Much has been written in the last couple of years about the promise of customer satisfaction research to improve performance or shorten development cycles for businesses and organizations. This work is particularly germane in North America, where growth in many industrial and commercial markets is peaking and companies are scrambling for competitive advantage. The concept is simple: capture customer feedback and use the data to set business priorities.
The answers to the questions "How are we doing?" and "What should we do better?" are the building blocks of a customer relationship based on measurable value. Answered correctly, they track improvements in the business relationship and identify areas for improvement. However, translating the answers into meaningful actions is difficult.
The issue is not whether or not you are getting information about customer satisfaction; it is whether or not you are using information about customer satisfaction to act differently.
Source: Industry Week, http://industryweek.com