News & Research: Client Successes

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction Survey for Shared Service Organization

ScottMadden conducted annual customer satisfaction surveys for a newly formed shared services organization. The first survey was conducted shortly after operations began, and a follow-up survey was conducted after just over a year of operations. Customer and employee perceptions were measured to identify gaps.

• The shared services organization was in its formative stages
• Management desired a quantitative benchmark to measure improvement and future performance
• Management sought to develop a quantitative link between customer and employee perceptions of performance
• After a year of operations, management wanted to survey customer satisfaction against the baseline results

• Conducted interviews and focus groups to identify qualitative themes related to customer satisfaction
• Developed employee and customer satisfaction surveys using the identified themes to seek quantitative results and establish the baseline
• Conducted the baseline survey and analyze results; compared customer and employee perceptions
• Updated and re-deployed the survey after a year of operations
• Compared survey results to baseline, identifying perception gaps and changes from the prior year

• Identified in baseline survey that employees tended to overestimate customer satisfaction
• Recognized need for improvement in awareness and understanding of service offerings, contact methods, and communicating value competitiveness
• Identified through follow-up survey a slight decline in customer satisfaction (stronger opinions had formed after a year of operations)
• Realized that similar areas for improvement existed from the prior year. These areas included communication and value and pricing of services
• Recognized that employees continue to overestimate customer satisfaction and need a better understanding of satisfaction on a regular basis
• Showed clear distinction between results from groups that shared survey (positive) information and those that did not (negative)