Businesses survive because they have customers that are willing to buy their product or service. However, many times businesses fail to "check in" with their customers to determine whether they are happy or not and what it will take to make or keep them happy.

Customers are your best source of business information — whether it's to improve an existing product or service or whether you're planning to launch something new. There's no substitution for "getting it from the horse's mouth." When you open up the lines of communication, you are able to align your resources to best advantage, and you often can make changes or launch products more quickly.

By talking to your customers directly, you increase your odds for achieving success; you "mistake-proof" your decisions and work on what really matters. When you routinely ask your customers for feedback and involve them in your business, they, in turn, become committed to the success of your business.

Customer satisfaction data are received in a variety of methods, including:

Feedback received in response to answers to customer complaints
Dialogue between the customer and field executive or Management which is then documented in a trip visit summary report.
Industry positioning surveys
Lost business reports
Meetings with customers – interview sessions with questionnaires
Conducting survey is an effective method for measuring customer satisfaction and achieving continues improvement in quality. There are six steps in conducting a successful survey. They are:

Decide on your objectives
Determine who should complete the survey
Develop the survey
Administer the survey
Analyze the results
Communicate the results