Implementation of Customer Feedback Procedure

Importance of customer satisfaction to the company

Customer satisfaction surveys are an integral part of any Organization especially in a
service industry as ours. It enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the business, which
in turn leads to increasing customer satisfaction. Retention of customers and their
satisfaction of our service is the key to the success of our Organization especially at
times like these when the market is against us and when there are so many options
available to our customers.
Such surveys will help us in the following ways: A. Understand the actual requirements of our Customers
B. Customers expectation from us.
C. Corrective actions could be taken and implemented in order to meet the
expectation of our clients.
D. Indicate our seriousness about improving the quality of service to our
customers.
E. Gain further insight into the source of dissatisfaction and areas requiring
improvement.
F. Identify our strength and weakness
G. Identify the areas require improvement
H. Compare our services against competitors

How we value our customers?

We value our customers as are our business partners. The success of our
Organization depends directly on the satisfaction of our customers. If customers are
happy, we will automatically be their first choice for doing business. We have seen in
the past that satisfied customers tend to give us more preference even though they
may have a lot of options in this crowded and competitive market.

How to implement customer satisfaction surveys?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.

Set goals
Determine the categories covered by the surveys.
Determine survey methods
Prepare the questionnaire.
Prepare to conduct the customer service satisfaction surveys
Collect Data.
Analyze data.
Develop recommendations and the corrective actions

Method of collecting or costumers feedback/performance

There are various method of collecting customers feedback such as:A.
B.
C.
D.

Email.
Personal Interview
Phone Interview
Website

Among the four options available to us, we have already tried the email
methodology which does not seem to fit properly in our industry as we did not get
much response in the past.
I believe the website option seems to be the best option because of the following
reasons:A. Easy to fill in.
B. Less time consuming process.
How to evaluate customer value?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Calculate number of fixture / revenue of each customer on every year.

Analyze the dispute/legal issues of each customer.
Realistic estimate of how long we might retain each customer.
Analyze customers preference/priority to us.

Sample questions for the survey

We have to get feedback with simple easy to choose options as
Good/Satisfactory/Need improvement for below
Fixture Negotiations:
A. Owners cooperation in concluding the fixture
B. Communication with chartering staff
C. Availability/Accesability of chartering staff during & after office hours
D. Responsiveness to charterers needs/requests
Post fixtures Operation:
A. Communication / Cooperation of Operation staff
B. Availability/Accessibility of operations staff during & after office hours
C. Handling of Charterers instructions & request
D. Timely response to charterers needs and requests
E. Invoices, laytime calculation and final statement of accounts from client are
complete and accurate.

F. Issues are fairly and satisfactorily resolved.

Vessel Operation & Documentation:
A. Cooperation of Master and crew
B. Quality and speed of service by the Master and crew
C. Accuracy of facts & figures in Statements / Documents
D. Compliance with Charterers instruction / voyage orders
E. Overall voyage fulfilment

How often should customer satisfaction surveys to be conducted?

A. Every 6 months for chartering
B. Every fixture after closing of file for operation

Filing methodology
All filled in customer feedback forms to be filed as follows:A. Electronically saved in a separate folder on the commercial drive.
B. Printouts to be kept in a physical file similar to contract file maintained by
Commercial department.

Reporting system, should there be a committee

Yes, the establishment of a committee is very important for the following reasons:A. To evaluate the customer feedback properly.
B. To take corrective actions immediately.

What action/steps followed?

Following steps to be followed after receiving the feedback forms:A. The completed survey to be submitted to a committee.
B. The committee members must decide on corrective actions to be
implemented.
C. Once corrective actions are implemented, it is very important to communicate
those actions taken to the Customers.

The committee members should ideally include Commercial department managers,

Operations department managers and HSE department manager.

Develop recommendations and the corrective actions

After identifying opportunities for improvement and selecting and discussing
solutions, the following should be done:
A. Implement corrective actions.
B. Develop a corrective action plan according to the priority points that have
been identified.
C. Identify those responsible for implementing the corrective actions.
We have to conduct customer satisfaction survey after every voyage for
operation and once in half yearly for chartering to verify the appropriateness and
feasibility of corrective actions.

When we consider a file is completed

Improving service through customer surveys is a continuous process which is done
mainly for the following reasons:A. To measure the level of satisfaction of the customers periodically.
B. To measure how the new actions introduced has worked.
In view of the above, it will be difficult to consider any file as closed.