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Customer satisfaction surveys tell you about more than satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction Surveys: Setting the Course, Engaging Users, and Following the Impact of New Initiatives

Morten Holm Therkildsen

How satisfied are your customers and users? 

It's no secret that as technological advancements continue at a rapid pace and our habits change almost daily, the demand for the solutions we all use is growing increasingly high. 

This applies to both private companies and public institutions. 

Therefore, the need for knowledge about solutions, offerings, initiatives, and user opinions has never been greater or more crucial. 

As recently as this spring (2023), the new recommendations from the Danish Reform Commission addressed proposals for how employment help centers can best involve citizens, foster cross-sector collaboration, and provide services that align with user needs (particularly for socially vulnerable citizens). 

One recommendation suggests an annual satisfaction survey to gain insights and lay the groundwork for more user-friendly improvements. 

The user and customer satisfaction survey is often the first step in a longer journey, with the ultimate goal of measuring satisfaction with a specific solution, offering, product, or initiative. 

But what about the final outcome? That's a different story altogether. 

 

The Purpose Goes Beyond Gathering New Insights…

...it's also about how those insights are best utilized to create new and better solutions, improve existing ones, optimize resource usage, and engage the relevant target audience(s), among other things. For example: 

  • Understanding what is going well and what needs improvement provides a better foundation for prioritizing future efforts 
  • Involving users in the process paves the way for more user-oriented innovation

  • User perspectives and opinions help set the course for the future, ensuring that you stay ahead of your target audience's wants and needs
     
  • Users' experiences with previous cost-cutting inform decisions on whether they should be repeated or re-thought 

  • Here, the user and customer satisfaction survey is a crucial first step. However, it is only the initial step on a longer journey where the destination is better, more user-relevant solutions. 
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Customer satisfaction surveys generate knowledge for transformation

If you launch a customer satisfaction survey and then fail to follow up on the collected insights, not only is the effort invested in the survey wasted, but crucial knowledge about users' attitudes toward services, solutions, and offerings is also thrown out the window. 

Not to mention the time respondents have spent. It is in the subsequent work that knowledge transforms into change. 

At Xact by Ramboll, we have over 20 years of experience in all types of data collection and satisfaction surveys. We provide world-class tools, tailored solution design, and professional guidance from Ramboll to enable our clients to gather precisely the knowledge they need from the exact users they seek it from. 

But more importantly, we have a holistic approach — not just focusing on the first step. This means that everything from the questionnaire and survey to follow-up, reporting, and action plans is based on the premise that: 

  1. Relevant knowledge must be collected

  2. That knowledge must be distilled into action-oriented reports

  3. The reports should make it easy for you to translate knowledge into tangible changes in the real world 

Therefore, it's not solely about the customer satisfaction survey or data collection itself. It's about acquiring the right knowledge at the right time and using that newfound knowledge to create concrete changes that users can experience. That's how we help organizations generate knowledge for transformation. 

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User Satisfaction Surveys in Reality

Public Customer Cases

Whether you call it a user satisfaction survey or a citizen satisfaction survey, it always provides a comprehensive overview of public and municipal services and citizens' opinions about them. 

However, user satisfaction surveys can also be smaller, more specific, and targeted. 

For example, it can delve into a specific institution or a particular area of intervention. Among these are welfare assessments, which allow for gathering valuable insights on everything from schools and nursing homes to job centers and citizen services. 

The purpose here is typically to ensure that initiatives and services align with citizens' needs. But targeted user satisfaction surveys are not limited to specific areas. It is also relevant to uncover opinions on: 

  • Waste management plans 
  • Construction projects 
  • Climate goals 
  • Parking conditions 
  • Cost-cutting measures 

Regarding cost-cutting, for instance, it is often relevant to examine already implemented cost reductions and whether they have resulted in (disproportionately significant) welfare deterioration. 

Here, the user satisfaction survey is key to uncovering whether the quality of provided services has diminished more than desired. If you're curious, you can read more here. Learn how: 

  • Four municipalities revolutionized eldercare, improved citizen well-being, and lowered costs through evidence-based interventions in preventive home visits 
  • Municipalities in Zealand engaged citizens in a significant new waste management plan 

  • Stevns Municipality used climate surveys to develop an ambitious climate plan that directly involves citizens in the project 

 

— Examples of customer satisfaction surveys in the public sectors

Private Customer Cases

Customer satisfaction surveys provide businesses with a better understanding of how customers interact with their solutions, where they excel, and where there is room for improvement. 

The purpose is typically to deliver better solutions by optimizing existing ones based on specific customer insights before working on new solutions or products. 

In this regard, user satisfaction surveys are particularly helpful in uncovering customers' needs. This enables companies to prioritize customer-centricity. As such, customer satisfaction surveys provide a shortcut to giving customers with what they want. If you're curious, you can read more here. Discover how: 

  • TÆNK – Passagerpulsen established a passenger panel with the aim of providing travelers with the best possible experience 

  • Bone's measures guest satisfaction and provides real-time visibility to employees through a live dashboard 

  • Jysk Fynske Medier focuses on what interests their users (readers and listeners) and when and how they want to learn more about it, keeping them ahead of the news their customers are most interested in 
— Examples of customer satisfaction surveys in the private sector

Do you need assistance?

If you would like to learn more about how we can help your organization with user satisfaction survey and the implementation of new knowledge, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
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A Common Purpose

The goals and scope of user and customer satisfaction surveys vary based on your specific needs and desired insights. 

The same applies to the data collection method. 

However, what all projects have in common is the ultimate purpose. To generate knowledge for change, where users' desires and opinions form the foundation for the changes you implement based on the new knowledge collected through the user and customer satisfaction survey. 

Morten Holm Therkildsen

Surveyekspert

Kundeansvarlig

Xact By Rambøll

M +45 51 61 78 23

mtht@ramboll.com 

LinkedIn

 

 

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