A Simple and Valuable Approach for Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the financial impact of poor customer satisfaction and the value of information gained from using a 1-question customer-satisfaction survey in a medical setting. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A single-question customer-satisfaction survey was collected from customers presenting to an academic otolaryngology head and neck surgery outpatient clinic. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 25%, overall net promoter score was 67.3%, lowest net promoter score occurred on Wednesday and Friday, overall net potential referrals were 872, and potential lost revenue from dissatisfied customers equaled $2.3 million. CONCLUSION: A single-question customer-satisfaction survey may help identify areas of customer dissatisfaction that lead to a significant source of lost revenue. SIGNIFICANCE: The competitive forces in today's health care environment require medical practices to address issues related to customer satisfaction.