A recent survey from market research company Shape the Future has revealed that 70% of businesses have no idea what their customers really think about the service they receive.
The research shows that while 70.3% claim to measure customer satisfaction, most are only employing very basic and informal tactics, such as relying solely on unsolicited customer feedback.
The remaining respondents did not measure customer satisfaction for reasons including a belief that the customers would tell them if there were problems, it had never occurred to them to find out and being too busy.
Peter Martin, managing director at Shape the Future said: "What"s interesting about the results is that too many businesses assume that people will give them useful feedback. In reality, unhappy customers often leave without telling them why. Falling sales are not always related to falling demand. Companies may simply be losing market share to their competitors and not even know about it. Given the current economic downturn, business owners and managers need as much detail and business information ammunition to hand as possible."
