50% Vendors Tie Pay to Customer Satisfaction
50% of technology solution vendors have linked customer satisfaction to employee compensation.
CONCORD, Mass., -- A new national
study conducted by the Gantry Group LLC, Linking Customer Satisfaction &
Compensation, reveals that 92% of providers of technology solutions and
technology-based services have active or planned initiatives in place to
align customer satisfaction metrics to employee compensation. The primary
objectives for companies implementing customer-centric compensation programs
are to align employee behavior with business objectives (58%) and strengthen
customer loyalty (50%).
The study reveals, however, that the majority of companies with
customer-centric compensation programs narrowly apply these programs to only
employees in customer service (65%) and sales/account management (57%). The
study suggests that companies’ difficulty in identifying appropriate
customer satisfaction metrics for non-customer-facing touch-points limits
their ability to link organizational performance to the many other customer
touch-points.
Two-thirds of study respondents with active customer-centric compensation
programs report that the programs were only somewhat successful.
The study revealed the following additional findings:
Most employees are reviewed annually (37%) or quarterly (28%) against
defined customer satisfaction benchmarks.
Most respondents report that they measure customer satisfaction quarterly
(33%) or annually (20%) for the purpose of setting employee performance
benchmarks.
The vast majority (70%) of respondents’ decision to tie customer
satisfaction to employee compensation is made by a group of senior
management.
Those organizations who currently incorporate customer satisfaction with
employee compensation achieve improved alignment with business objectives
(41%), increased customer loyalty (38%), and increased visibility for
employees into who their performance impacts the customer experience (29%).
CEO/President (84%), COO/VP Operations (65%), VP/Head of HR (64%), & CFO
(57%) are the key players who drive decisions to incorporate customer
satisfaction into the compensation model.
Information