What “the Numbers” Do Not Tell You About Your Customer Service

If you make your living doing market research, stop reading now because you are not going to like the gist of this article.

While call center numbers and metrics are certainly a useful data point, they are not enough to make wise strategic decisions. By “the numbers,” we mean questions and surveys that probe for customer reactions provide responses that are compiled into statistics, analyzed for trends, and finally transformed into recommendations for how to improve a product/service.

The Problem? 
Customers do not always behave the way they say they will. The numbers can lead you to the wrong conclusions.

The Solution? 
Get your top management team out there with your customers to canvass the market. They are the ones with the product knowledge and the strategic viewpoint to recognize opportunity and act upon it.

And do not let them have all the fun. We recommend that executives go out at least twice a year to watch customers for significant behaviors and issues. Be open to learn how your product/service could be improved from the user’s side because the numbers alone will not give you the answers to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profits.