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Return to Newsletters Table of Contents CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SERIES, PART 2 OF 2: Improving Marketshare, Regulatory Compliance and Patient Care This series is presented by: Mary Larweck, RN, MS, CPHQ Consultant, Emerald Quality Services & Stephanie Kendall, Executive Consultant, Gantz Wiley Research Part I of this article was published in the Fall 2002 issue of Quality Line. Just as quality has evolved over time so has the art and science of measuring customer satisfaction. A critical challenge for businesses, including health-care, is customer loyalty. Part I focused on tying the uses of customer satisfaction information to: 1. Maintaining/increasing market Share 2. Addressing regulatory compliance 3. Improving patient care services The focus in part II of this article is on identifying key improvement areas from customer surveys. Identifying Improvement Areas from your Customer Survey Whether your objectives are to improve market share, comply with regulatory requirements or improve patient care, surveys can identify a myriad of possible improvement areas. How does the organization decide on which opportunities to focus? Three excellent techniques to help prioritize areas for improvement are Pareto Charts, key driver analysis and scatter plots. Pareto Diagrams An understated but valuable tool to look at customer comments/ suggestions is the Pareto diagram, which graphs comment categories from most frequent to least frequent. Paretos facilitate identification of the 2-4 key items that relate to key problems (80-20 rule). In the example on the following page, hospital supply customers were asked to name what factors are important to doing more business with the supplier. The top three responses were customer contact, delivery schedules, and price. Of these three however, improved customer contact represented over 50% of the comments. As you can see, this tool helps to focus the use of resources in targeting improvement activities where it will benefit the organization the most. Key Driver Analysis Key driver analysis is an effective tool to help in prioritizing follow-up actions from quantitative survey results. Using a regression or simple correlation technique, key driver analysis identifies the survey items that are most predictive of overall satisfaction. It is not always the survey item with the lowest satisfaction that is the most important to improve. But rather, the item or sets of items that are most predictive of overall customer satisfaction and loyalty. For example, satisfaction with parking and food are often the lowest rated items on inpatient studies. These items, however, have low or even negative correlations with overall satisfaction. "THE OBJECTIVE IS NOT TO SEE THROUGH ONE ANOTHER, BUT TO SEEN ONE ANOTHER THROUGH." – Peter Devries The next example shows that patient's perceptions of how well the staff works together – coordinating care and communication – is actually most predictive of their overall satisfaction levels. Also key is the amount of personal attention they receive from their physician, and minimizing waiting time. Together these three items account for 60% of the variation in patient satisfaction. To increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, the organization would be far better off to focus on these areas, than to improving parking and food service. Key driver analysis identifies those aspects of customer relationship that are most closely associated with overall satisfaction, willingness to recommend and return or repurchase. Significant increase or decreases in performance in any of these areas will have an impact on these outcome measures. Scatter Plot Another important and underused tool related to correlation is the scatter plot. These plots depict the relationship between two variables. Scatter plots are often used to check or test relationships before changes are made. A caution to remember is that scatter plots depict relationship, which may not be cause and effect. Waiting time is also an important factor in the clinic setting. The scatter plot below shows the negative relationship between waiting time and overall satisfaction. Putting Customer Satisfaction Data to Work Using Customer Satisfaction Information The true value of customer satisfaction data is not in the numbers or the statistical analysis, but in the use of the information for organizational improvement. As you do this, think of how you can share the key findings of the survey with all employee groups that can impact satisfaction. Employees need to know what customers overall satisfaction. You can then engage them in identifying possible process or personal improvements that can raise overall satisfaction. This is definitely an area where teams as well as individuals can make a real difference. Customer satisfaction data often reinforces what we already believe is important to the customer. Sometimes however, unexpected issues do emerge. Keep yourself and the organization open to examining these issues. Three important acknowledgements about customer satisfaction are: 1. Customer satisfaction data needs to reach all employee groups that affect change. 2. Customer satisfaction improvements are an area where teams/groups as well as individuals can often make a real difference. 3. Customer satisfaction data can identify unexpected real issues. LISTENING: You can convey no greater honor than actually hearing what someone has to say. – Philip Crosby Checklist for revitalizing your customer satisfaction program: ___ Does the program support key business challenges? ___ Are key improvement areas able to be identified? ___ Have the results been communicated to employee groups that can affect change? ___ Can results be applied to improving internal processes, work place issues, and/or regulatory needs? Customer satisfaction data is vital to helping business focus on customer expectations, regulatory compliance, process improvement and customer retention/market share. When the focus is on the customer, quality begins to happen... References ASQ Foundations In Quality Learning Series – Certified Quality Manager Module #4: Customer-Focused Organizations, ASQ Holmes Corporation, 2001. Voice of the Customer, GOAL/QPC Research Committee Research Report #R9501, 1995. Reichheld, Frederick F., The Loyalty Effect, HBS Press. 1996. TARP, Basic Facts of Customer Complaint Behavior and the Impact of Service on the Bottom Line, Competitive Advantage, 1999, 1-5. Bell, R., Krivich, M.J., How to Use Patient Satisfaction Data to Improve Healthcare Quality, ASQ Press, Milwaukee, 2000. Quality Line and Between the Lines are designed to provide members information on vital issues in Minnesota healthcare, trends, CQI methodologies, legislation and news about our organization. Published quarterly in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Editors: Penny Carson Beth Green