What Is the Best Method to Measure Customer Satisfaction?

Partnership, Customer Service, Third-Party LogisticsTara Meier, Vice President, Marketing, Corporate Communications, and Sales Planning, Ruan, 866-782-6669 ext. 1Q: How is Ruan's Customer Satisfaction Program structured?A: At Ruan, customer satisfaction is one of our five guiding principles.Ruan believes in developing strong partnerships by understanding our customers' stories and continuing to improve our service as their needs evolve. And the best way to know if we are achieving that goal is to ask them.Every year for the past decade, Ruan has relied on surveys to directly measure how satisfied our customers are with our performance. The questions are answered anonymously because we want frank, honest feedback. Brief but comprehensive questions range from billing accuracy to technology services to driver safety and more. But we don't stop there. We use the annual survey as an opportunity to gauge the strength of the partnership as a whole by inviting our customers to tell us what's on their minds: What are their biggest concerns? Where are the partnership successes? How is Ruan helping, and how could we help more?The feedback and information we collect through our Customer Satisfaction Program help us better understand how Ruan's growing range of services can make things easier for our customers and add value to their supply chains.Q: How does Ruan's Customer Satisfaction program benefit your customers?A: One way that Ruan uses these surveys to create value is by creating action plans for customers each year. We have a strong participation rate in the Customer Satisfaction Program because we make sure our customers know we're really listening to what they're telling us.Asking customers if you're doing a good job can be intimidating for many companies, which is why many simply don't. If we're falling behind in an area, we want to fix it. If we're doing well in another, we want to do even better. So, we take our scores back to the customer who evaluated us to discuss our strengths, our weaknesses, and develop a roadmap for an even stronger partnership in the future.Q: How do your results impact your goals going forward?A: It's an exercise in strategic planning, but also humility.We're extremely proud that since beginning our program in 2010, Ruan's overall customer satisfaction rating has increased more than 13%. And this year—throughout a global pandemic and monumental uncertainties across the board—we've had our highest scores yet, with a nearly 90% satisfaction rate.It's proof to us that asking our customers for their feedback, and then doing something productive with that feedback, allows us to deliver better services, strengthen partnerships, and create greater value.Because that's truly what's important.