CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
PROJECT WORK

by

Thomas Leutbecher and Jenni Hayrinen

Haaga Institute Polytechnic

2002

This project work deals with a customer satisfaction survey, conducted in a café in downtown Helsinki. The main objective is to find weak points of the business from a customer perspective in order to give recommendations for optimising the companies performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1

RESEARCH DESIGN PROCESS 2

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE SURVEY 3

ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS 4

Analyzing methods 4
Background Variables 5
Means of the Likert Scale variables 6
Crosstabulation 7
Strength of the relationship 7

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8

Recommendations based on data 8
Conclusion on conduction 8

APPENDIXES I

Introduction

This paper will tell about the customer satisfaction in a café downtown Helsinki. The reason why we chose this particular research, started out with personal experience, or better the wish for improvement. Since we are interested in marketing we started approaching our own wishes in a marketer′s way, long before we were instructed to conduct this project. So we asked ourselves how we would do it better. But to get anywhere close to an answer, one needs to know about what other customers think, with what they might agree or disagree. So our second question was: how do people see it?

Now, as we were assigned to this project, it seemed rather interesting to find out, if our own wishes first of all would be of significance compared to other customers. And secondly, to learn about how simple or difficult it would be for an owner or marketer of such an establishment, to find out about the needs for improvement from the customers point of view.

The problem setting of this customer satisfaction survey is divided in four parts: The management needs to know whether the personnel are considered customer-service oriented. Further, how customers think about the place itself, the pricing and the products offered.

The background of this work is the idea of how to obtain or improve a market position. In order to do so, it is vital to know about the market itself and the customers and their wishes. In this particular field, everything stands and falls with customer satisfaction. Therefore it is desirable to gain knowledge about the customers and their point of view. Although this is only a part of the marketing mix, which has to be considered for a healthy business, next to the knowledge about competition, in this field it might be the most important one.

Theoretical Background

The group we wish to generalize, which would be the customers visiting the café, is referred to as population. Sampling unit is a person, who answers the questionnaire. The sample is a representative so that valid conclusions can be drawn concerning the population as a whole.

According to the Market Research Society, the definition of marketing research is as follows: "The means used by those who provide goods and services to keep themselves in touch with the needs and wants of those who buy and use those goods and services." The survey is therefore a tool for the café owner to keep record of the trends and expectations of the customers. Service oriented markets, such as restaurant business, are highly segmented with distinctive patterns of buying behavior expectations and attitudes. It is crucial to identify these aspects, not just on the industry level, but specifically on your business.

Basically the problem setting we have laid out relates to the traditional view of the marketing mix; a set of marketing tools (place, product, price and promotion) that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market and the survey will then give guidance to these issues. These are the main components which define the customer delivered value and influences the customer satisfaction. In Philip Kotler′s words, the author of Marketing Management, "survey research is best suited for descriptive research. Companies undertake surveys to learn about people′s knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and satisfaction, and to measure these magnitudes in the population." It is said that retaining existing customers is more profitable for a company than trying to get new ones. Therefore it is vital to be aware of customers expectations, experience and possible satisfaction, disappointment or suggestions for improvements. From the buyer′s point of view, each marketing tool (place, product, price and promotion) respond to customer solution, customer cost, convenience and communication.

Research Design Process

To understand how the customers see the marketing mix of the café, it would have not been possible to collect data only from secondary sources. Previous research would have been outdated and the employees point of view biased. Adequate data could not have been obtained without preliminary research.

When selecting the survey method, there were no problems of alphabetical nature, cooperation, geographical restrictions, or accessibility. To answer the research problem, no detailed or personal questions were needed to ask. The language used, English, although created a barrier during the research process, due to the population mostly being Finnish. This could have created misunderstandings and non-response with a few sample units without supervision.

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