Industry Average CSAT Ratings

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Permalink Reply by Haim Toeg on April 18, 2011 at 10:06am

Rob, can I ask what you intend to do with this information once you have it?

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Permalink Reply by Rob Sawyer on April 18, 2011 at 10:23am

Hi Haim,

 

I want to use it as an internal benchmark to know how we are tracking against the industry average.   We know what our CSAT is - however, it is only useful if compared against a benchmark.

 

Thanks,

Rob

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Permalink Reply by Haim Toeg on April 18, 2011 at 10:59am

Rob - suppose you know where you stand against the industry average, how will that change the way you operate?  Will you stop improving your service once you surpass that number and be content with being, well, average?  Will comparison against the benchmark tell you where you succeed and where your failures are?

 

An external benchmark does not translate into actionable insight, since when you compare yourself to it there are only three possible outcomes, all of which lead to the same action:

- lower than the benchmark, and therefore need to improve

- equal to it and therefore need to become better to create differentiation

- higher and therefore need to preserve your position

 

The way I always operated and advised my clients was that the only benchmark that matters is the organization's past performance, and the goal is to continuously analyze it and improve on it by reinforcing strengths and correcting weaknesses, which a benchmark will never reveal.

 

A much better course is to talk to selected customers so they can help you understand trends in your market segment, what the competition is doing that they like or dislike, and more importantly, what you are doing that they like or dislike.  You can then combine this knowledge with the results from your surveys to build a plan that will help your organization improve continuously.

 

Haim

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