's - Policy, Processes, People, Premises,
Product/Services, as well as performance measurement. The implementation of a customer
service standard should lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction, which in turn
influences customer retention and customer loyalty.

Customer service

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a
purchase.

According to Jamier L. Scott. (2002),[1] “Customer service is a series of activities designed to

enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has
met the customer expectation."

Its importance varies by product, industry and customer; defective or broken merchandise can
be exchanged, often only with a receipt and within a specified time frame. Retail stores will
often have a desk or counter devoted to dealing with returns, exchanges and complaints, or
will perform related functions at the point of sale.

Customer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by
automated means called self-service. Examples of self service are Internet sites. However, In
the Internet era, a challenge has been to maintain and/or enhance the personal experience
while making use of the efficiencies of online commerce. Writing in Fast Company,
entrepreneur and customer systems innovator Micah Solomon has made the point that
"Online customers are literally invisible to you (and you to them), so it's easy to shortchange
them emotionally. But this lack of visual and tactile presence makes it even more crucial to
create a sense of personal, human-to-human connection in the online arena."[2]

Customer service is normally an integral part of a company’s customer value proposition. In

their book Rules to Break and Laws to Follow, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. write
that "customers have memories. They will remember you, whether you remember them or
not." Further, "customer trust can be destroyed at once by a major service problem, or it can
be undermined one day at a time, with a thousand small demonstrations of incompetence."[3]

From the point of view of an overall sales process engineering effort, customer service plays
an important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue.[4] From that
perspective, customer service should be included as part of an overall approach to systematic
improvement.
Some have argued[5] that the quality and level of customer service has decreased in recent
years, and that this can be attributed to a lack of support or understanding at the executive and
middle management levels of a corporation and/or a customer service policy. To address this
argument, many organizations have employed a variety of methods to improve their customer
satisfaction levels, and other KPIs.

There is obviously a strong link between customer satisfaction and customer retention.
Customer's perception of Service and Quality of product will determine the success of
the product or service in the market.

With better understanding of customers' perceptions, companies can determine the

actions required to meet the customers' needs. They can identify their own strengths
and weaknesses, where they stand in comparison to their competitors, chart out path
future progress and improvement. Customer satisfaction measurement helps to promote
an increased focus on customer outcomes and stimulate improvements in the work
practices and processes used within the company.

There is a lot of debate and confusion about what exactly is required and how to go
about it. Customer satisfaction is quite a complex issue and this article is an attempt to
review the necessary requirements, and discuss the steps that need to be taken in order
to measure and track customer satisfaction.

What do Customers Want?

Before we begin to create tools to measure the level of satisfaction, it is important to

develop a clear understanding of what exactly the customer wants. We need to know
what our customers expect from the products and services we provide.

Customer expectations are the customer-defined attributes of your product or service

you must meet or exceed to achieve customer satisfaction.1

Customer Expectations are of two types - Expressed and Implied.

Expressed Customer Expectations are those requirements that are written down in
the contract and agreed upon by both parties, for example, product specifications and
delivery requirements. Supplier's performance against these requirements is most of the
times directly measurable.

Implied Customer Expectations are not written or spoken but are the ones the
customer would 'expect' the supplier to meet nevertheless. For example, a customer
would expect the service representative who calls on him to be knowledgeable and
competent to solve a problem on the spot.

There are many reasons why customer expectations are likely to change over time.
Process improvements, advent of new technology, changes in customer's priorities,
improved quality of service provided by competitors are just a few examples.
The customer is always right. Supplier's job is to provide the Customer what he wants,
when he wants it. Customer Satisfaction is customers' perception that a supplier has met
or exceeded their expectations.

It is therefore important to periodically update our knowledge of customer expectations.

What constitutes Satisfaction?

We cannot create customer satisfaction just by meeting customer's requirements fully

because these HAVE to be met in any case. However falling short is certain to create
dissatisfaction.

Major attributes of customer satisfaction can be summarized as:

 Product Quality
 Product Packaging
 Keeping delivery commitments
 Price
 Responsiveness and ability to resolve complaints and reject reports
 Overall communication, accessibility and attitude

We cannot begin to address the customer satisfaction issue we define the parameters
and measures clearly.

It may be easier to track supplier's performance against stated requirements of quality

and timeliness because there is documentary evidence. Some indication of whether a
supplier is meeting the requirements can also be obtained from data on scrap rates,
PPM, complaints database, sales improvements, repeat orders, customer audit reports
etc.

It is far more difficult to measure the level of performance and satisfaction when it
comes to the intangible expectations.

What are the Tools?

Customer expectations can be identified using various methods such as

 Periodic Contract Reviews

 Market research
 Telephonic Interviews
 Personal visits
 Warranty records
 Informal discussions
 Satisfaction Surveys

Depending upon the customer base and available resources, we can choose a method
that is most effective in measuring the customers' perceptions. The purpose of the
exercise is to identify priorities for improvement. We must develop a method or
combination of methods that helps to continually improve service.
Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Formal survey has emerged as by far the best method of periodically assessing the
customer satisfaction. The surveys are not marketing tools but an information-gaining
tool. Enough homework needs to be done before embarking on the actual survey. This
includes:

 Defining Objectives of the survey

 Design Survey Approach
 Develop Questionnaires and forms
 Administer survey (email, telephone, or post)
 Method of Compiling data and analysing the findings
 Format of the Report to present the findings

There is no point in asking irrelevant questions on a customer satisfaction questionnaire.

The basic purpose is to find out what we are doing right or wrong, where is the scope for
improvement, where do we stand vis-à-vis other suppliers, how can we serve the
customer better?

A Customer satisfaction Measurement Survey should at least identify the following

objectives-

 Importance to Customers (Customers' Priorities).

 Customers' perception of supplier's performance.
 Your performance relative to customers' priorities.
 Priorities for Improvement.

Survey forms should be easy to fill out with minimum amount of time and efforts on
customer's part. They should be designed to actively encourage the customer to
complete the questions. Yet they must provide accurate data to monitor improvements
in the supplier's performance. The data should also be sufficiently reliable for
management decision-making. This can be achieved by incorporating 'objective' type
questions where customer has to 'rate' on scale of say, 1 to 10. For repeated surveys,
you could provide the rating that was previously accorded by the customer. This works
like a reference point for the customer.

Space should always be provided for the customer's own opinions. This enables them to
state any additional requirements or report any shortcomings that are not covered by
the objective questions.

Normally, we deal various personnel at various levels in the customer's organization- the
buyer, user, receiving inspector, finance and purchase persons etc. Surveying a number
of respondents for each customer gives a complete perspective of customer satisfaction.
It may be necessary to device a different questionnaire for each of them.

Respondents must be provided a way to express the importance they attach to various
survey parameters. Respondents should be asked to give a weighting factor, again on a
rating scale of say, 1 to 10, for each requirement. This gives a better indication of
relative importance of each parameter towards overall customer satisfaction and makes
it easier for suppliers to prioritize their action plans by comparing the Performance
Rating (Scores) with Importance Rating (Weighting).

The questions are grouped together in a common parameter such as Product Quality,
Delivery Performance, or Field Sales Performance.

A typical examples can be:

Survey Parameter - Product Performance
Questions: Provide rating on a scale of 1 - 10 on the following:
    - Consistency of Product Quality.
    - Technical Performance of Product.
    - Suppliers Quality Systems.
    - Overall performance of the Product.

Survey Parameter - Competitor Performance

Questions: Rate our performance on a scale of 1 - 10, as compared to your best vendor
    - Adherence to Delivery schedule
    - Quality of product
    - Cost of product

It is often found that there is a dismal response from the customers. A recent study
showed that only 15% of the customers to whom customer satisfaction surveys were
sent gave a feedback. One of the reasons for this could be a poorly conceived survey.
Defining a simple survey having less number of descriptive questions and more of
objective type can increase the feedback rate. Electronic mailing of survey questionnaire
is a very good option as the customer can fill out the questionnaire quickly rather than
sitting with the suppliers representative disturbing his busy schedule. This can - where
necessary - be backed up by a gentle reminder or a personal visit.

Analysis

The customer's requirements must be translated and quantified into measurable targets.
This provides an easy way to monitor improvements, and deciding upon the attributes
that need to be concentrated on in order to improve customer satisfaction. We can
recognize where we need to make changes to create improvements and determine if
these changes, after implemented, have led to increased customer satisfaction.

Two major factors that can be determined from the survey data are:

1. Performance Matrix (Your performance relative to customers priorities) and

2. Satisfaction Index (Customers Satisfaction over a period of time).

Performance Matrix:

The average of the weightings and the scores given by the customer for each parameter
is plotted on a Scatter graph. This Graphical representation is easy to understand
without any great knowledge of statistics.

With the data obtained, the average Weighting (importance) on x-axis Vs average
Scores (performance) on y-axis can be plotted for each parameter.

From this Scatter Plot the supplier can find out at a glance, the areas where there is
scope for improvement, highlighted, where possible by using the Traffic Signal analogy.

  High Weighting, High Score On Target

  High Weighting, Low Score Underperformance

  Low Weighting, High Score Overkill

   Low Weighting, Low Score Supplier can afford to score low in that area

Performance Matrix

Satisfaction Index (CSI)

The Customer Satisfaction Index represents the overall satisfaction level of that
customer as one number, usually as a percentage. Plotting this Satisfaction Index of the
customer against a time scale shows exactly how well the supplier is accomplishing the
task of customer satisfaction over a period of time.

Since the survey feedback comes from many respondents in one organization, the bias
due to individual perception needs to be accounted for.

This can be achieved by calculating the Satisfaction Index using an importance weighting
based on an average of 1.

Calculate the average of all the weightings given by the customer. Divide the individual
weightings by this average to arrive at the weighting on the basis of average of 1.
Customer's higher priorities are weighted more than 1 and lower priorities less than 1.
The average of the Customers Importance Scores are calculated and each individual
score is expressed as a factor of that average. To understand the calculations consider
following example:

The following table shows the Weightings & Scores assigned on a scale of 1 - 10 by the
Customer.

Parameter Weighting Score Weighting (avg. of 1) Weighting (avg. of 1) * Score

P A B C D = B *C

P1 7 8 1.17 9.24

P2 5 4 0.83 3.33

P3 9 8 1.50 12.00
 P4 3 3 0.50 1.50

P5 6 4 1.00 4.00

  Average = 6.00 Average = 5.40   CSI = 6.01

A = Average Weighting assigned by all respondents for each parameter

B = Average Score assigned by all respondents for each parameter

Avg. Weighting = (7 + 5 + 9 + 3 + 6) / 5 = 6

C = Weighting based on avg. of 1 = Individual Weighting / avg. Weighting

D = Weighted Score = Score * Average Weighting = B * C

Satisfaction Index CSI = Average of (Weighted Scores)

CSI = (9.24 + 3.33 + 12 + 1.5 + 4.0) / 5 = 6.01

Since the scale used was 1 - 10, CSI = 60.10%

Parameterwise Satisfaction Index plotted over Time

Thus Customer Satisfaction can be expressed as a single number that tells the supplier
where he stands today and an Improvement plan can be chalked out to further improve
his performance so as to get a loyal customer.

Conclusions

It is far less costly to keep existing customers than to win new ones. Loyal customers
buy more products and help bring in more business by recommending your product to
others. So if customer loyalty is the goal, then the supplier's efforts should begin with
the knowledge of what constitutes value to his customers and the market.
A supplier should always keep on improving so as to achieve a greater profitability. This
can be achieved by knowing the market well, i.e. understanding exactly what the
customer wants. By discovering what the customer wants, the supplier can begin to
understand how his products and services provide value for his customers.

A simple tool is to take customer satisfaction surveys and analyze the customer
feedback. This gives the supplier an insight on where he lacks in delivering his products
or services and where is the scope of improvement.

How to develop and improve Customer

Satisfaction
Over the last few decades companies have increasingly begun to realize the importance of customer
satisfaction. Where trading environments have become saturated and customers increasingly hard to come
by, customer retention has become imperative. Business has concluded that customer satisfaction can
therefore deliver financial benefit providing stability and a platform for growth, the alternative is a
dissatisfied customer who seldom expresses their complaints they simply buy elsewhere.

Customer Satisfaction can be analyzed, measured and improved, the tools and methods required to build
and improve it are wide and varied, however there is consensus over the basics of a toolkit of processes
and polices that business can exploit as they aim to build customer satisfaction.

1/ Assess the customers needs

Aligning product and service offerings with customer needs can only be achieved when sufficient
knowledge of customer requirements has been captured. Accurately understanding the customer’s needs is
the most important step towards achieving customer satisfaction.

It’s worth pointing out that needs are often comprised of a mixture of both product and service offerings –
for example – supermarket customers may be influenced over price and availability of products whilst also
being influenced by how long they have to queue at the checkout.

There are a variety of methods for assessing customer needs from modeling and statistical techniques to
more standard assessment methods such as observing and questioning current and prospective customers.
Assessment often takes the form of market analysis, buying trends and behaviors and determining factors
that influence the customer.

Needs assessment is an ongoing process and has various guises from questionnaires to workshops to
complaints management. Fundamentally the customer is best placed to convey their needs and businesses
should incorporate an appropriate strategy to track these.

2/ Ownership by Senior Management and involvement of the whole organization

Once the customers needs have been captured they should be championed by the whole organization. To
succeed customer satisfaction should be incorporated as a corporate strategy which should be supported
from the senior management downwards. For the strategy to succeed the voice of the customer needs to
reach those at the very top of the organization and the VP or Management Director must champion the
customers requirements and ensure that the business is shaped and resourced to deliver.

However, it doesn’t just stop with senior management, the whole organization needs to understand the
requirements of their customers and the role they have to play in satisfying them. Involvement will usually
mean more than a crudely drawn up corporate values such as “partnership” or “customer focused” but
staff will be tuned to requirements, be involved in their delivery and be acutely aware of the impact on
service levels. The whole business, including those in senior positions should be able to talk fluently and
accurately regarding the levels of satisfaction within its customer base together with engaging and
participating in improvement programs.

A tuned organization will target staff development to support a customer orientated strategy. Many
organizations also link financial rewards with customer satisfaction performance – while this can be fruitful,
businesses should ensure that incentives need to be placed correctly to deliver appropriate results.

3/ Alignment of Business Structure with customer requirements

With the customer’s needs identified and the business embracing a customer focused strategy –
organizations should also consider aligning their organizational structure against the needs of the
customer. In “Beyond Customer Satisfaction” (1996) author Keki Bhote defines four stages of
organizational evolution towards world class customer satisfaction and loyalty. Bhote defines organizational
structure evolving from vertical “functional” management to Cross Function Teams, with the aim of the
business to provide value to the customer and focus on customer loyalty.

Organizations need to consider carefully where customer interfaces occur and the whole organization
should be positioned to facilitate customer interaction. Many opt for a single point of interaction an
“Enterprise Service Desk” which has total ownership of all customer contact. Some organizations have
developed teams whose sole responsibility is assessing potential customer needs ensuring that information
gets communicated to the relevant services and sales teams of the business.

Whatever the structure, customer service should be considered at all levels of the organization from R&D
through to design, manufacture, sales and after care.

4/ Measure and Analyse

One of the key tools to help improve customer satisfaction is effective measurement and analysis.
Historically many organizations have chosen to estimate customer satisfaction which has resulted in an
incorrect assessment of performance. Clearly should you want to know how satisfied a customer is you
need to ask.

The most popular method of customer satisfaction assessment is the questionnaire. Many organizations
use customer survey questionnaires comprised of a series of questions and weighted results which produce
an overall assessment of performance. Measuring customer satisfaction can be complex to execute with
response rates to questionnaires averaging around 3-5% many organizations choose to outsource this
activity to third parties. The benefits of this is that many organization don’t necessarily have the
appropriate tools or skills in house to undertake this activity.

Whatever the assessment method, a key target of measuring customer satisfaction is to isolate and
decipher influences that drive purchase decisions. Once obtained it is important to categorize and structure
the feedback as it arrives. Typically this may mean tracking the influence of different customer satisfaction
attributes over time and benchmarking within the industry. Many organizations are increasingly looking
towards customer satisfaction programs where the data forms an input into a continuous improvement
activity. The most important thing is to ensure that once the data is obtained it is used proactively.

5/ Have Effective customer focused Processes, Procedures and systems

Having focused staff and an appropriate structure will not drive results on their own a business requires
the correct processes and systems to facilitate results. Traditional business processes tend to be inward
facing aimed at satisfying the requirements of senior management, in contrast customer focused
organizations have processes that reflect and support the customer’s needs.

When constructing processes it is important to understand the impact that different service levels has on
customer satisfaction. Incorporating traditional improvement idioms such as “Plan Do Check Act” into
management systems can have the affect on building on feedback and incorporating it into improvement
programs.
Increasingly there are many formal examples and systems to facilitate best practice – for example ISO
10002:2004 which describes best practice for complaints management. Benchmarking programs focused
on developing world class customer service focused organizations are also prevalent and can help in
highlighting superior business processes.

Technology can also be exploited to improve customer satisfaction – software vendors increasingly suggest
a single “end to end” solution to manage contact data as a critical success factor. Research by McKinsey &
Company suggests that companies that have a strategic approach to customer satisfaction and make
technology investments to support objectives are likely to achieve high rates of customer retention.

In 2005 the Global CRM market was worth $3.2 billion (AMR Research) and most if not all the leading
software solutions providers are developing products targeted towards customer management and
retention. The Functionality in these products range from contact/customer management through to
feedback systems, complaints and feedback systems. Increasingly many of these applications are available
as hosted solutions.

However, such systems are still only widely used by larger organizations. A study by AMI-Partners in 2007
showed that only 1 in 12 small businesses currently used CRM and the same percentage intended to
implement such systems within the next 12 months. Clearly the CRM market will continue to expand as the
low to mid market embraces such technology.

Finally in today’s web enabled economy, customers are increasingly responding to self serve systems –
particularly those that are focused on delivering simple, informative and fast customer experiences
providing customers control over their interaction with a company. As the internet continues to expand,
technology will have more influence over customer retention and organizations should think carefully of the
impact on technology projects.

Summary

Ultimately, there are a range of factors which organizations can shape and influence. Each of which can
impact customer satisfaction – ultimately there is no single answer. Business strategy must embrace
customer satisfaction as it’s top priority, assessment programs of customer needs should be continuous
and long term development of resource and technology strategy should be focused towards delighting the
customer. Ongoing analysis as part of continuous improvement programs will facilitate business change
and provide focus on what drives satisfaction and conversely what drives dissatisfaction and thus enable it
to be eliminated.