A survey of surveys

Overview: The American Customer Satisfaction Index is the best known customer opinion survey. Gallup criticizes the ACSI for measuring the wrong things. They say customer satisfaction doesn’t count, that it’s customer engagement that matters. Gallup recommends that organizations use its CE11 instead.

Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell tested the survey, and found that it has problems of its own. It does ask the right questions, but some of them are confusing and difficult to answer.

Another survey, promoted by Fred Reichheld (who Tom Peters, in his usual understated way, calls the “God-Guru of Customer Loyalty”), maintains that ultimately only one question matters: "How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague?"

Net Promoter launched a discussion forum on the third week of Jan 2006, and I posted a topic there, in the hope that we might have a sound discussion on customer surveys.

See also:

American Customer Satisfaction Index
Customer Satisfaction is the Wrong Measure
Customer Satisfaction Doesn’t Count
A description of Gallup’s CE11
Tom Peters on Fred Reichhed’s Net Promoter concept
Fred Reichheld in his own words
Reichheld on Loyalty, the war on customers, wrong yardsticks, keeping it simple
Ultimate notes
Blog entries on surveys

Hear also:

McConnell and Huba test the CE11 survey. This 21-minute audio file includes a segment on how a small bank beat up the bigs boys through customer service and word-of-mouth marketing.
Fred Reichheld's net promoter slide show. A 3-minute presentation.