Product Development and Customer Satisfaction -- HEI Consulting

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Customer
Satisfaction
Consultants

Customer
satisfaction
for repeat
business

Happy face Every company's long-term growth and profitability depends on satisfied customers. A satisfied customer is a repeat customer, more likely to stay with your products and services, and less likely to be an easy target for your competition. A satisfied customer is one of your best advertisements — positive comments from a genuine user of your product are beyond price.

HEI determines customer satisfaction as a first step in meeting a client's long-term strategic business objectives. Our customer satisfaction studies provide needed information to correct deficiencies, and to build upon the perceived benefits of a current product in planning a next-generation product.

Understanding what customers think about your service or product can protect your organization against mistakes like those other companies have made:

Marketing or engineering staff occasionally make a product decision, inadvertently removing a feature valued by the customers. For example, a company replaced a rotary switch with a push-button, intending to shave a few pennies off the unit cost. However, they failed to appreciate that some users valued their ability to tell the switch setting by touch, without needing to see the control panel. As a result, customers' negative reaction to the "improvement" was an unpleasant surprise for the company.

Another firm's customer satisfaction plummeted when product manufacturing was outsourced, in response to a proposal that at the time seemed almost too good to be true. The stainless steel case used in the off-shore goods became discolored the first time the unit was used. Also, the power cord was inflexible, making installation difficult. As a result of these customer satisfaction issues, the main retail chain selling this product cancelled its distribution agreement with the firm.

HEI surveys customers using a variety of methods meeting each client's needs. Our critical analysis of the results helps clients understand their customer satisfaction issues and how to adapt, successfully meeting customer expectations. We conduct customer acceptance and usability testing prior to the introduction of a new concept or product, working with representative customers under NDAs, obtaining candid feedback, ensuring everything is just right before committing resources.