10 Ways to Boost Customer Satisfaction
尽管各大企业在客户体验（CX）工具上投入了大量的精力和资金，但客户满意度仍在不断下降。根据美国客户满意度指数（ACSI）数据，美国客户满意度现在正处于近20年来的最低水平。消费者情绪也处于20多年来的最低点。在当前这种以客户为中心的生态中，这种负面动态促使我们不得不设法弄清楚哪里出了问题、企业又该如何解决这些问题。
Despite all the effort and money poured into CX tools by companies, customer satisfaction continues to decline. In the United States, it is now at its lowest level in nearly two decades, per data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Consumer sentiment is also at its lowest in more than two decades. This negative dynamic in the customer-centric ecosystem in which we now live creates the challenge of figuring out what is going wrong and what companies can do to fix it.
简而言之，要想解决相关问题，企业必须为客户提供极佳的客户体验。当代消费者已经不再仅仅将企业与其竞争对手进行比较，而是直接对标业内最佳企业、品牌。但值得注意的是，整个行业的满意度都在下降！这就提出了一个问题：从战略上说，在客户满意度方面企业应该解决哪些问题，才能以较低的风险创造更大的利润？
The short answer is that companies need to create an amazing customer experience. Customers no longer only compare companies to their competitors. They compare with the best companies and brands across industries. But satisfaction across the board is in decline! That begs the question: What customer satisfaction areas should companies tackle strategically to create greater profit at lower risk?
我们基于对ACSI的研究（分析了数百万个客户数据点）以及在撰写《客户即上帝：以客户为中心，竭诚提升满意度》（The Reign of the Customer: Customer-Centric Approaches to Improving Customer Satisfaction）时所做的调研给出了自己的答案。ACSI是一种满意度指数（因果关系指标），与在美国拥有重要市场份额的公司所销售、的品牌的质量相关，30年来一直是业界权威。
We base our answer on research at the ACSI — analyzing millions of customer data points — and research that we conducted for our book, The Reign of the Customer: Customer-Centric Approaches to Improving Customer Satisfaction. For three decades, the ACSI has been a leading satisfaction index (cause-and-effect metric) connected to the quality of brands sold by companies with significant market share in the United States.
要想满足客户需求，同时以较低风险创造更大利润，企业首先需要关注以下10大领域。
Here are the top 10 areas to focus on to satisfy customers and create greater profit at lower risk:
客户满意度是一种战略资产
Customer Satisfaction is a Strategic Asset
根据美国客户满意度指数的定义，客户满意度是一种应当得到优化的企业战略资产。我们不应过于夸大满意度的作用，但也不应该忽视其价值，关键在于“优化”二字。如果能够达到客户的满意度期望，同时提供高品质、有价值的服务，并做好客诉处理工作，企业就能茁壮成长。然后，重点应该放在与客户期望、企业资源使用情况相关的满意度优化上。
The American Customer Satisfaction Index defines customer satisfaction as a strategic company asset that should be optimized. Satisfaction should not be maximized but also not ignored; optimization is the key. Companies thrive by delivering on customers’ satisfaction expectations in combination with quality, value, and complaint handling. The focus should then be to manage the optimization of satisfaction relative to customer expectations and company resources used.
虽然对于小企业而言，维持较高且不断提升的满意度可以推动市场份额增长，但市场份额一旦变大，再想维持高满意度就会变得更加困难。这是因为更大的市场份额通常意味着客户群体更为复杂，客户行为更为多样，维持高满意度就变得更加困难。由于满意度与市场份额之间存在着复杂（且最终负相关）的关系，理解客户满意度优化的意义就变得十分重要了。
It is important to understand this optimization of customer satisfaction since there is a complicated — and ultimately negative — relationship between satisfaction and market share. That is, while high and improving satisfaction in smaller companies drives market-share growth, maintaining high satisfaction once the market share is larger becomes more difficult. This is because with a larger market share typically comes a more heterogeneous customer base and more diverse customer behaviors, which makes delivering high satisfaction more difficult.
了解客户期望
Understand What Customers Expect
相对于接受企业服务时的体验，客户有哪些要求呢？我们先看一个错误的说法——相较过去，客户对企业的期望大幅提升。事实上，根据ACSI的数据，过去12年，从跨行业、企业的宏观层面来看，客户期望值整体保持稳定，如果按满分100分计算，得分基本在79分到82分之间（满分100分，代表期望值最高）。从目前情况看，客户对宝马、奔驰和丰田等车企的期望值似乎明显高于平均水平（＞90），这是这些公司必须解决的问题。
What type of demands do customers have relative to their experiences with companies? Let’s start with the misnomer of sky-rocketing expectations. For the past 12 years, using ACSI data, customer expectations have been relatively steady at the macro level (across industries and companies), scoring between 79 and 82 on a 100-point scale (where 100 represents the highest expectations). Now, companies in the auto industry like BMW, Mercedes, and Toyota, seemingly always have much higher expectations than average (>90) from their customers that they have to manage.
虽然从跨行业的宏观层面看，客户预期较为稳定，但仍有许多企业喜欢不断提高自己的目标，或者至少以“始终超越客户预期”为目标。这种做法会成为未来趋势吗？实际上，这种想法本身就有问题，由于此种战略不可持续，企业实际上应该避免做出这种承诺。公司可以而且也应该以极佳的体验取悦客户，但目标制定得要现实一些。
Despite the steady cross-industry expectations, the popular choice for many businesses is to aim higher and higher, and at least to “always exceed customer expectations.” Is this the future trend in customer expectations? Practically, it is a flawed argument since companies should avoid promising to “always exceed expectations,” as attempting such a strategy is not sustainable. Companies can and should delight the customer with an amazing experience but with realistic aims.
重视质量表现
Quality Performance Matters
客户对质量的感知经历了怎样的演变过程（品牌、产品和服务）？就此问题而言，我们必须弄清楚质量涉及哪些要素。在ACSI的标准中，评估产品质量看的是产品的可靠性和可定制性，而就提升客户满意度而言，可定制性则占据着主导地位，作用远大于可靠性。从宏观层面上看，过去12年，按100分计算，质量的分数一直在79分到83分之间（100分代表最高质量水平）。例如，桂格公司（Quaker）的整体质量得分一直名列前茅，而宝马公司和普利克斯公司（Publix）在产品与服务质量上的表现已经登峰造极。
How have customers’ quality perceptions evolved (brands, products, and services)? Important in this context is what constitutes quality. Quality, as measured within the ACSI, refers to reliability and customizability, but customizability dominates reliability as a driver of satisfaction. At the macro-level, for the past 12 years quality has been residing in the 79 to 83 range on a 100-point scale (where 100 is the highest quality). For example, Quaker has impressive scores on overall quality, with BMW and Publix peaking in product and service quality, respectively.
对于许多企业而言，在感知质量（perceived value）未见提高的情况下，未来决定成败的关键将是采取何种策略提升满意度。与管理层通常的想法相反，质量的影响大于价格。从更宽泛的视角来看，在大多数经济部门和行业中，质量对提升客户满意度的驱动力也大于价值。此外，我们生活在一个“大规模定制”（mass customization）的经济中，反映在满意度上就是消费者对产品和服务的可定制化水平比对可靠性更敏感。
A key issue moving forward is likely to be strategies for improving satisfaction in the absence of gains in perceived quality for many companies. Contrary to what managers often think, quality trumps price. More broadly, quality also trumps value as a driver of customer satisfaction across most economic sectors and industries. Plus, we live in a “mass customization” economy, which is reflected in satisfaction being more sensitive to the personalizability than the reliability of products and services.
价格影响感知价值
Value Is More or Less About Price
过去很长一段时间，客户对价值的感知确实有所提高，且其提高幅度较其他影响满意度的因素（如产品和服务的质量、客户期望值）更为明显。那么根据30多年来ACSI 的真实数据，是否可以继续将价值作为提升满意度的主要因素呢？也许吧! 在ACSI数据中，价值一项的得分仍然低于期望和质量（过去12年，按满分100分计算，该项平均得分在76分到79分之间），依然存在进一步提升的空间。
Perceptions of value among customers have improved over a long span of years, more so than for the other drivers of satisfaction (e.g., when compared with product and service quality and customer expectations). Given this ACSI data-driven fact over 30 years, is it feasible to have a continued focus on value as the primary driver of satisfaction? Maybe! The range in the ACSI data is still lower for value (ranging from 76-79, on average, in the last 12 years, with 100 being the highest value) than for expectations and quality, so there is an opportunity for more improvement.
一如既往，通过基于价格的价值主张而非产品或服务质量来提升满意度或推动经济增长可能产生正反两方面的效果。从长期来看，这种做法不合逻辑。虽然从全美范围来看，客户的价值感知处于上升之中，但在过去30年中，并非所有的经济部门和行业都能创造出强劲且不断提升的价值。不过也有积极的例子，比如跨国比萨连锁店Little Caesars，其对价值主张的管理就要优于大多数企业。新蛋公司（Newegg）同样在价值的基础上推动了自身大部分业务的成长。
As always, there are positives and negatives of driving satisfaction and economic growth via a price-based value proposition instead of product or service quality. The long-term prognosis of doing so is not logical. While perceived value metrics are up at the national level, over the past three decades, not all economic sectors and industries have strong and improving value. A positive example, however, is Little Caesars — a multinational pizza chain — which has managed the value proposition better than most. Newegg also drives much of its business based on value.
满意，永无止境
Satisfaction Is Never Guaranteed
ACSI是一种基于因果系统对客户满意度进行科学评估的体系，目的是了解客户体验、客户旅程和客户与公司关系的健康状况。ACSI会持续收集客户满意度数据，并在既定的时间内向公众发布。亚马逊、Clorox和亨氏（Heinz）等公司在ACSI客户满意度指数中历来都能取得较高分数，而在快餐行业，Chick-fil-A过去10年一直独占鳌头。
The ACSI score is a scientific assessment of customer satisfaction based on a cause-and-effect system that aims to understand the customer experience, customer journey, and health of customer-company relationships. Customer satisfaction data are continually collected and reported publicly at set intervals by the ACSI. Amazon, Clorox, and Heinz serve as good examples of regular high-scoring companies on ACSI’s customer satisfaction index. Also, Chick-fil-A has been at the top for about the last decade in the “Fast Food Restaurant” industry.
从更宏大的层面来看，满意度是预测国家宏观经济增长与该国经济变化的重要因素。消费者支出约占美国经济（GDP）的70%，任意一个季度，如果支出增长能够达到30%，都离不开客户满意度的提高。按满分100分（即最满意状态）计算，过去12年，ACSI的客户满意度平均得分在73分到77分之间。
Even more broadly, satisfaction is an essential predictor of macroeconomic growth in a national economy and changes in that country’s economy. Consumer spending is about 70 percent of the U.S. economy (GDP), and 30 percent of spending growth in any subsequent quarter is due to increased customer satisfaction. The average range for customer satisfaction, as measured by the ACSI, is 73-77 in the last 12 years, with 100 representing the most satisfied customer.
感谢投诉的客户
Appreciate Complaining Customers
我们要学会感谢那些投诉的客户。为什么？从逻辑上讲，许多企业会把客户投诉视作负面事件。处理客诉确实令人烦心，也要投入很多的时间和资源。但如果企业能够很好地处理客诉，那么它将培养出一批十分忠诚的客户。也就是说，要想培养回头客，或者让客户满意度能够至少达到投诉前水平，客诉处理必须做到近乎完美才行。
Learn to appreciate complaining customers. Why? Logically, many companies regard customer complaints as negative. Complaints can be annoying, take time, and require resources to attend to and handle. Companies that handle complaints in a great way create stronger customer loyalty. That said, complaint handling has to be almost perfect for customers to come back and be at least as satisfied as before they complained.
如果认真对待客户投诉，企业将能够打造出更具竞争力的品牌、产品和服务。换句话说，投诉可以对企业发展产生积极影响！遗憾的是，许多不满的客户并不会对企业进行投诉，这种无知无觉的情况会给企业带来长期的负面后果。不过也有一些企业遭到的投诉一直很少，比如金宝公司（Campbell’s）和李维斯（Levi’s）,鉴于跨行业投诉客户平均占比达12.8%，能够取得如此成绩令人赞叹。
Companies that take complaints seriously develop more competitive brands, products, and services. In other words, complaints can be viewed as positive! Unfortunately, many dissatisfied customers opt not to complain and this unknown can have negative long-term consequences for companies. On the positive side, we regularly find that Campbell’s and Levi’s have very few complaining customers, which is amazing since 12.8 percent of customers, on average, complain across industries.
贴心服务，竭诚相待
Stick Around and Be Loyal
过去12年间，客户对自己购买的品牌、产品和服务的忠诚度有所提高。有趣的是，在各年龄段客户中，“千禧一代”（Millennials ，1981年至1996年生人）的忠诚度排名第二，仅次于日渐凋零的“沉默一代”（Silent Generation ，1928年至1945年生人）。虽然关注点大不相同，但在客户眼中，谷歌与普利克斯公司均享有较高的忠诚度（按满分100分计算，二者过去12年的平均得分在73分到77分之间）。
Customer loyalty has increased in the last 12 years to the brands, products, and services that customers buy. Interestingly, Millennials (people born 1981–1996) are among the most loyal customers across generational cohorts, behind only the dwindling Silent Generation (born 1928–1945). Vastly different in focus, Google and Publix have high loyalty perceived by their customers (the average range of value is between 73 and 77 in the last 12 years, with 100 being the most loyal).
无论代际、行业，企业为培养忠诚客户所付出的努力都具有强大的影响力。ACSI数据显示，在客户遇到问题并发起投诉后，如果相关问题能够得到妥善解决，则客户将对企业产生高于平均水平的忠诚度。我们经常看到，如果客诉处理能够接近完美，那么投诉客户对企业的忠诚度甚至可能超过那些从未遇到过问题的客户。但要取得这些效果，需要借助所谓“因果”效应（“cause-and-effect” dynamics），而在相同的可靠性和有效性下，通过粗略评估无法实现这一目的。
Endeavoring to gain loyalty across generations and industries is powerful. ACSI data show that customers who experience a problem and complain but receive successful complaint management end up with stronger-than-average loyalty. Almost perfect complaint handling often results in even stronger loyalty than that from customers with a problem-free experience. But it takes what we call “cause-and-effect” dynamics to connect the dots accurately, something that more coarse-grained assessments cannot do at the same reliability and validity.
客户满意推高财务表现
Satisfied Customers Drive Financials
正如我们在本文开篇说过的那样，客户满意度是一种应当得到优化的战略性企业资产。我们不应过于夸大满意度的作用，也不应该忽视其价值！但是，只有当客户满意度影响到公司的财务表现时，才能成为一种战略资产。通过大量的科学研究，我们发现，客户满意度和财务表现之间存在极强的因果关系。
Customer satisfaction should be viewed as a strategic company asset that must be optimized, not maximized and certainly not ignored — what we started with earlier! But customer satisfaction can only be a strategic asset if it affects a company’s financial performance. Via numerous scientific studies, the cause-and-effect link between customer satisfaction and financial performance is overwhelmingly strong.
过去30年的时序数据证明，客户满意度可以用于预测股市表现，准确度稳超标普500指数。满意度可以对企业关注的诸多会计、财务要素产生影响，如生产效率、市场份额、收入、销售增长、现金流、盈利能力、投资回报率（ROI）、资本成本、股票价格、股东价值、股市风险等等。
As proven using time series data over the last 30 years, customer satisfaction is shown to be a positive predictor of stock market performance that reliably outperforms the S&P 500. Satisfaction affects numerous accounting and financial performance factors that are attractive to companies, such as productivity, market share, revenue, sales growth, cash flows, profitability, return on investment (ROI), cost of capital, stock price, shareholder value, stock market risk, and more.
修复企业与客户的脱节
Fix Company-Customer Disconnects
现在，许多企业都设有首席体验官（CXO）与客户体验经理（CXM）等职位，这些职位的设立表明，企业非常重视客户体验的评估、监控与管理工作。即便未设置此类领导职位，客户体验企业品牌、产品和服务的过程也会在其决定是否购买相关产品、是否成为企业忠诚客户时产生重要作用。
Many companies now have Chief Experience Officers (CXO) and Customer Experience Managers (CXM) — leadership positions that indicate that companies are heavily focused on measuring, monitoring, and managing their customers’ experiences. And even if these leadership roles do not formally exist, a customer’s journey with a company’s brands, products, and services is an important aspect of the buying and retention process.
企业会在客户旅程中一直对客户进行追踪，寻找客户的痛点和愉悦点。虽然在正确的时间、正确的地点做正确的事也很重要，但需要注意的是，客户体验管理的最终目的是推动提升满意度和忠诚度。管理层往往会高估客户的期望、价值认知、满意度和忠诚度，而低估客户的不满，Xfinity（康卡斯特，Comcast）就是个负面典型，其管理层眼中客户对质量和满意度期望与实际情况相去甚远，差距之大在同类企业中“名列前茅”。
Companies track their customers all along their customer journeys, searching for pain points and moments of delight. Customer experience management is ultimately aimed at driving satisfaction and loyalty, though pulling the right levers in the right context is important. Managers tend to overestimate customers’ expectations, perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty while underestimating customers’ complaints. Xfinity (Comcast) has one of the largest negative differences between what its managers think customers expect and what its customers actually expect in terms of quality and satisfaction.
借助科学指标了解业务生态
Know the Ecosystem with Scientific Metrics
放眼当今世界，全球化程度日益提高，各地之间的联系越发紧密，人口规模也远超以往（全球人口现已超过80亿人）。人口的增长意味着，在这个充满活力的国际市场上，所有企业（无论是中小企业还是巨头企业）都有机会获得更多客户。虽然新冠疫情在一定程度上减缓了这一趋势，但目前人口增长曲线仍处于高位（预计全球人口将在短短15年内达到90亿）。
The world is becoming more global, interconnected, and, by population, much larger (more than 8 billion people). An increase in the population means more potential customers for all companies (small, medium, and large) in the vibrant international marketplace. Covid-19 slowed down this evolution some but the trajectory is high (with the expectation that the world will reach 9 billion people in just 15 years).
随着客户群体的不断扩大，客户需求和期望也会日益多样化，在此背景下，满意度一般会呈下降趋势。如何才能消除这种影响呢？答案就是企业要在使用科学的客户体验指标的基础上，对以客户为中心的业务生态进行协调。企业需要在因果关系指标的基础上理解、开发和提供客户满意的产品和服务。苹果公司展现出了强大的生态整合能力，同时对其品牌、产品和服务的因果关系也有很深的理解，但无论对苹果还是其他所有企业而言，价值主张都将是一个持续的挑战。
An increasing customer base usually means that satisfaction, on average, trends downward because of increasing diversity in customers’ needs and wants. How do we combat this effect? The answer lies in companies’ orchestration of the customer-centric ecosystem based on the use of scientific customer-experience metrics. Companies need to understand, develop, and deliver on satisfaction based on cause-and-effect metrics. Today, Apple exemplifies strong ecosystem connectedness and cause-and-effect understanding of their brands, products, and services in the marketplace, but the value propositions for Apple and all companies are a continual challenge.
托马斯·霍特是美国客户满意度指数（ACSI）高管团队成员，《客户即上帝：以客户为中心，竭诚提升满意度》一书作者之一，密歇根州立大学布罗德商学院（Broad College of Business， Michigan State University）教授，同时也是世界经济论坛和联合国世界投资论坛专家网络的成员。
福里斯特·摩根森是密歇根州立大学布罗德商学院助理教授，美国客户满意度指数（ACSI）前研究主任，同时也是《客户即上帝：以客户为中心，竭诚提升满意度》一书作者之一。
刘隽 | 编辑
