What are the preferred methods for assessing customer satisfaction?

Customer surveying and call monitoring are two well-recognized vehicles used for customer service measurement. Surveying is widely accepted and there are various approaches such as daily telephone or email surveys, focus group meetings and formal mail surveys.

Call monitoring has been a standard practice for our counterparts in the call center for some time, but still under review in many help desk environments.

The purpose of call monitoring is to:

• Identify additional training / knowledge needs
• Look for improvement opportunities
• Establish a baseline for analyst coaching sessions

The benefits of call monitoring include:

• Self critique or skilled coaching can help the analysts improve their customer service skills dramatically in a short period of time.
• New employees can listen to a seasoned help desk analyst prior to "going live" with customers.
• There is immediate confirmation when inaccurate information is given to the customer.

If poorly managed, the negative aspects include:

• A team that is suspicious and mistrusting.
• An evaluator that feels like a "snitch."