Why is measurement alone not enough?

Measurements are only the beginning , a snapshot of the current situation, but they are not a strategy or action plan. Three main reasons why companies get stuck:

• Data without interpretation are just numbers. Even NPS is just an indicator, it only gains meaning when we understand what it reveals about our customers’ experience and how it helps make better business decisions.
• Customer behavior changes; it’s never static. A one-time study does not reveal trends or risks. Without a deep understanding of customer motivations, expectations, and current needs, we cannot see the full picture.

Competition doesn’t wait. If you are merely “looking at the numbers,” competitors are already using data to improve their customer experience and identify opportunities to strengthen their position.

What to do with the collected data?

Years of experience show that effective action starts with deeper analysis:

• Segment your customers. Does satisfaction differ between long-term and new customers? What differences appear across interaction or sales channels? Where are the critical points?
• Identify “pain points.” It is crucial to boldly assess weaknesses in your performance. Are the problems related to the product itself, the service, or do they stem from communication and available customer support? What do customers understand by “excellent service”? What do they value as “fast service”? What are they willing to pay extra for if it meets an important need or saves them resources?

Compare with market data. Are your indicators better or worse than the industry average? It’s easy to fall into the illusion of high performance if you don’t consider competitors’ evaluations and assume your metrics are truly complementary. Always keep an eye on your closest competitors.

From data to action

• Create concrete improvement plans. If customers complain about response times, invest in automation or staff training. If the weak point is communication, integrate SMS notifications into the service as confirmation of service progress, inform customers about upcoming steps, and so on.
• Test and measure again. Improvements must be evaluated: do they deliver results? Are they fully integrated into the overall service? Are the implemented changes appropriate and effective for the customer’s situation?

Integrate the customer’s voice into a strategy. Satisfaction data is not just a marketing tool; it is the foundation for business development. Customer feedback is fuel for new quality standards. Customer ideas, expectations, and complaints provide a truly valuable starting point, directly pointing out the way for development.

Why involve a research company?

This is where the difference between “measurement” and “solution” begins:

• Independent perspective. An external expert helps avoid internal biases and errors, evaluates the situation more objectively, and acts as an advocate for customer needs.
• Methodological accuracy. Professional research provides reliable data, not just a “Facebook survey.” There are numerous prerequisites and technical conditions to ensure that invested energy and resources truly generate added value.
• Deeper analysis and recommendations. We don’t just provide data; we help interpret it, understand it, and turn it into real, actionable change.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty are not just attractive charts or graphs. They are valuable indicators of business health, helping to strengthen competitiveness.

If you want to turn data into strategic action, contact us, we will help conduct research that provides not only insights into the current situation but also solutions and evidence for confident business decisions.

1. Online Surveys – Flexibility and Speed

Research shows that online surveys have become the dominant method for data collection due to their efficiency and lower costs compared to traditional research approaches. Online surveys allow you to reach your target audience within a few days, tailor questions to specific segments, and automate data processing.

The result? Less manual work, the ability to cover geographically wide areas and markets, while providing respondents with a convenient and functional way to share their opinions at a time and place that suits them—whether on a smartphone, computer, or other smart device. This leads to fewer errors, faster data collection, and higher data reliability.

2. Social Media Monitoring – Real-Time Signals

Customer opinions often appear on social media before they are captured in surveys. Modern digital tools allow you to track brand reputation in real time, analyze publicly expressed emotions, and identify emerging needs by measuring sentiment fluctuations. This means you can respond to signals before they turn into problems for your brand and its reputation.

Interactivity and community engagement provide authentic customer feedback and more genuine respondent opinions. Social media monitoring (social listening), audience sentiment analysis, content impact tracking, and competitor performance analysis enable strategic and effective action. In fact, 80% of marketing professionals consider social media data critically important for competitive analysis.

3. Speed of Research Implementation – From Months to Days

In the past, conducting research could take months; today, it can take just a few weeks or even days. Express surveys (a few targeted questions with rapid data analysis) deliver results within 24–48 hours, allowing you to quickly gauge opinions, measure trends, or assess reactions to a specific event, product, or campaign offer.

By integrating an Agile approach into research, more complex studies can be organized in multiple iterations (cycles), breaking activities into shorter phases. This enables efficient testing of new ideas and improvements, closely listening to the needs and suggestions of current and potential customers, while simultaneously developing or refining products/services alongside the research process. This approach provides a significant advantage in quickly adapting to changing market conditions.

4. Digital Solutions in Data Processing and Integration

Digitalization and automation have changed the traditional rules of the game. The rapid development of artificial intelligence is transforming the marketing research industry, enabling the creation of “synthetic personas” and “digital twins”—AI-generated substitutes that simulate consumer reactions and behavior, significantly reducing the time and sometimes the cost of traditional research. Synthetic personas combine demographic and psychographic data to represent market segments, while digital twins use individual-level data to replicate real consumers and provide more nuanced insights. In certain areas, this approach can very accurately reflect human responses; however, limitations remain, such as challenges in fully capturing the diversity of human opinions and potential biases. The best approach is not only to experiment but also to compare synthetic data with real-world benchmarks.

The latest technological tools, which are easier to use and implement, save significant time, enable efficient data cleaning, provide intuitive data visualization, and facilitate data integration—for example, with CRM or sales systems. This means research results are no longer isolated—they become part of your business ecosystem. Furthermore, predictive analytics helps plan future strategies, not just analyze the past.

5. Regularity of Measurements and Integration of Surveys into Service

Research is no longer a one-off project that provides answers for the next five years. Today, research and measurements need to become regular—like taking the “pulse” of your business. This allows you to track changes and dynamics over time. Integrating surveys into the customer experience journey provides insights directly within the interaction process, delivering feedback at the moment it is most valuable—immediately after a purchase or service usage. This approach ensures access to insights that support long-term strategic decisions, highlighting what truly defines an exceptional level of service quality.

What This Means for B2B Companies

• Research is no longer a luxury—it is accessible, quick to implement, and can be integrated into everyday processes.
• Research helps reduce risks, supports data-driven, confident decision-making, and effectively improves customer experience.

The first step can even be a small pilot project, giving you insight into the current situation and informing you of your future strategy.

Want to learn how to apply these insights to grow your business?

Contact us—we’ll help you choose the approach that best fits your business needs.

What are the benefits of conducting research?

• Reduced risks – before introducing a new product or service, research helps determine whether it will meet the needs of potential customers and how well it aligns with current market demands.
• Increasing and strengthening customer loyalty – by regularly monitoring customer satisfaction, a company can react proactively and in a timely manner, making necessary adjustments to its offering and responsibly improving customer experience.

Promoting growth – data on customer behavior and market trends enables the identification of new business opportunities, strengthens competitiveness through precise positioning, and helps create something truly unique.

Why is it important to monitor customer satisfaction?

Customer satisfaction is one of the key indicators influencing a company’s reputation and profitability. A dissatisfied customer often not only ends the collaboration but also shares their negative experience with others. In contrast, a satisfied customer can become a positive ambassador for the brand.

Research methods that best help track customer satisfaction

• Surveys (online, in person, by phone) – a way to obtain quantitative data and measurable insights, providing a clear picture of the current situation, strengths and weaknesses, risks, and opportunities.
• Focus group discussions – excellent for testing new products, generating ideas, and gaining a deeper understanding of current and potential customers — decision-making, key perception and attitude drivers, motivating factors for collaboration, and more.
• Individual interviews – an in-depth understanding of customer motivation and emotions, especially suitable when the research topic touches on something very private or sensitive

Social media monitoring – real-time data that enables tracking brand sentiment and mentions of the brand or company across various media platforms and social network channels, as well as proactively responding to potential crisis situations.

Which questions are the most effective?

Effective research is based not only on numbers but also on understanding why customers think the way they do. That is why it is important to combine both quantitative and qualitative questions in the research process.

Quantitative research methods are based on questions with numerical answers. They allow measurement of phenomena and identification of trends. These questions are structured, easy to analyze, and enable comparison of results over time. For example: “Yes or no? How often? How much? To what extent?” Such questions provide clear indicators but do not always reveal the underlying reasons. In contrast, qualitative research methods use questions that help understand and explain the causes of phenomena. They help uncover motivation, emotions, fears, attitudes, and specific areas for improvement. For example: “Why? What feelings or associations arise? What could change or improve this? What is the ideal scenario?” These questions provide context to the numbers and reveal what truly shapes the customer’s experience.

Ideally, when it is possible to combine questions from both methods, you gain detailed quantitative indicators as well as an in-depth understanding of why the results are as they are, what improvements are desired, and what recommendations can be made for enhancing a product or service.

How to choose the right target audience?

Defining the target audience is critically important in the business process, as it influences the structure of the offer, its promotion through sales channels, and the communication strategy. Typically, the target audience is identified by analyzing the shared characteristics of customers.

Examples:

• Socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, place of residence, income level, education level, household composition, etc.).
• Consumer lifestyle (values, behavior, habits, mobility, rituals).
• Interests and needs – both emotional and rational (individual openness to innovations, critically important product or service features, the role of a specific product or service in daily life, factors motivating a purchase).
• Decision-making process (especially important in the B2B segment – who is the decision-maker, who practically executes the purchase, who are the influencers/advocates, and who are the end users).

In the research process, one of the most important steps is a carefully considered and precise definition of the target audience. In research, the target audience is the group of respondents that best represents the segment we want to study, understand, and gather data about. Choosing the appropriate target audience ensures the representativeness of the research results (the data reflects the real situation), the objectivity and usefulness of the data for further decision-making (data is collected from the right people), and the accuracy of the data (focused, clearly interpretable, without unnecessary “noise” or irrelevant information).

When conducting research, the target audience is defined based on clear sampling criteria, where respondents’ experience plays a key role. Participant eligibility is determined, for example, by specific experience—customers who have made a purchase within the last six months—or by certain values and daily habits, such as regular use of public transport, among others.

• Demographic and behavioral data – age, location, purchasing habits, etc.
• Value-based segmentation – focusing on customers who generate the highest profit, make purchases at least once a month, and so on.

Decision-makers in the B2B environment – not only the end users but also those who influence the purchasing decision.

What constitutes valuable, high-quality research results?

The value of research results lies not only in numbers but also in their interpretation and practical application. High-quality research data means that it is:

• Representative – reflecting the real situation within your target audience.
• Accurate and reliable – obtained using a methodologically sound approach.
• Actionable – providing clear directions, not just descriptive information.

Research is a powerful tool—but only when used wisely. Research results can help shape new strategies (for products, pricing, communication, or customer service), highlight priorities for future activities and business development (clearly outlining the scale of importance), and enhance communication by delivering more impactful messages.

If you want to obtain valuable research results that support confident, data-driven business decisions and guide your business toward growth, contact us—we will help make it happen.

Myth No. 2: “We already know what our customers want.”

Truth: Customer needs change rapidly, influenced by shifts in lifestyle as well as external factors that trigger new behaviors and expectations.

Example: A supermarket chain believed that customers always prioritized the lowest price. Research revealed that a growing number of shoppers preferred sustainable products and locally produced goods, even if they cost slightly more. As a result, the company introduced a “green shelf” featuring eco-friendly products — and increased its turnover.

Myth No. 3: “Social media feedback is enough for us.”

Truth: Social media provides only fragmented information.

Example: A retail company, relying solely on Facebook comments, assumed that customers were satisfied. Research revealed that 40% of customers wanted faster delivery. This insight is critical for ensuring good service — yet it was completely invisible on social media.

Myth No. 4: “Research is too time-consuming.”

Truth: Modern technologies, artificial intelligence, and new digital solutions make surveys and data analysis fast and efficient.

Example: By creating an integrated customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement system where an automated survey is triggered at the final step of the service process, data is collected in real time and integrated with other business metrics.

Myth No. 5: “Research is only for large companies.”

Truth: For large companies, conducting research systematically is an effective way to boost customer satisfaction and business growth because it helps manage complex market data, identify trends across broad customer bases, and support strategic, data-driven decision-making that ensures long-term competitiveness. However, small and medium-sized businesses often gain even greater benefits from research, as they can implement adjustments more quickly and flexibly.

Example: A local restaurant conducted a simple customer survey and discovered demand for a vegan menu, which increased its revenue by 20%.

Take note! Research is not a cost — it is an investment that helps you stay one step ahead of competitors, improve customer experience, and build long-term relationships. Get in touch with us today — we will help you choose the most suitable method, design the research questions, analyze and interpret the data, so your decisions are based on insights, not assumptions.