Customer Satisfaction: Why Not?

If you ask a typical management practitioner (who hasn't read or listened to Prof. A. Damodaran) about the aim of the organization, The answer most probably will be - "Customer Satisfaction."

Can we really afford "Customer Satisfaction" against "Wealth Maximization" of a firm? How to balance or counter-balance it? How to synergize it? Is there any trade-off between them?

Well the answers root at the fundamental concept as to Why we need to focus at Customer Satisfaction, and sometimes WHY NOT to focus at Customer Satisfaction.

Much has been said about Why to focus...

Lets see "WHY NOT" to focus at Customer Satisfaction from the point of view of an "OPSolute Blogger"...

What Customers Know/want?

Customers are cost, quality and delivery sensitive. They want new products, new services, new utilities at the affordable costs and in better value based delivery options. Every firm tries to satisfy it in its own way and strategise accordingly. As defined some do provide customer satisaction, some provide customer delight and some provide customer Ecstasy too.

Customers just know what they are getting and not the channel through which their requirements are fulfilled and they rate various firms/products accordingly.

Why do organizations look forward towards Customer Satisfaction?

The simple reason is - for sustainable saleability of the firm's products. Customer satisfaction brings in repeat sales, repeat purchases and correct if I am wrong reduction in loss of sales.

Organizations keep looking outside their internal core competencies and strive for the parameters that shall satisfy the customers. And this is an on-going process. Few have succeeded by exclusively implementing this strategy.

How Customer Satisfaction can Work against you ?

Organizations trying out of their skins on Customer Satisfaction may get it wrong as well.

For Eg. You buy a telephone, and the stores call you several times to see if you liked the product. You think thats necessary?
or may be you buy a Smart-phone worth Rs. 10,000 and the Store keeper tries to make you happier by giving some Rs.100 free talktime on a service provider...
Is that USEFUL? Or Relevant?
Considering this, Customer Satisfaction can go wrong in may other ways too...

1. Paradox of Choices:

More Choices make customers happy don't they? Make them Satisfied... Do they? Really??
Well, its true that, more choices might confuse you. Choices need to be designed in such a way that they have to be useful. Organization must understand the power of selecting the choices and its variance among the mean cognitive people mind.

Finally its the PARADOX of choices. Yes choices are useful and helpful but the power of selecting the choices move from people who know waht to buy to ppl who dont know.

2. More Options Less Satisfaction :

Therr is this saying in a movie flick. Great Power Comes with Great Responsibiltities.

Similarly more options will come with more expectations and fulfilling them is no easy task.

Hence more choices increases expectations and lowers the cuatomer satisfaction.

3. Bad Choice is virtue of Responsibility:

If there is a saying in a customer group that some xyz peraon has a bad tase or a bad choice... what do you think, who is responsible for bad choice? If the xustomer is dissatisfied, who is resposible for it?  the customer? Or the seller? Uaually the customers blame themselves and feel worst. Now where is customer satisfaction?