The prospect of understanding what your customers expect of your business can be overwhelming at best. The fact is, gathering and reporting meaningful and accurate information is a complex, multi-faceted process requiring focused expertise, judgment, and insight.

At Bosma Research International, we recognize that understanding your needs is as much an art as it is a science. With our experience in conducting hundreds of types of surveys and studies - and our unique proprietary segmentation models - we are fully equipped to provide you with information to support your customer service, product development, and marketing needs.

Bosma Research International offers a broad range of customer satisfaction research services. All of our clients have unique needs and objectives, and are influenced by industry-specific market issues. Since your business is no exception, we invite you to contact us for a no-obligation consultation to discuss the specific approaches of benefit and interest to you. With offices in both the United States and Canada, we are well equipped to meet your needs internationally.

Understanding Customer Satisfaction

With all the current attention given to customer satisfaction and service quality measurement, you are undoubtedly aware that customer satisfaction is one of the single strongest predictors of customer retention. But, while satisfied customers tend to be loyal customers, loyal customers are not always satisfied customers. And the impact of customer satisfaction on retention and loyalty is not the same for all industries or for all companies within an industry.

In order to ensure a positive service experience, all the resources of the service provider must come together in exactly the right way at exactly the right time - for each and every customer contact. It is during these episodes or "moments of truth" that customers compare their expectations of a service with the actual service received.

Maintaining a consistent level of customer satisfaction is not easy - it means monitoring and controlling multiple, as well as concurrent, moments of truth for each and every customer. On one level, you need to know what expectations your customers have of your services and products. You also need to understand the key elements that most heavily influence retention for your business.

On a second level, it is imperative that your product and service delivery processes and policies are compatible with your quality standards and delivery systems. It is also essential that your employees are committed to and properly trained to implement quality service.

Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Of all the benchmarks used to measure quality, customer satisfaction is still one of the single strongest predictors of customer retention. It’s considerably more expensive to attract new customers than it is to keep old ones happy. In a climate of decreasing brand loyalties, understanding customer service and measuring customer satisfaction are crucial.

You need to know what expectations your customers have of your services and products, the effectiveness of your marketing strategies, the strength of your company's image, as well as the key elements that most heavily influence customer retention for your business. Our expertise is especially oriented towards helping organizations to understand the marketplace and their customers better. We can provide you with relevant research-based information to use for decision-making, marketing, and strategic planning.

Customer Satisfaction

You need information about your customers:

• Who are they? What's important to them?
• How satisfied are they with your products and services?
• What keeps them coming back? Or, why are they leaving?
• What are their needs and expectations of your products and services?
• Are those needs and expectations being met?

Market Analysis

You need information about the market(s) you compete in:

• Who is your competition?
• How do customers compare you to your competitors?
• What can you do to increase your competitive edge?
• How do you compare to industry standards and benchmarks?

Service Analysis

You need information about the service(s) your company provides:

• What aspects of your services/products are most important to customers?
• What are the elements that drive customer satisfaction?
• What aspects of your services/products most affect customer retention?

Marketing and Strategic Planning

You need information for strategic planning:

• What changes need to be made?
• How should change be prioritized?
• How should you go about implementing change?