The Brief
A major utility provider has a long-standing customer satisfaction measurement programme that was established to ensure the business listened to the needs of the domestic customer. In particular the survey is used to understand what drives customer satisfaction and to provide a measure of how well the business performs on those key drivers.
In addition a separate survey is conducted alongside the customer survey measuring the perceptions of customers of other suppliers. The aim of this survey is to assess how well the utility provider performs in relation to its major competitors and to provide the business with a robust performance benchmark.
Progressive was first commissioned in 2008 to conduct this research and has since conducted 6 waves of research. In addition Progressive has also completed the most recent qualitative phase of this customer research providing guidance on areas to include within the research and the level of importance of these which has since been built into the questionnaire design and analysis of subsequent quantitative waves.
Our Research Approach
Telephone and online interviewing techniques are used including strict quota controls on areas such as location, Tier, product type and payment type.
At each wave a total of 1,000 interviews are conducted with customers with a further 500 amongst customers who have made an enquiry or made a complaint. A total of 3,000 interviews are also conducted amongst competitor customers (approximately 600 interviews per competitor) approximately once a year.
During the qualitative phase a total of 12 2-hour discussion groups were conducted in three locations across the UK; providing a robust mix of respondents across Tier, product type, product management preferences as well as socio-demographics.
The Output
The results for each wave include full regression analysis on three main variables: overall service, loyalty (switching) and recommendation. We provide full trend analysis, identifying key differences in the data over time, and adding to this the context of the constantly changing economic climate and how customers are adapting to this to provide a holistic view of the client's customer base and wider market position.
The findings each wave are presented to a senior audience and are used extensively by the client in their business plans and strategy development.