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| Objective Measure of Customer Satisfaction in Software Projects |
| Posted by Subrato Das, Reliance Communications on
1/24/2009 |
Reply |
Project-based organizations place a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction, as customer satisfaction is the key for improving these companies' internal processes. A customer satisfaction rating (CSR) is often obtained through a questionnaire—the customer satisfaction survey (CSS). This method, however, suffers from the drawback of customers likely being emotionally influenced while filling out these questionnaires.
As per Gartner Reference Guide on IS Performance Measures defining 29 measures to cover 3 Key Areas of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Ownership, and Customer Relationships, let us delve into deepstick measurable ratings to compute the composite customer satisfaction rating (CCSR). The following deliberations explain us the five parameters that are critical to customer satisfaction, which are tangible aspects that can be measured objectively.
1. Quality: Quality comes first. The dictum "customers forget the delays but not the quality" aptly states the value of quality. Furthermore, customers forget everything else if—and only if—the quality delivered is superb. The defect density is computed as defects per unit size, or conversely, as units of product per one defect. The size is usually measured as lines of code (LOC), function points (FPs), or any other size measure used in the organization. What is important is to select one size and use it for all measurements. Here is the formula to compute a quality rating (QR) for customer satisfaction: Quality Rating, QR = (actual defect density – accepted defect density) ÷ accepted defect density
2. On-time Delivery: Nothing irritates a customer more than not receiving a delivery on the promised date. When a delivery is late, plans at the customer's end have to be redrawn, resource allocation has to be shifted, and all subsequent actions have to be rescheduled, causing the customer a lot of inconvenience. To compute this metric, we contrast accepted delivery with actual delivery. But which date should you use as the accepted delivery date? To compute the highest rating possible, take the latest accepted delivery date. To derive a true customer satisfaction rating, then take the date that is on the purchase order. Some organizations use both—one for internal purposes and one for the external purposes. The formula for computing a delivery rating (DR) for customer satisfaction is: Delivery Rating, DR = (actual days taken for delivery – accepted days for delivery) ÷ accepted days for delivery
3. Money: This refers to money the customer is paying. It is not uncommon for escalation clauses to be built in to contracts. When the vendor chooses to apply an escalation clause and to bill more money, it greatly inconveniences the customer. The customer must obtain sanctions and approvals for the extra payout, as well as answer quite a few questions in the process. In short, price escalations irritate customers. To compute the price rating (PR), use the price agreed to (before taxes) on the original purchase order and the final amount billed. Here is the formula for computing customer satisfaction in this area: Price Rating, PR = (actual amount billed – price on the purchase order) ÷ price on the purchase order
4. Issue factor: Most projects have issue resolution mechanisms (methods to solve problems). Some vendors, in their eagerness to always interpret the specs accurately (and in their fear that they might in fact misinterpret specs), raise more issues. When valid issues are raised, the customer is usually more than happy to resolve them. But when the issues raised are trivial, the customer becomes annoyed. To compute an issue rating (IR), use the issue density (ID). While we can easily compute actual ID, there is no accepted measure for an acceptable ID. We also use software size for computing ID. While issues can directly relate to requirements, we cannot use the number of requirements, as the method for defining requirements can vary the number significantly. Thus, the ID is computed as follows: Issue Density, ID = number of issues raised ÷ software size
Software size can be any software size measure, such as LOC or FP. Since there is no universally acceptable ID, an organizational standard should be defined and continuously improved. If the actual ID was less than the standard ID, then this metric will be negative, meaning customer expectations have been exceeded. If the actual ID was the same than the standard ID, then this metric will be zero—customer expectations have been fully met. If the actual ID was more than the standard ID, then this metric will be positive, and it means customer expectations have not been fully met. The formula for computing IR for customer satisfaction is: Issue Rating, IR = (actual ID – standard ID) ÷ standard ID
5. Accommodation and Cooperation: Few projects are ever completed without changes having been requested by the customer. When the customer requests a change, the vendor should accommodate and cooperate with the customer, and implement the change without postponing the delivery and without increasing the price. Change requests cause additional work for the vendor, and their impact is felt in two ways: revised delivery schedule and higher cost. In some cases, the vendor absorbs both, and in others, the vendor absorbs the impact on price only and passes the impact on delivery schedule on to the customer. Still in other cases, the vendor absorbs the impact on delivery schedule and passes the impact on price on to the customer. In the remaining cases, the changes are rejected. The customer is happy when change requests are accepted without impacting the price or the delivery schedule. But since this does not always happen, that is why we compute a cooperation rating (CR), the formula of which is: Cooperation Rating, CR = (no. of change requests received – no. of change requests implemented without affecting delivery date or price) ÷ no. of change requests received
Having computed all five ratings critical to achieving customer satisfaction, we are ready to compute the composite customer satisfaction rating (CCSR). The formula to compute CCSR is this: CCSR = 5 – (QR*w1 + DR*w2 + PR*w3 + IR*w4 + CR*w5)
This formula gives the CCSR on a 5-point scale. It is possible for the CCSR to be greater than 5 in some cases. When this happens, it means that customer expectations have been exceeded. Obviously, all five ratings do not carry the same importance in achieving customer satisfaction. These ratings can also vary from organization to organization, and from customer to customer. Some customers may perceive quality as being the most important aspect of a product or a service, while some may perceive delivery as the most important aspect. Still for others, the highest of importance might be placed on price. Given these differences in customers' perceptions and preferences, it is necessary to assign weights to each of the five ratings in order to arrive at a reasonably accurate CCSR.
There is scope in the CCSR method for organization-based adaptation. Some of the five ratings may be dropped or substituted, or new ones may be added to suit the specific organization. What are the views of fellow CIOs in this forum who mostly assume the role of customer as explained above?
Thx,
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| Re: Objective Measure of Customer Satisfaction in Software Projects |
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Replied by Arun Gupta, Shoppers Stop Limited
on 2/4/2009
| Reply to this message
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Very interesting, utopian to some extent for any organization and a bit complex to execute for every project. If I was a vendor, I would probably disagree.
If as a CIO, you own the project, irrespective of methodology of measuring customer satisfaction, the result will in 99% of the cases be negative. |
| Re: Objective Measure of Customer Satisfaction in Software Projects |
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Replied by kavi, HR
on 2/5/2009
| Reply to this message
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You can collect the feedbacks from customers by sending the survey url link to their mailid's and there are many online survey software which generate accurate reports from the response.
analysesurvey.com is handling the entire process of survey creation,response collection and report generation by the software itself.
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