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Q:  Should you compare your customer satisfaction to that of your competition?
 
Complete Question
We’re developing a customer satisfaction survey. Not one that we’d send out after a support call, but a more in-depth one that we’ll send to all of our customers to understand how we’re doing. One of the things our CEO wants to know is how we compare to our competition. Do you have any advice as to how we ask that question? Are there examples of how other companies have worded it?
 
Asking your current customers to rate your company versus the competition is not a good approach and any results could not be considered valid. The survey results will be based upon a very skewed perspective. Maybe your market is unusual, but do you really think a high percentage of your customers are also using your competition's products and services? Maybe a few, but the majority selected you over the competition. Let's face it; if the customer thought highly of the competition, wouldn't they likely be 'their' customer? Even if they were familiar with the competition (from past experiences), aren't they more likely to be dissatisfied with them...that's why they're now your customer? Any way you look at it (with possibly a few rare exceptions)...asking your customers to compare you to your competition will not provide a neutral, unbiased perspective. The results will not be valid.
 
However, I agree with the concept that some sort of comparison increases the value of the customer satisfaction data. I'll suggest four alternate approaches that you should consider.

1. Compare your customers' satisfaction with you versus your competition's customers' satisfaction with them. If that sounds like what you were considering, its not. The key difference is that you would survey your competitors' customers for the data...not ask your customers what they think of the competition. This is a very powerful and relatively accurate approach...if you can get a list of your competitors' customers.
2. A variation on this approach is to compare your survey results to those of similar companies (not necessarily direct competitors). So, if you're an application software company, you compare your survey results to those of other application software companies. Many would argue that this approach is even more valuable than comparing yourself to the competition. You could, for instance, compare yourself against 'best of breed' or companies known as 'world class'.
3. Compare your customer's satisfaction versus their expectations. The concept here is to understand how important a particular factor is to your customers and then understand how satisfied they are with your performance. You can then focus on those areas with the largest 'gaps' (the difference between the importance/expectation and their satisfaction). Viewing the results in this way allows you to see which factors are most likely to affect the customer's loyalty and that really helps you prioritize your efforts.
4. Ask your current customers to compare your performance to the performance of other service providers (that they are familiar with). Your customers probably don't compare you to your competitors, but they may compare you to the other components of their IT solution (i.e. their server or desktop computer provider and/or their OS or database software provider, etc.). Or, maybe your customers compare you to FedEx or their telephone long-distance carrier! Wouldn't that be important to know? So, asking the customer who they compare you to and then using that as a benchmark is a valid approach.
The essence of all four alternates is to not assume that the benchmark is your competition. And, don't assume that your current customers are able to fairly compare you to the competition. Any of the above approaches would be preferable...and you don't necessarily need to limit yourself to just one! It may be that combining a couple of the above is possible. That would really increase the likelihood that you get valid data.
 
My final advice is to seek out an expert for assistance. Sure, it will cost more than doing the survey in-house. But, the results are less likely to be biased and much more likely to be based on proven methodologies and scientific approaches. Prognostics (www.prognostics.com) is one of the leading companies providing customer satisfaction survey data and they specialize in the technology industry. I've seen them employ each of the four alternate approaches described above. I recommend that anyone planning a customer satisfaction survey should consider Prognostics or a similar service provider. If you want additional alternatives, send me an email.
 
About the author:
Dave Brown is a management consultant, teacher, and writer. Dave teaches management-training programs for Support Center University and consults with selected clients to establish world class service operations. Dave is considered an expert in the area of process improvement, staffing models, and change management. Reach Dave at his office in Boulder, Colorado (303-494-4932) or by email (see above).