Project customer satisfaction: 5 tips for dealing with it in the best possible way

Customer satisfaction, it may seem obvious, is the key element in defining a successful project. The project is modified, shaped and customized to achieve this goal.

Project management activities are essentially driven by customers who must be involved from the very beginning (collection of requirements) to the very end (provision of products and services).

This is why project managers must always include customer satisfaction, or customer satisfaction, during planning.

Fundamentals of customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is based on understanding, defining, assessing and managing customer needs so that their expectations are met.

This concept implies compliance with the requirements to ensure that the project produces the output it should create.

In project management, customer satisfaction is part of project quality management and ensures that policies, objectives and responsibilities of the project satisfy all stakeholders involved.

The concept of customer satisfaction is thus applied by project managers to generate quality products and services.

Customer experience and satisfaction will be the key differentiating factor by 2020 and will indeed be the most interesting area to work on in the future. That’s why:

• Reliable support or service = customer satisfaction
• Customer satisfaction = increased fidelity
• Increased fidelity = increase in customer base
• Increase in customer base = more profits/income

So, if one focuses on customer satisfaction, it’s obvious that business will grow and revenues will increase.

What are the advantages of customer satisfaction?

The greatest plus of a satisfied customer is word of mouth. According to a research conducted by Neil Patel:

• 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family.
• 68% of consumers reported that a positive review led to them being more inclined to choose one organization, while 40% reported that a negative review diverted them to another.
• 93% trust online reviews to decide whether an organization is trustworthy or not.
• Word of mouth is the key influencer for 74% of consumers.

So, in a nutshell…

if you have a high number of satisfied customers, you will receive free positive advertising.

However, customer satisfaction is not an easy affair. During project execution, customers will always ask:

• What is the state of progress of the project?
• When will it be completed?
• Where can I review my work?
• Where should I give my feedback and/or to whom?
• Where and how can I see the progress in real time?

The truth is, most project managers screw up. They decide to hide the actual information and then show wrong data or information to satisfy customers.

In the end, however, the truth emerges and the customer tends to be unhappy and refuses to choose the organization a second time.

It is important to consider that negative word of mouth spreads faster than positive reviews.

Why should customer satisfaction be measured?

• To understand how well customers’ expectations are being met. If customer satisfaction is low, it’ s necessary to group up to find new methods to meet them.
• To identify loyal customers and find ways to retain them.
• To reward employees and internal teams that contribute significantly to customer satisfaction.
• To track processes and strategies that help to satisfy and refine customers.
• To understand the gap between the perception of quality given internally by the organization and the customer’s perception of the quality received.

5 ways to measure customer satisfaction

1. Customer satisfaction survey

This is one of the most important tools for measuring customer satisfaction. To motivate customers to carry out the survey in a truthful way, you can decide to send them a small reward: a discount on the next purchase, for example, or a free sample of a complementary product.

2. Monitoring of customer complaints through helpdesk

This is one of the implicit ways to measure customer satisfaction. If only a few customers complain about the product, this may indicate that satisfaction levels are high. A good helpdesk tool is essential to keep track of complaints over time. A downward trend in the complaints/sales ratio is a positive reflection for customer service.

3. Monitoring of recurring purchases through CRM

Satisfied customers are those who are more likely to purchase again from the same organization in the future. Therefore, it should be monitored which and how many customers are recurring. If more and more customers become recurring buyers, customer satisfaction is likely to improve.

4. Monitoring of social media engagement

This is becoming a very important way to measure customer satisfaction. According to this method, the influence of an organization – or a specific product – on social media gets measured and the amount of involvement – likes, retweets, shares, etc. – is assessed – that you receive for each post. In general, a higher level of engagement on social media channels reflects a higher level of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

5. Online sentiment monitoring

It isn’t just a matter of paying attention to customer sentiment in the organization channel, but also in other channels, such as personal customer blogs, forum posts, etc. Negative sentiments in blogs and forums may be a sign of decreased satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer satisfaction conclusions

Finally, it is necessary for an organization to interact and communicate regularly with customers to increase their satisfaction.

In these interactions and communications, it is necessary to recognize and address all individual customer needs and meet them accordingly.

The higher the level of satisfaction, the greater the sentimental attachment of customers to the specific brand of the product and also to the supplier.

This helps to create a strong and healthy bond between the customer and the organization.

Hence, customer satisfaction is a very important factor on which every organization should focus to establish a position in the market and improve business and profits.