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PREFACE
These days good management institutes have started giving more
stress on management training as it is the interface of a student with
a culture of the corporate world and it also gives the first hand
experience to use the knowledge acquired by them through there
facility in the class in the corporate world.

Our institute has also been looking in the same direction and is
determined to produce quality students who have a balanced
knowledge of both theoretical aspects and the practical knowledge as
well in the same context we have to undergo a summer training
project in a company.

Today market is consumer where is the boss. The sole difference

between selling and marketing is that the latter gives customer
satisfaction as top priority to enhance the sale in the market while
former does not.

I underwent market survey of Customer Satisfaction of Tata Motors

Herein I got to do a live project for the company, which was basically
to study the channel structure of Tata Motors.

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INTRODUCTION

As part of curriculum of the Graduate Degree in Tata motor, students

are required to do a project in any reputed organization. For this

reason, I did my project research in Rkl Motors. The project work was

titled “A Study of Customer Satisfaction of Tata Motors” in

Gorakhpur and to suggest ways and means to improve the

management strategic decisions.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

The data used for the study had primary and secondary character to

it. The primary data was collected  through  questionnaire  method. 

The secondary data were composed through the reference of books,

websites, and interviews with various executives in different

organizations of the sample. The procured data was analyzed by a

simple percentage method and the results are supported with graphs

and charts.

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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a

measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or

surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as

"the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose

reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings)

exceeds specified satisfaction goals." In a survey of nearly 200 senior

marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a

customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring

their businesses.

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often

part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where

businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a

key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of

business strategy.

"Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have

powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling

customers’ expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they

warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. . . . These

metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal

customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both

free and highly effective."

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Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer

satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative

measures of satisfaction.

"In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether

their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus,

expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers

have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be

disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than

satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive

a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its

facilities and service would be deemed superior in 'absolute' terms."

The importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has

increased bargaining power. For example, cell phone plan providers,

such as AT&T and Verizon, participate in an industry that is an

oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of a certain product or service

exist. As such, many cell phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print

with provisions that they would never get away if there were, say, a

hundred cell phone plan providers, because customer satisfaction

would be way too low, and customers would easily have the option of

leaving for a better contract offer.

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PURPOSE

A business ideally is continually seeking feedback to improve

customer satisfaction.

"Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer

purchase intentions and loyalty." "Customer satisfaction data are

among the most frequently collected indicators of market perceptions.

Their principal use is twofold:"

"Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of

these data send a message about the importance of tending to

customers and ensuring that they have a positive experience with the

company’s goods and services."

"Although sales or market share can indicate how well a firm is

performing currently, satisfaction is perhaps the best indicator of how

likely it is that the firm’s customers will make further purchases in the

future. Much research has focused on the relationship between

customer satisfaction and retention. Studies indicate that the

ramifications of satisfaction are most strongly realized at the

extremes." On a five-point scale, "individuals who rate their

satisfaction level as '5' are likely to become return customers and

might even evangelize for the firm. (A second important metric related

to satisfaction is willingness to recommend. This metric is defined as

"The percentage of surveyed customers who indicate that they would

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recommend a brand to friends." When a customer is satisfied with a

product, he or she might recommend it to friends, relatives and

colleagues. This can be a powerful marketing advantage.) "Individuals

who rate their satisfaction level as '1,' by contrast, are unlikely to

return. Further, they can hurt the firm by making negative comments

about it to prospective customers. Willingness to recommend is a key

metric relating to customer satisfaction."

CONSTRUCTION

Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-

customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of

how successful the organization is at providing products and/or

services to the marketplace.

"Customer satisfaction is measured at the individual level, but it is

almost always reported at an aggregate level. It can be, and often is,

measured along various dimensions. A hotel, for example, might ask

customers to rate their experience with its front desk and check-in

service, with the room, with the amenities in the room, with the

restaurants, and so on. Additionally, in a holistic sense, the hotel

might ask about overall satisfaction 'with your stay.'"

As research on consumption experiences grows, evidence suggests

that consumers purchase goods and services for a combination of two

types of benefits: hedonic and utilitarian. Hedonic benefits are

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associated with the sensory and experiential attributes of the product.

Utilitarian benefits of a product are associated with the more

instrumental and functional attributes of the product (Batra and

Athola 1990).

Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the

actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person

to person and product/service to product/service. The state of

satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical

variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return

and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending

on other options the customer may have and other products against

which the customer can compare the organization's products.

Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L) between

1985 and 1988 provides the basis for the measurement of customer

satisfaction with a service by using the gap between the customer's

expectation of performance and their perceived experience of

performance. This provides the measurer with a satisfaction "gap"

which is objective and quantitative in nature. Work done by Cronin

and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of

combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry

as two different measures (perception and expectation of performance)

into a single measurement of performance according to expectation.

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The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a

set of statements using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is

asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and

expectation of performance of the organization being measured. Their

satisfaction is generally measured on a five-point scale.

"Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers’

perceived satisfaction with their experience of a firm’s offerings." It is

essential for firms to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be

able do this, we need accurate measurement of satisfaction.

Good quality measures need to have high satisfaction loadings, good

reliability, and low error variances. In an empirical study comparing

commonly used satisfaction measures it was found that two multi-

item semantic differential scales performed best across both hedonic

and utilitarian service consumption contexts. According to studies by

Wirtz & Lee (2003), they identified a six-item 7-point semantic

differential scale (e.g., Oliver and Swan 1983), which is a six-item 7-

point bipolar scale, that consistently performed best across both

hedonic and utilitarian services. It loaded most highly on satisfaction,

had the highest item reliability, and had by far the lowest error

variance across both studies. In the study, the six items asked

respondents’ evaluation of their most recent experience with ATM

services and ice cream restaurant, along seven points within these six

items: “please me to displeased me”, “contented with to disgusted

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with”, “very satisfied with to very dissatisfied with”, “did a good job for

me to did a poor job for me”, “wise choice to poor choice” and “happy

with to unhappy with”.

A semantic differential (4 items) scale (e.g., Eroglu and Machleit 1990)

[9]
, which is a four-item 7-point bipolar scale, was the second best

performing measure, which was again consistent across both

contexts. In the study, respondents were asked to evaluate their

experience with both products, along seven points within these four

items: “satisfied to dissatisfied”, “favorable to unfavorable”, “pleasant

to unpleasant” and “I like it very much to I didn’t like it at all”.[8]

The third best scale was single-item percentage measure, a one-item

7-point bipolar scale (e.g., Westbrook 1980). Again, the respondents

were asked to evaluate their experience on both ATM services and ice

cream restaurants, along seven points within “delighted to terrible”.

It seems that dependent on a trade-off between length of the

questionnaire and quality of satisfaction measure, these scales seem

to be good options for measuring customer satisfaction in academic

and applied studies research alike. All other measures tested

consistently performed worse than the top three measures, and/or

their performance varied significantly across the two service contexts

in their study. These results suggest that more careful pretesting

would be prudent should these measures be used.

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Finally, all measures captured both affective and cognitive aspects of

satisfaction, independent of their scale anchors. Affective measures

capture a consumer’s attitude (liking/disliking) towards a product,

which can result from any product information or experience. On the

other hand, cognitive element is defined as an appraisal or conclusion

on how the product’s performance compared against expectations (or

exceeded or fell short of expectations), was useful (or not useful), fit

the situation (or did not fit), exceeded the requirements of the

situation (or did not exceed).

WHY ORGANIZATIONS FOCUS ON CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION

Businesses monitor customer satisfaction in order to determine how

to increase their customer base, customer loyalty, revenue, profits,

market share and survival. Although greater profit is the primary

driver, exemplary businesses focus on the customer and his/her

experience with the organization. They work to make their customers

happy and see customer satisfaction as the key to survival and profit.

Customer satisfaction in turn hinges on the quality and effects of their

experiences and the goods or services they receive.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The definition of customer satisfaction has been widely debated as

organizations increasingly attempt to measure it. Customer

satisfaction can be experienced in a variety of situations and

connected to both goods and services. It is a highly personal

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assessment that is greatly affected by customer expectations.

Satisfaction also is based on the customer’s experience of both contact

with the organization (the “moment of truth” as it is called in business

literature) and personal outcomes. Some researchers define a satisfied

customer within the private sector as “one who receives significant

added value” to his/her bottom line—a definition that may apply just

as well to public services. Customer satisfaction differs depending on

the situation and the product or service. A customer may be satisfied

with a product or service, an experience, a purchase decision, a

salesperson, store, service provider, or an attribute or any of these.

Some researchers completely avoid “satisfaction” as a measurement

objective because it is “too fuzzy an idea to serve as a meaningful

benchmark.” Instead, they focus on the customer’s entire experience

with an organization or service contact and the detailed assessment of

that experience.

For example, reporting methods developed for health care patient

surveys often ask customers to rate their providers and experiences in

response to detailed questions such as, “How well did your physicians

keep you informed?” These surveys provide “actionable” data that

reveal obvious steps for improvement. Customer satisfaction is a

highly personal assessment that is greatly influenced by individual

expectations

Some definitions are based on the observation that customer

satisfaction or dissatisfaction results from either the confirmation or

disconfirmation of individual expectations regarding a service or

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product. To avoid difficulties stemming from the kaleidoscope of

customer expectations and differences, some experts urge companies

to “concentrate on a goal that’s more closely linked to customer

equity.” Instead of asking whether customers are satisfied, they

encourage companies to determine how customers hold them

accountable Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of

how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass

customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within

business

Customer satisfaction depends on the product’s performance relative

to a buyer’s expectation, the customer is dissatisfied.  If preference

matches expectations, the customer is satisfied.  If preference is

exceeds expectation, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted

outstanding marketing insurance companies go out of their way to

keep their customer satisfied.  Satisfied customers make repeat

purchases insurance products and tell other about their good

experiences with the product.  The key is to match customer

expectations with company performance.  Smart insurance company’s

aim to delight customers by promising only what they can deliver,

then delivering more than the promise.  Consumers usually face a

broad array of products and services that might satisfy a given need. 

How do they choose among these many marketing makers offers? 

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Consumers make choices based on their perception of the value and

satisfaction that various products and services deliver.

      Customer value is the difference between the values the customer

gains from owning and using a product and the costs of obtaining the

products customers from expectations about the value of various

marketing offers and buy accordingly.  How do buyers from their

expectations?  Customer expectations are based on past buying

experiences, the opinion of friends and marketer and competitor

information and promises.

      Customer satisfaction with a purchase depends on how well the

product’s performance lives up to the customers’ expectations. 

Customer satisfaction is a key influence on future buying behaviour. 

Satisfied customers buy again and tell others about their good

experiences dies-satisfied customer’s of ten switches to competitors

and disparage the products to others.  An insurance provider open

only to active duty, retired and separated military members and their

immediate families and therefore not included in the rankings,

achieved a satisfaction ranking equal to that any insurance company.

       In general, customer satisfaction with auto insurance providers

decreased significantly, with 20 of the 21 companies surveyed

decreasing in satisfaction from the previous year.  Insurance is the

only carrier that did not experience a decline in satisfaction.  Though

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consumers report their insurance carriers are resolving their claims

and problems faster. Businesses survive because they have customers

who are willing to buy their products or services. However, many

businesses fails to “check in” with their customers to determine

whether they are happy or not and what it will make to make or keep

them happy.

According to U.S consumers’ affairs department, it costs five

times more to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Other studies have repeated that with just a five percent increase in

Customer retention’s a firm can raise its profitability customers spend

salary at first, but with succeeding years of good experience, they will

spend increasingly more.

Depending on the industry and the nature of the bad

experience, dissatisfied customers will complain to 10 to 20 friends

and acquaintances, which is three times more than those with good

experiences are. Hence, the negative information is influential, and

consumers generally place significant weight on it when making a

decision. If that is not the reason enough, fierce competitor is needed

more and more to differentiate firms from one another. With

technology available to virtually every one today, the traditional

features and cost advantages are no longer relevant. Still product and

service quality provides an enormous opportunity to distinguish a firm

from the rest. The Japanese have recognized this and have though us

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to expect quality. Today’s consumers do, and they know more about

products and services than they ever did.

Customers are the best source of information. Whether to

improve an existing product or service or whether firms are planning

to launch something new. There is no substitution for “getting it from

horse’s mouth” When you talk to your customer directly, to increase

your odds for achieving success you “mistake-proof” your decisions

and work on what really matters. When you routinely ask the

customers for feedback and involve them in business they, in turn,

become committed to the success of your business.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT: -

A basic and effective base line customer satisfaction survey

program should focus on measuring customer perceptions of how will

the company delivers on the critical success factors and dimensions of

the business as defined by the customers:

FOR EXAMPLE:

Service Promptness

Courtesy of Staff

Responsiveness

Understanding the customer problem, etc.

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The findings of the company performance should be analyzed both

with all customers and by key segments of the customer population.

The essential starting point for Customer Satisfaction Measurement

(CSM) is exploratory research. Since satisfaction is about an

organization’s ability. To meet customer requirement one has to start

by clarifying with customers exactly what those requirements are.

This is done through exploratory research using focus groups or one

to one depth interviews.

Two main factors determine the accuracy of CSM. The first is

the asking the right question and the second is the asking them to the

right people sample of customers which accurately reflects the

customer base.

Three things decide the accuracy of a sample. They are:

It must be representative.

It must be randomly selected.

It must be adequate enough.

MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-

customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of

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how successful the organization is at providing products and/or

services to the marketplace.

Customer satisfaction is an abstract concept and the actual

manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to

person and product/service to product/service. The state of

satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical

variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return

and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending

on other factors the customer, such as other products against which

the customer can compare the organization's products.

Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L)

between 1985 and 1988 delivered SERVQUAL which provides the

basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction with a service by

using the gap between the customer's expectation of performance and

their perceived experience of performance. This provides the

researcher with a satisfaction "gap" which is semi-quantitative in

nature. Cronin and Taylor extended the disconfirmation theory by

combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zenithal and Berry as

two different measures (perception and expectation) into a single

measurement of performance relative to expectation.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with

a set of statements using a Linker Technique or scale. The customer is

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asked to evaluate each statement in terms of their perception and

expectation of performance of the service being measured.

METHODOLOGIES

American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a scientific standard

of customer satisfaction. Academic research has shown that the

national ACSI score is a strong predictor of Gross Domestic Product

(GDP) growth, and an even stronger predictor of Personal

Consumption Expenditure (PCE) growth. On the microeconomic level,

research has shown that ACSI data predicts stock market

performance, both for market indices and for individually traded

companies. Increasing ACSI scores has been shown to predict loyalty,

word-of-mouth recommendations, and purchase behaviour. The ACSI

measures customer satisfaction annually for more than 200

companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors.

In addition to quarterly reports, the ACSI methodology can be

applied to private sector companies and government agencies in order

to improve loyalty and purchase intent. Two companies have been

licensed to apply the methodology of the ACSI for both the private and

public sector: CFI Group, Inc. applies the methodology of the ACSI

offline, and Foresee Results applies the ACSI to websites and other

online initiatives. ASCI scores have also been calculated by

independent researchers, for example, for the mobile phones sector,

higher education, and electronic mail.

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The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer

satisfaction developed in the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano that

classifies customer preferences into five categories: Attractive, One-

Dimensional, Must-Be, Indifferent, Reverse. The Kano model offers

some insight into the product attributes which are perceived to be

important to customers. Kano also produced a methodology for

mapping consumer responses to questionnaires onto his model.

SERVQUAL or RATER is a service-quality framework that has been

incorporated into customer-satisfaction surveys (e.g., the revised

Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer) to indicate the gap

between customer expectations and experience.

J.D. Power and Associates provides another measure of customer

satisfaction, known for its top-box approach and automotive industry

rankings. J.D. Power and Associates' marketing research consists

primarily of consumer surveys and is publicly known for the value of

its product awards.

Other research and consulting firms have customer satisfaction

solutions as well. These include A.T. Kearney's Customer Satisfaction

Audit process, which incorporates the Stages of Excellence framework

and which helps define a company’s status against eight critically

identified dimensions. For Business to Business (B2B) surveys there

is the Info Quest box. This has been used internationally since 1989

on more than 110,000 surveys (Nov '09) with an average response rate

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of 72.74%. The box is targeted at "the most important" customers and

avoids the need for a blanket survey.

IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Published standards exist to help organizations develop their current

levels of customer satisfaction. The International Customer Service

Institute (TICSI) has released The International Customer Service

Standard (TICSS). TICSS enables organizations to focus their attention

on delivering excellence in the management of customer service,

whilst at the same time providing recognition of success through a 3rd

Party registration scheme. TICSS focuses an organization’s attention

on delivering increased customer satisfaction by helping the

organization through a Service Quality Model. TICSS Service Quality

Model uses the 5 P's - Policy, Processes People, Premises,

Product/Services, as well as performance measurement. The

implementation of a customer service standard should lead to higher

levels of customer satisfaction, which in turn influences customer

retention and customer loyalty.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS:

Surveys and questionnaires are the most common marketing research

methods. Typically, they are used to:

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 Assess the level of customer satisfaction with a particular

product, service or experience

 Identify factors that contribute to customer satisfaction and

dissatisfaction;

 Determine the current status or situation of a product or

service;

 Compare and rank providers;

 Estimate the distribution of characteristics in a potential

customer population; or

 Help establish customer service standards.

BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES:

Surveys allow an organization to quickly capture vital information

with relatively little expense and effort. A primary advantage of this

method is its directness: “the purpose is clear and the responses

straightforward.” Additionally, the information gathered by surveys

can easily be analyzed and used to identify trends over time. The

public views consumer product polls and pollsters in a generally

positive manner compared to political and other polls. One study

found that at least sixty percent of the public feels that market

research about products and services has a positive impact on society.

Seventy percent consider the people who conduct such surveys to

have positive impacts on society.

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A major disadvantage of customer surveys is that the responses may

be influenced by the measurement itself through various forms of

bias. For example, most surveys are voluntary, and some researchers

have found differences between survey respondents and non-

respondents. People who respond to surveys answer questions

differently than those who do not respond, and late responders

answer differently than early responders.

The Benefits and Importance of Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a fundamental concept addressed in all

marketing textbooks and many organizations consider it the most

important marketing goal, because it should deliver ongoing customer

loyalty and resultant enhanced profitability.

But there are actually many more benefits of customer satisfaction, as

shown and discussed in the following table:

Benefits of Customer Discussion

Satisfaction

Increased customer loyalty Satisfied customers are more likely to

stay with the firm for a longer period,

which can significantly increase sales

revenue and profitability over time

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A strong competitive Existing customers will be less

switching barrier interested in competitive offers

Higher amount of average The firms will generally gain greater

purchases share of customers’ purchases in

that product category. Typically

satisfied customers will increase

their purchase quantity over time

Increased word-of-mouth Satisfied customers are more likely to

(WOM) recommend the brand, product or

firm to their family, friends and

social media connections

Lower promotional As a steady flow of new customers

expenditure is required should be generated from word-of-

mouth referrals, reducing the need to

generate new customers from various

promotional activities

More stable sales revenues This occurs from the combination

(cash flows) increased customer loyalty, the

competitive switching barrier and

enhanced new product successes.

Greater success of new The firm will achieve greater success

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products and line extensions with new product launches, as

generally they can target existing

satisfied customers with a significant

degree of success. In fact, many

satisfied customers look forward to

new products from the companies

that they like to deal with.

Increased opportunity for Service recovery refers to a firm

product/service recovery (usually a service firm) being able to

fix a problem/complaint for a

customer in order to keep the

customer satisfied. This is more

likely to happen as satisfied

customers are more likely to

approach the firm for a solution.

Greater voice-of-customer Satisfied customers are more likely to

inputs be interested in working with the

firm (through forms of market

research) to provide input to new

product, process and service

initiatives.

Stronger staff-customer Many service firms pursue strong

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relationships customer relationships as a key part

of their marketing strategy. Clearly

relationships are stronger and more

productive when working with

satisfied customers.

Reduced price sensitivity Satisfied customers value the overall

experience and product of the firm

and are less concerned with price in

their overall assessment.

Interrelated Benefits of Customer Satisfaction

As can be seen, there are quite a number of strong reasons why

customer satisfaction is often actively pursued in a firm. Many of

these reasons have a direct impact on the firm’s bottom-line financial

performance.

In addition, many of these factors are interrelated and help reinforce

each other. For example, strong and positive word-of-mouth helps

drive new customers, which increases sales revenue streams and

profitability.

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But strong and positive word-of-mouth also enables the firm to reduce

(or get more impact from) its overall promotional budget, which in

turn reduces marketing costs and helps deliver enhanced profitability.

These interesting and important interrelationships are outlined in the

following model:

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Building relationships with customers

Customer satisfaction is key in creating a long-term relationship with

your customers. If you think back to the dating analogy, going

through the sales process is just like wooing your prospect to turn

them into a customer.

But keeping a long term relationship functioning is hard work. You

need to keep delivering value time and time again. You need to keep

your customer satisfied.

 81% of satisfied customers are more likely to do business

with you again if they have a positive experience.

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 95% of customers will “take action” after a negative

experience – like sharing concerns with friends and family, or

churning.

Ongoing satisfaction leads to loyalty. Once customers have placed

trust in a company and are assured that the company will continue to

deliver they will continue to do business with them.

Loyalty is a worthy goal to shoot for –  the White House Office of

Consumer Affairs estimates that loyal customers are worth up to 10

times their initial purchase value.

So once you’ve decided to keep customers satisfied and build a long

term relationship with them, you need to know where you’re going

wrong. How do you make sure you’re delivering value and setting your

business up for happy customer relationships?

Calculating the Effect of Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is extremely important to your bottom line.

Let’s put it into perspective with numbers.

Take the following business, Purrfect Prints, selling printer supplies.

 They have 100 customers right now

 Each of those customer spends $100 per month on average.

If Purrfect Prints customer satisfaction is at 90% this month, they

have 90 happy customers who will likely continue to purchase from

them.

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They also have 10 customers that are unhappy, and 95% of those

might churn. That means Purrfect Prints has $950 of recurring

revenue at risk this month.

Next month, things go horribly wrong. Their customer satisfaction is

lower at 75%. Purrfect Prints can expect to lose $2375 of recurring

revenue from unhappy customers churning.

According to the research, this Purrfect Prints is putting an additional

$95 of recurring revenue at risk each month for each percentage point

of satisfaction they lose.

If you have more customers, who spend more each month, lower

customer satisfaction has an even bigger impact on your business.

Every unhappy customer is another hit to the bottom line.

The Feedback of Customer Satisfaction

If customer satisfaction is the goal, then constant feedback is the best

way to improve over time. You need to measure customer satisfaction

in order to improve it. There are a few ways to measure customer

satisfaction, but the most common and effective ways are to simply

ask your customer.

Transactional satisfaction

Transactional satisfaction measures how your customers feel after

contacting your business. After each reply or interaction, ask the

customer how they felt about the exchange. Are they satisfied? Or

could you have done more to make them happy?

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We’d also recommend following up the initial question with a probing

question to understand where you went wrong, or what you did right.

This gives you an opportunity to immediately reach out and rescue

the situation if they are unsatisfied.

In order to track your improvement over time, divide the number of

Satisfied responses by the total number of responses and multiply it

by 100. (ie. 82 Satisfied Customers out of 100 Total Responses = 82%)

This number is typically referred to as CSAT.

Relational satisfaction

Of course, even if you don’t interact with your customers, they still

have an opinion about your company. Measuring satisfaction at

regular intervals instead of just after interactions is also important.

Many companies do regular customer satisfaction surveys once or

twice a year. It’s a great opportunity to ask more targeted questions

about what impacts their relationship with your company.

 How would you feel if [company] wasn’t available tomorrow?

 How likely are you to recommend [company] to friends and

family? (The NPS question!)

 What is the one thing we could do to make you happier?

Measuring your customer satisfaction and continuing to seek

feedback tells you where improvement is needed. It keeps a constant

pulse on the state of your relationship with your customers and

provides you with the information needed to do better.

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Happy Customers means Happier Employees

No one likes being yelled at. It’s just not a fun situation to be in.

Agents who routinely have to deal with upset customers can find their

job draining. It’s even worse if your agents aren’t empowered to resolve

the situation. Instead of feeling like part of the solution, your team will

feel like a barricade between your customers and the rest of the

business. When agents feel drained, uninspired and ineffective, they

don’t tend to stay in their jobs for very long.

Customer satisfaction doesn’t just impact the business’ bottom line, it

also impacts team morale and retention rate. Zendesk fully agreeswith

this. They believe there’s a correlation between CSAT and ASAT (agent

satisfaction). When one goes up, so does the other. It’s a positive

feedback cycle that leaves everyone feeling happier, more motivated

and satisfied.

Importance of Customer Satisfaction

Teams that measure customer satisfaction can easily calculate the

expected risk of unhappy customers. By putting a number to the

importance of customer satisfaction, you can have more meaningful

conversations with your boss and company about investing in your

team.

Commit the entire team to improving customer satisfaction day in and

day out. Measure your progress, and enjoy the benefits.

31
 32

Satisfied customers will recommend you to their network. Customer

advocacy is a very efficient form of marketing. Small

businesses estimate that 85% of their new business comes from

word of mouth.

Satisfied customers will continue to buy from you. Not only do loyal

customers spend more long term, it’s actually cheaper to keep them

happy than trying to acquire a new customer. It’s 6 times more

expensive to woo that new customer than it is to retain an existing

one.

Satisfied customers are better for your sanity. Listening to what

customers want means that you won’t be constantly at odds with your

clients. Just like arguments in a relationship are emotionally draining,

having grumpy customers constantly writing into a support team

leads to burnout and a much unhappier work environment.

No-one can deny the importance of focussing on customer

satisfaction. Keeping your customers happy and loyal means more

business, longer relationships and honestly – a much better day at the

office!

Advantages and Disadvantages of Customer Satisfaction

Surveys

The most efficient and economical way to measure customer

satisfaction is to create customer satisfaction surveys with the help of

a survey software solution. An advanced survey software solution can

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manage multi-mode survey research methods – produce the same

survey in different formats;  including online surveys, email surveys,

paper surveys, mobile surveys, kiosk surveys, and telephone surveys–

depending on the best way to reach your customer base. Customer

satisfaction surveys are designed to give you anonymous and

unambiguous insight into your customers’ thoughts and perceptions

of your products, services, programs, and your company as a whole,

as well as information leading to what needs to be changed in order to

retain lasting customer relationships. 

Customer satisfaction surveys are extremely beneficial to your

business. They do, however come with certain disadvantages. Here are

some of the advantages and disadvantages of implementing regularly

administered customer satisfaction surveys into your business.

Advantages of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

 Up-to-date feedback: Gather current customer feedback on

various aspects of your company. You can stay on top of

customer trends through regularly scheduled online surveys or

email surveys, and receive instant customer feedback.  It is

always useful to acquire insight into how your customers are

currently reacting to all aspects of your business.

 Benchmark results: You can administer the same survey every

so often to customers to gain continued insight into your

customers. Surveys can have the same questions, which will

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allow you to compare data over time and benchmark survey

data across previous years to determine if any changes need to

be made.

 Show that you care: Customers like to be asked for their

feedback. It gives the customer the perception that your

company values them; is committed to keeping them as a long-

term customer; and bases business decisions on their feedback.

Disadvantages of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

 Too many surveys, so little time: Your customers are

bombarded with online surveys. Surveys may be simple to

complete, however, some people simply don’t like to complete

them.  Sending surveys too often can irritate customers and

lead to customer burnout. Customer burnout can result in low

response rates or result in lower satisfaction scores, despite

your reputation for providing excellent products or services.

 Privacy Issues:  We live in a high-tech environment filled with

daily doses of unwanted junk email, email solicitations, and

sales calls. When taking an online survey or a phone survey (or

any type of survey), it is hard for your customers to believe that

they aren’t being tracked. Because of insecurities of releasing

private information, customers today are hesitant in giving out

information that may lead to more junk email and unwanted

calls.  Make certain to assure customers that the informatin

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We know why customer satisfaction is important for both customers

and businesses. This is why we are focused not only on providing

satisfying web development, itself, but also are always trying to

improve customer service to make every stage of your cooperation with

us a joy.

We also know how much it matters for you to have a compelling

website or app that is able to provide an excellent user experience and

satisfy your customers with all its features. That’s why in our blog we

regularly give you ideas to improve your web resources to provide

customer satisfaction, and why our developers are always ready to

make these ideas come true. Now find out more about the importance

of customer satisfaction.

Businesses need money to survive. To make money, businesses need

customers. Ideally these customers are happy, tell their friends about

you and keep coming back.

While your business might survive with angry, single-purchase

customers, only businesses with a focus on customer satisfaction will

thrive. Customer satisfaction is the difference between surviving and

thriving

Imagine you meet the person of your dreams. However – you have to

work a little to win them over. Cue the standard wooing techniques – a

sweetly written love letter, an invitation to dinner followed by

candlelight romance. Eventually, they fall head over heels in love with

you and agree to make a long term commitment.

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What happens next? Do you stop calling? Do you stop worrying about

what they think, and how you can keep them happy? If you want to

keep them around… probably not.

Customer relationships are no different. Whether you’re in a B2B or

B2C marketplace, at the end of the day, you’re living in an H2H

world…. human to human. And that’s where the importance of

customer satisfaction comes in.  

Building relationships with customers

Customer satisfaction is key in creating a long-term relationship with

your customers. If you think back to the dating analogy, going

through the sales process is just like wooing your prospect to turn

them into a customer.

But keeping a long term relationship functioning is hard work. You

need to keep delivering value time and time again. You need to keep

your customer satisfied.

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81% of satisfied customers are more likely to do business with

you again if they have a positive experience.

95% of customers will “take action” after a negative experience –

like sharing concerns with friends and family, or churning.

Ongoing satisfaction leads to loyalty. Once customers have placed

trust in a company and are assured that the company will continue to

deliver they will continue to do business with them.

Loyalty is a worthy goal to shoot for –  the White House Office of

Consumer Affairs estimates that loyal customers are worth up to 10

times their initial purchase value.

So once you’ve decided to keep customers satisfied and build a long

term relationship with them, you need to know where you’re going

wrong. How do you make sure you’re delivering value and setting your

business up for happy customer relationships?

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The Feedback of Customer Satisfaction

If customer satisfaction is the goal, then constant feedback is the best

way to improve over time. You need to measure customer satisfaction

in order to improve it. There are a few ways to measure customer

satisfaction, but the most common and effective ways are to simply

ask your customer.

Transactional satisfaction
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Transactional satisfaction measures how your customers feel after

contacting your business. After each reply or interaction, ask the

customer how they felt about the exchange. Are they satisfied? Or

could you have done more to make them happy?

We’d also recommend following up the initial question with a probing

question to understand where you went wrong, or what you did right.

This gives you an opportunity to immediately reach out and rescue

the situation if they are unsatisfied.

In order to track your improvement over time, divide the number of

Satisfied responses by the total number of responses and multiply it

by 100. (ie. 82 Satisfied Customers out of 100 Total Responses = 82%)

This number is typically referred to as CSAT.

Relational satisfaction

Of course, even if you don’t interact with your customers, they still

have an opinion about your company. Measuring satisfaction at

regular intervals instead of just after interactions is also important.

Many companies do regular customer satisfaction surveys once or

twice a year. It’s a great opportunity to ask more targeted questions

about what impacts their relationship with your company.

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 40

How would you feel if [company] wasn’t available

tomorrow?

How likely are you to recommend [company] to friends and family?

(The NPS question!)

What is the one thing we could do to make you happier?

Measuring your customer satisfaction and continuing to seek

feedback tells you where improvement is needed. It keeps a constant

pulse on the state of your relationship with your customers and

provides you with the information needed to do better.

Happy Customers means Happier Employees

No one likes being yelled at. It’s just not a fun situation to be in.

Agents who routinely have to deal with upset customers can find their

job draining. It’s even worse if your agents aren’t empowered to resolve

the situation. Instead of feeling like part of the solution, your team will

feel like a barricade between your customers and the rest of the

business. When agents feel drained, uninspired and ineffective, they

don’t tend to stay in their jobs for very long.

Customer satisfaction doesn’t just impact the business’ bottom line, it

also impacts team morale and retention rate. Zendesk fully

agrees with this. They believe there’s a correlation between CSAT and

ASAT (agent satisfaction). When one goes up, so does the other. It’s a

positive feedback cycle that leaves everyone feeling happier, more

motivated and satisfied.

40
 41

Importance of Customer Satisfaction

Teams that measure customer satisfaction can easily calculate the

expected risk of unhappy customers. By putting a number to the

importance of customer satisfaction, you can have more meaningful

conversations with your boss and company about investing in your

team.

Commit the entire team to improving customer satisfaction day in and

day out. Measure your progress, and enjoy the benefits.

Satisfied customers will recommend you to their network. Customer

advocacy is a very efficient form of marketing. Small

businesses estimate that 85% of their new business comes from

word of mouth.

Satisfied customers will continue to buy from you. Not only do loyal

customers spend more long term, it’s actually cheaper to keep them

happy than trying to acquire a new customer. It’s 6 times more

expensive to woo that new customer than it is to retain an existing

one. (Think about how much you’ve spent on first dates in your

lifetime!)

Satisfied customers are better for your sanity. Listening to what

customers want means that you won’t be constantly at odds with your

clients. Just like arguments in a relationship are emotionally draining,

having grumpy customers constantly writing into a support team

leads to burnout and a much unhappier work environment.

No-one can deny the importance of focussing on customer

satisfaction. Keeping your customers happy and loyal means more

41
 42

business, longer relationships and honestly – a much better day at the

office!

Customers experience various levels of satisfaction or

dissatisfaction after each service experience according to the

extent to which their expectations were met or exceeded.

Because satisfaction is an emotional state, their post purchase

reactions can involve anger, dissatisfaction, irritation, neutrality,

pleasure, or delight.

Satisfaction, Delight, and Loyalty

Obviously, angry or dissatisfied customers are troublesome

because they may switch to another company and spread

negative word of mouth. But is it sufficient just to satisfy a

customer? After all, a firm might reason that products and

services are rarely perfect and people are hard to please.

Companies that take this approach may be asking for trouble

because there is a lot of evidence that merely satisfying customer

is not enough.

Marginally satisfied or neutral customers can be lured away by

competitors. A delighted customer, however, is more likely to

remain loyal in spite of attractive competitive offerings. Customer

satisfaction plays an especially critical role in highly competitive

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industries, where there is a tremendous difference between the

loyalties of merely satisfied and completely satisfied or delighted

customers (see Figure). For example, a study of retail banking

customers showed that completely satisfied customers were

nearly 42 percent more likely to be loyal than merely satisfied

customers.

To improve its customer satisfaction levels, a company must first

find out how satisfied or dissatisfied its current customers

actually are. One common way of measuring satisfaction is to

ask customers first to identify what factors are important in

satisfying them and then to evaluate the performance of a service

provider and its competitors on these factors. Many firms use a

five-point scale to measure customer satisfaction, with the

following format:

1 = very dissatisfied

2 = somewhat dissatisfied

3 = neutral

4 = somewhat satisfied

5 = very satisfied

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The results of these satisfaction surveys can be used to estimate

the number of loyal customers a firm has, as well as how many

are at risk of defecting.

As shown in Figure , research indicates that customers with

satisfaction ratings of 0 to 3 are very likely to defect, whereas

customers who rated themselves somewhat satisfied (4) can be

lured away by a competing service. Only customers with a

satisfaction rating of 5 are absolutely loyal. At the extremes of

the scale are two customer groups with particular significance to

service providers: "terrorists" and "apostles."

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 45

Terrorists are every company's nightmare. They don't just defect

they make sure that everyone else shares their anger and

frustration, too. Often these customers had a bad experience

that was never corrected by the company; as a result, they are

dedicated to spreading as much negative word of mouth as

possible. In contrast, the apostle is the kind of customer of

whom every service provider dreams; they are so satisfied with

their service experiences that they want to share their

enthusiasm with others. They are extremely loyal, and their

obvious delight helps attract other customers. Creating apostles

and eliminating terrorists should be a key goal for every service

provider.

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Using Customer Satisfaction Information

Once a company has gathered satisfaction data from its

customers, the next step is to decide on the most appropriate

strategies for increasing satisfaction levels. If most of the

satisfaction ratings fall in the 2-3 range, there is probably a

problem with the firm's delivery of the core service the basic

package of benefits that customers expect every business in an

industry to be able to provide.

We can describe them as the "do-or-die" elements of service.

However, they may change as customer expectations increase,

competitive offerings improve, or new competitors enter the

market. The solution for problems here is to make sure that a

firm's basic product meets customer-defined industry standards.

Neutral or satisfied customers (the 3s and 4s) are probably

happy with the core service but would like to have a consistent

set of supplementary services that make the basic product more

effective or easier to use.

Service providers with a high proportion of neutral and satisfied

customers need to increase their range of supporting services

and provide responsive service recovery processes so that

customers don't slide into the dissatisfied category when

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problems do occur. Formalized service recovery programs can

help supplement the bundle of benefits provided by the core

product and decrease the likelihood that customers will defect to

competitors' services.

Completely satisfied customers believe that a company

thoroughly understands and addresses their own personal

preferences, needs, expectations, and problems. Service

providers whose customer satisfaction ratings are 5s have

obviously listened carefully to their customers and, as a result,

have been able to incorporate a significant number of innovative

elements into their core offerings. In time, competitors may copy

the innovator, so a firm that wishes to remain a leader must

continually listen to customers and find new ways to delight

them.

Benefits of Customer Satisfaction Management

Although every successful marketer wants to provide a service

that satisfies customers, this isn't the only goal. Companies can't

lose sight of other basic business goals such as achieving a

competitive advantage or making a profit. As Figure shows,

customer satisfaction provides many benefits for a firm, and

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higher levels of customer satisfaction lead to greater customer

loyalty.

In the long run, it is more profitable to keep good customers

than to constantly attract and develop new customers to replace

the ones who leave. Highly satisfied customers spread positive

word of mouth and in effect become a walking, talking

advertisement for a firm, which lowers the cost of attracting new

customers. This is particularly important for professional service

providers (like dentists, lawyers, engineers, or accountants),

because reputation and word of mouth are key information

sources for new clients.

High levels of customer satisfaction are an insurance policy

against something going wrong. Long-term customers tend to be

more forgiving in these situations, because an occasional bad

experience will be offset by previous positive ones, and satisfied

customers are less susceptible to competitors' offerings. It's no

wonder that many companies place so much emphasis on

customer satisfaction, given its positive relationship to customer

retention, market share, and profits.

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Return on Quality

Many strategies to improve customer satisfaction are costly to

design and implement. Thoughtful managers ask: Which quality

improvement efforts will provide the greatest financial returns?

Company’s research and complaint data may show that some

quality defects are much more important to customers than

others, and some defects cost more money to fix. Moreover, not

all quality improvement efforts will necessarily pay for

themselves.

An ROQ approach can help a firm set priorities based on

investing resources to fix those defects that will subsequently

yield the best financial returns. The objective should be to

undertake a systematic method for rank-ordering quality

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improvement efforts according to their anticipated financial

return.

Building a Quality Information System

Organizations that are known for providing excellent service

quality are good at listening to both their customers and their

front-line employees. To do this effectively, companies need to

create an ongoing service research process that provides

managers with useful, timely data. Information from service

quality surveys including how a firm compares with its

competitors can help managers understand the effects of

changes in service quality and/or price on the firm's market

share.

As Leonard Berry says in On Great Service, "Companies need to

build servicequality information system, not just do a study.

Conducting a service quality study is analogous to taking a

snapshot. Deeper insight and an understanding of the pattern of

change come from an ongoing series of snapshots taken of

various subject matter from many angles."Berry recommends

that ongoing research should be conducted through a portfolio of

research techniques that make up a firm's service quality

information system. Possible approaches include:

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 Post-transaction surveys

 Total market surveys

 Mystery shopping

 New, declining, and former customer surveys

 Focus groups

 Employee field reporting

Post-Transaction Surveys

This approach is useful when the goal is to measure customer

satisfaction and perceptions about service experiences while they

are still fresh in the customer's mind. Post-transaction

surveys are conducted right after a service encounter or within a

few days. Many service businesses, including hotels and

restaurants, invite customers to complete questionnaires on site.

Some companies even offer incentives.

For example, the Olive Garden restaurant sometimes gives

customers a discount on their next meal if they complete the

customer satisfaction survey that is provided with every bill.

Data of this nature may also be collected electronically. For

instance, customers at Einstein's Bagels can use a touch-

activated screen that is located at the entrance to record their

impressions of service quality.

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Total Market Surveys

The purpose of total market surveysis to measure customers'

overall evaluations of service quality. Because such evaluations

reflect customers' accumulated experience over time (and

because this type of data collection is costly), these surveys are

administered less frequently than transactional surveys. The

information collected should include customers' service

expectations and perceptions, the relative importance of different

service dimensions, and customers' intentions about

repurchasing and making positive recommendations to others.

Companies can also use total market surveys to measure

competitors' service quality. But they need to sample both

customers and no customers to get an accurate picture of their

competitive position.

Some marketers use a tool called SERVQUAL to gather this type

of information. Customers are asked to complete a series of

scales that measure their expectations of a particular company

on a wide array of specific service characteristics, including

aspects of the five quality dimensions. They then record their

perceptions of actual service performance on these same

characteristics. When perceived performance ratings are lower

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than expectations, it is a sign of poor quality; the reverse

indicates good quality.

Toys R Us Finds Out Why Customers Aren't Playing There

Anymore

For most of the 1990s, Toys 'R' us was the undisputed leader

among retailers of traditional toys. But in 1998, Wal-Mart

surpassed Toys R' us in market share in this competitive market.

Worried Toys R' Us executives quickly implemented a new

strategy labeled "C3" aimed at increasing sales, profits, and

"most importantly, winning back mom." C3 (which stands for

"customer friendly, cost effective, and concept for a long-term

position") is based on ongoing post-transaction surveys that poll

customers within 48 hours after they have completed a Toys "R

"Us transaction.

Using household information compiled from the national daily

transaction data stored in its centralized data warehouse, the

company identifies approximately 60,000 customers a year who

are then contacted by telephone to discuss their shopping

experiences at Toy’s' Us. These customers are also asked about

any recent service encounters they have had with competitors

like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target. Data are collected in two

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different formats: numerical ratings in response to specific

questions, and quantitative responses that are recorded

verbatim.

Responses to the initial post-transaction surveys highlighted

some of the reasons that customers were defecting to

competitors' stores. Many respondents rated their customer

satisfaction levels as "poor," stating that Toys 'R’ us sales clerks

were rude and unhelpful. Another complaint was that many

popular toys were frequently out-of-stock. The survey data also

allowed Toys' R Us to analyze the relationship between customer

satisfaction and profitability. Not surprisingly, customers who

were delighted with their shopping experiences were significantly

more profitable over time than those who were merely satisfied.

Armed with these results, Toys R Us has implemented an

aggressive campaign to make all of its stores more customers

friendly. The number of out-of-stock incidents has been

significantly reduced. Customer satisfaction is measured at each

store every month through post-transaction surveys and mystery

shopping. Toys R Us stores that rank highly receive incentives,

while those that don't get additional customer service training.

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The SERVQUAL Scale

The SERVQUAL scale includes five dimensions: tangibles,

reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Within each

dimension are several items measured on a seven-point scale

from strongly agreed to strongly disagree, for a total of 21 items.

SERVQUAL Questions

Note: For actual survey respondents, instructions are also

included and each statement is accompanied by a seven-point

scale ranging from "strongly agree = 7" to "strongly disagree = 1."

Only the end points of the scale are labeled there are no words

above the numbers 2 through 6.

TANGIBLES

1. Excellent banks [refer to cable TV companies, hospitals, or the

appropriate service business throughout the

questionnaire] will have modern-looking equipment.

2. The physical facilities at excellent banks will be visually

appealing.

3. Employees at excellent banks will be neat in appearance.

4. Materials associated with the service (like brochures or

statements) will be visually appealing in an excellent bank.

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RELIABILITY

1. When excellent banks promise to do something by a certain

time, they will do so.

2. When customers have a problem, excellent banks will show a

sincere interest in solving it.

3. Excellent banks will perform the service right the first time.

4. Excellent banks will provide their services at the time they

promise to do so.

5. Excellent banks will insist on error-free records.

RESPONSIVENESS

1. Employees of excellent banks will tell customers exactly when

service will be performed.

2. Employees of excellent banks will give prompt service to

customers.

3. Employees of excellent banks will always be willing to help

customers.

4. Employees of excellent banks will never be too busy to

respond to customer requests.

ASSURANCE

1. The behavior of employees of excellent banks will instill

confidence in customers.

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2. Customers of excellent banks will feel safe in their

transactions.

3. Employees of excellent banks will be consistently courteous

with customers.

4. Employees of excellent banks will have the knowledge to

answer customer questions.

EMPATHY

1. Excellent banks will give customers individual attention.

2. Excellent banks will have operating hours convenient to all

their customers.

3. Excellent banks will have employees who give customers

personal attention.

4. The employees of excellent banks will understand the specific

needs of their customers.

Mystery Shopping Companies sometimes hire individuals to pose

as ordinary customers and provide feedback about their service

experiences. During their unannounced visits to service sites,

these "mystery shoppers" observe both the physical environment

and the interactions between customers and employees. One

advantage of mystery shopping is that it provides feedback on

the performance of individual service employees.

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This information can be used to reward exceptional performance,

as well as to identify employees who could benefit from

additional training or coaching. Companies like Wells Fargo

Bank, Au Bon Pain, and Safeway use mystery shopping regularly

to improve their customer service.

Service providers should be sensitive to employees' feelings when

using this approach, because employees often feel that mystery

shoppers are spying on them. Tips for making mystery shopping

successful include letting employees know what criteria they are

being judged on and evaluating service quality over a series of

visits rather than by a single encounter. For example, Au Bon

Pain posts its criteria for service quality in each store, along with

a list of employees who have received outstanding scores from

mystery shoppers.

New, Declining, and Former Customer Surveys New customers

can provide information about what attracted them to a specific

service provider, including the impact of the firm's reputation

and its marketing efforts. Surveys that monitor declining

patronage can identify the reasons and may predict future

customer defections. Asking former customers why they left can

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provide helpful if sobering information about areas where a

firm's service quality is deficient.

Surveys of new, declining, or former customers are easiest to do

in businesses where customers use the service on a fairly regular

basis and sales transactions are recorded at the individual

customer level. For instance, Safeway supermarkets conduct this

type of research by using their Safeway Club "membership"

cards to track each customer's purchases electronically over

time.

Since customer-contact data are collected when customers apply

for the card, Safeway can easily contact new, declining, or former

customers. The company also uses the membership card to

reward loyal customers with special discounts and cash rebates.

Focus Groups This research approach involves interviewing a

group of representative customers about a specific topic or issue.

The discussions, which typically last a couple of hours, are led

by trained moderators who keep the participants typically six to

ten in number on task. Convening a focus group is a useful way

to get in-depth information about service problems and identify

possible solutions.

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This procedure can also be used to determine what criteria

customers use to evaluate service quality, to obtain feedback on

a new service concept or a proposed marketing program, or to

find out how customers actually use different types of services.

However, the resulting information should not be projected onto

an entire market segment without additional quantitative

research.

While most focus group research involves face-to-face

conversations with participants, a few companies have gone

high-tech. For example, the cable network Nickelodeon conducts

online focus groups with 8- to 12-year-old viewers to gather their

reactions to its programming and marketing. The company says

the electronic focus groups provide faster, cheaper data than

traditional methods but warns that other market research

techniques should also be used.

Employee Field Reporting Whereas most service quality data are

collected from customers, a firm's employees can also be a

valuable source of qualitative information. Employee field

reporting is a systematic method for finding out what employees

learn from their interactions with customers and their direct

observations of customer behavior. Data can be collected from

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employees through written surveys, telephone interviews, or

focus groups.

Employees can also record critical incidents that occur during

service encounters. For example, employees in a dentist's office

can be asked to record patients' reactions to all aspects of the

service, including the physical environment, new equipment, or

personal interactions.

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OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To Study about the Tata Motors.

 To study about the customer satisfaction towards Tata Motors.

 To study about the customer satisfaction level for services and

Other services of Tata Motors.

 To Study about the products, features and facilities provided by

the Tata Motors.

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COMPANY PROFILE

TATA MOTORS

Tata Motors Limited is India's largest automobile company, with

consolidated revenues of Rs. 92,519 crores (USD 20 billion) in 2009-

10. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and

among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in

the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is

the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the world's second

largest bus manufacturer.

The company's 24,000 employees are guided by the vision to be "best

in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver,

and best in our value system and ethics."

Established in 1945, Tata Motors' presence indeed cuts across the

length and breadth of India. Over 5.9 million Tata vehicles ply on

Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. The company's

manufacturing base in India is spread across Jamshedpur

(Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh),

Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) and Dharwad (Karnataka). Following a

strategic alliance with Fiat in 2005, it has set up an industrial joint

venture with Fiat Group Automobiles at Ranjangaon (Maharashtra) to

produce both Fiat and Tata cars and Fiat powertrains. The company is

establishing a new plant at Sanand (Gujarat). The company's

dealership, sales, services and spare parts network comprises over

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3500 touch points; Tata Motors also distributes and markets Fiat

branded cars in India.

Tata Motors, the first company from India's engineering sector to be

listed in the New York Stock Exchange (September 2004), has also

emerged as an international automobile company. Through

subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in

the UK, South Korea, Thailand and Spain. Among them is Jaguar

Land Rover, a business comprising the two iconic British brands that

was acquired in 2008. In 2004, it acquired the Daewoo Commercial

Vehicles Company, South Korea's second largest truck maker. The

rechristened Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company has

launched several new products in the Korean market, while also

exporting these products to several international markets. Today two-

thirds of heavy commercial vehicle exports out of South Korea are

from Tata Daewoo. In 2005, Tata Motors acquired a 21% stake in

Hispano Carrocera, a reputed Spanish bus and coach manufacturer,

and subsequently the remaining stake in 2009. Hispano's presence is

being expanded in other markets. In 2006, Tata Motors formed a joint

venture with the Brazil-based Marcopolo, a global leader in body-

building for buses and coaches to manufacture fully-built buses and

coaches for India and select international markets. In 2006, Tata

Motors entered into joint venture with Thonburi Automotive Assembly

Plant Company of Thailand to manufacture and market the company's

pickup vehicles in Thailand. The new plant of Tata Motors (Thailand)

has begun production of the Xenon pickup truck, with the Xenon

having been launched in Thailand in 2008.

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Tata Motors is also expanding its international footprint, established

through exports since 1961. The company's commercial and

passenger vehicles are already being marketed in several countries in

Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, South Asia and

South America. It has franchisee/joint venture assembly operations in

Kenya, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Russia, Senegal and South Africa.

The foundation of the company's growth over the last 50 years is a

deep understanding of economic stimuli and customer needs, and the

ability to translate them into customer-desired offerings through

leading edge R&D. With over 3,000 engineers and scientists, the

company's Engineering Research Centre, established in 1966, has

enabled pioneering technologies and products. The company today

has R&D centres in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Dharwad in India,

and in South Korea, Spain, and the UK. It was Tata Motors, which

developed the first indigenously developed Light Commercial Vehicle,

India's first Sports Utility Vehicle and, in 1998, the Tata Indica,

India's first fully indigenous passenger car. Within two years of

launch, Tata Indica became India's largest selling car in its segment.

In 2005, Tata Motors created a new segment by launching the Tata

Ace, India's first indigenously developed mini-truck.

In January 2008, Tata Motors unveiled its People's Car, the Tata

Nano, which India and the world have been looking forward to. The

Tata Nano has been subsequently launched, as planned, in India in

March 2009. A development, which signifies a first for the global

automobile industry, the Nano brings the comfort and safety of a car

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within the reach of thousands of families. The standard version has

been priced at Rs.100,000 (excluding VAT and transportation cost).

Designed with a family in mind, it has a roomy passenger

compartment with generous leg space and head room. It can

comfortably seat four persons. Its mono-volume design will set a new

benchmark among small cars. Its safety performance exceeds

regulatory requirements in India. Its tailpipe emission performance

too exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall pollutants, it

has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured in

India today. The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight,

which helps maximise performance per unit of energy consumed and

delivers high fuel efficiency. The high fuel efficiency also ensures that

the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin

benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon

footprint.

In May 2009, Tata Motors introduced ushered in a new era in the

Indian automobile industry, in keeping with its pioneering tradition,

by unveiling its new range of world standard trucks called Prima. In

their power, speed, carrying capacity, operating economy and trims,

they will introduce new benchmarks in India and match the best in

the world in performance at a lower life-cycle cost.

Tata Motors is equally focussed on environment-friendly technologies

in emissions and alternative fuels. . It has developed electric and

hybrid vehicles both for personal and public transportation. It has

also been implementing several environment-friendly technologies in

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manufacturing processes, significantly enhancing resource

conservation

Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in engineering and

automotive solutions, construction equipment manufacturing,

automotive vehicle components manufacturing and supply chain

activities, machine tools and factory automation solutions, high-

precision tooling and plastic and electronic components for

automotive and computer applications, and automotive retailing and

service operations.

Tata Motors is committed to improving the quality of life of

communities by working on four thrust areas – employability,

education, health and environment. The activities touch the lives of

more than a million citizens. The company's support on education and

employability is focused on youth and women. They range from

schools to technical education institutes to actual facilitation of

income generation. In health, our intervention is in both preventive

and curative health care. The goal of environment protection is

achieved through tree plantation, conserving water and creating new

water bodies and, last but not the least, by introducing appropriate

technologies in our vehicles and operations for constantly enhancing

environment care. 

With the foundation of its rich heritage, Tata Motors today is etching a

refulgent future.

MILESTONE

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It has been a long and accelerated journey for Tata Motors, India's
leading automobile manufacturer. Some significant milestones in the
company's journey towards excellence and leadership.

1945 Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd. was established to

manufacture locomotives and other engineering products.

1948 Steam road roller introduced in collaboration with Marshall

Sons (UK).

1954 Collaboration with Daimler Benz AG, West Germany, for

manufacture of medium commercial vehicles. The first vehicle
rolled out within 6 months of the contract.

1959 Research and Development Centre set up at Jamshedpur.

1961 Exports begin with the first truck being shipped to Ceylon, now
Sri Lanka.

1966 Setting up of the Engineering Research Centre at Pune to

provide impetus to automobile Research and Development.

1971 Introduction of DI engines.

1977 First commercial vehicle manufactured in Pune.

1983 Manufacture of Heavy Commercial Vehicle commences.

1985 First hydraulic excavator produced with Hitachi collaboration.

1986 Production of first light commercial vehicle, Tata 407,
indigenously designed, followed by Tata 608.

1989 Introduction of the Tatamobile 206 - 3rd LCV model.

1991 Launch of the 1st indigenous passenger car Tata Sierra.

TAC 20 crane produced.

One millionth vehicle rolled out.

1992 Launch of the Tata Estate.

1993 Joint venture agreement signed with Cummins Engine Co. Inc.
for the manufacture of high horsepower and emission friendly
diesel engines.

1994 Launch of Tata Sumo - the multi utility vehicle.

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Launch of LPT 709 - a full forward control, light commercial

vehicle.

Joint venture agreement signed with M/s Daimler - Benz /

Mercedes - Benz for manufacture of Mercedes Benz passenger
cars in India.

Joint venture agreement signed with Tata Holset Ltd., UK for

manufacturing turbochargers to be used on Cummins engines.

1995 Mercedes Benz car E220 launched.

1996 Tata Sumo deluxe launched.

1997 Tata Sierra Turbo launched.

100,000th Tata Sumo rolled out.

1998 Tata Safari - India's first sports utility vehicle launched.

2 millionth vehicle rolled out.

Indica, India's first fully indigenous passenger car launched.

1999 115,000 bookings for Indica registered against full payment

within a weak

Commercial production of Indica commences in full swing.

2000 First consignment of 160 Indicas shipped to Malta

Launch of CNG buses.

Launch of 1109 vehicle - Intermediate commercial vehicle.

2001 Indica V2 launched - 2nd generation Indica.

100,000th Indica wheeled out.

Launch of CNG Indica.

Launch of the Tata Safari EX

Indica V2 becomes India's number one car in its segment.

Exits joint venture with Daimler Chrysler.

2002 Unveiling of the Tata Sedan at Auto Expo 2002.

Petrol version of Indica V2 launched.

Launch of the EX series in Commercial vehicles.

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Launch of the Tata 207 DI.

2,00,000th Indica rolled out.

5,00,000th passenger vehicle rolled out.

Launch of the Tata Sumo'+' Series

Launch of the Tata Indigo.

2003 Launch of the Tata Safari Limited Edition.

On 29th July, J. R. D. Tata's birth anniversary, Tata

Engineering becomes Tata Motors Limited.

3 millionth vehicle produced.

First CityRover rolled out

135 PS Tata Safari EXi Petrol launched

Tata SFC 407 EX Turbo launched

2004 Tata Motors unveils new product range at Auto Expo '04.

New Tata Indica V2 launched

Tata Motors and Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd. sign

investment agreement

Indigo Advent unveiled at Geneva Motor Show

Tata LPT 909 EX launched

Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd. (TDCV) launches the

heavy duty truck 'NOVUS' , in Korea

Sumo Victa launched

Indigo Marina launched

Tata Motors lists on the NYSE

2005 Tata Motors rolls out the 500,000th Passenger Car from its Car
Plant Facility in Pune

The Tata Xover unveiled at the 75th Geneva Motor Show

Branded buses and coaches - Starbus and Globus - launched

Tata Motors acquires 21% stake in Hispano Carrocera SA,

Spanish bus manufacturing Company

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Tata Ace, India's first mini truck launched

Tata Motors wins JRD QV award for business excellence.

The power packed Safari Dicor is launched

Introduction of Indigo SX series - luxury variant of Tata Indigo

Tata Motors launches Indica V2 Turbo Diesel.

One millionth passenger car produced and sold

Inauguration of new factory at Jamshedpur for Novus

Tata TL 4X4, India's first Sports Utility Truck (SUT) is launched

Launch of Tata Novus

Launch of Novus range of medium trucks in Korea, by Tata

Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. (TDCV)

2006 Tata Motors vehicle sales in India cross four million mark

Tata Motors unveils new long wheel base premium Indigo & X-

over concept at Auto Expo 2006

Indica V2 Xeta launched

Passenger Vehicle sales in India cross one-million mark

Tata Motors and Marcopolo, Brazil, announce joint venture to

manufacture fully built buses & coaches for India & markets
abroad

Tata Motors first plant for small car to come up in West Bengal

Tata Motors extends CNG options on its hatchback and estate

TDCV develops South Korea's first LNG-Powered Tractor- Trailer

Tata Motors introduces a new Indigo range

2007 Construction of Small Car plant at Singur, West Bengal, begins

on January 21

New 2007 Indica V2 range is launched

Tata Motors launches the longwheel base Indigo XL, India's first
stretch limousine

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Common rail diesel (DICOR) engine extended to Indigo sedan

and estate range

Tata Motors and Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Co.

(Thonburi), announce formation of a joint venture company in
Thailand to manufacture, assemble and market pickup trucks.

Roll out of 100,000th Ace

Tata-Fiat plant at Ranjangaon inaugurated

Launch of a new Upgraded range of its entry level utility vehicle

offering, the Tata Spacio. 

CRM-DMS initiative crosses the 1000th location milestone

Launch of Magic, a comfortable, safe, four-wheeler public

transportation mode, developed on the Ace platform

Launch of Winger, India’s only maxi-van

Launch of the Sumo Victa Turbo DI, the new upgraded range of
its entry-level utility vehicle, the Sumo Spacio

Tata Motors launches Indica V2 Turbo with dual airbags

Launch of new Safari DICOR 2.2 VTT range, powered by a new
2.2 L Direct Injection Common Rail (DICOR) engine.

2008 Ace plant at Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) begins production.

Indica Vista – the new generation Indica, is launched.

Tata Motors' new plant for Nano to come up in Gujarat.

Launch of the new Sumo -- Sumo Grande, which combines the

looks of an SUV with the comforts of a family car.

Xenon, 1-tonne pick-up truck, launched in Thailand.

Tata Motors signs definitive agreement with Ford Motor

Company to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover.

Tata Motors completes acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover.

Tata Motors introduces new Super Milo range of buses.

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Tata Motors is Official Vehicle Provider to Youth Baton Relay for

The III Commonwealth Youth Games Pune 2008.

Indica Vista – the second generation Indica, is launched.

2009 Tata Marcopolo Motors, Dharwad plant beings production

Tata Motors launches Nano - The People's Car

Introduction of New world standard truck range

Launch of premium luxury vehicles - Jaguar XF, XFR and XKR

and Land Rover Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport and Range
Rover from Jaguar and Land Rover in India

Tata Nano wins the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) Award

Tata Motors launches the Sumo Grande MK II

Tata Motors begins distribution of Prima World truck

Tata Motors acquires remaining 79% in Hispano Carrocera.

FREELANDER 2 launched in India.

Tata Motors introduces the all new Tata 407 Pickup, Tata Super
Ace and Tata Ace EX.

First Jaguar Land Rover showroom opens in India.

Ravi Kant to become Non-executive Vice-Chairman of Tata

Motors on retirement,
P.M. Telang to become Managing Director – India Operations.

Tata Nano draws over 2.03 lakh bookings

2010 Tata Ace becomes India's first 1-lakh brand in goods

commercial vehicles.

Tata Motors to construct heavy truck plant in Myanmar under

Government of India’s Line of Credit.

Tata Motors Passenger Car Division launches ‘Tata Motors

Service Edge’ for leading edge customer service.

Chief Minister of Punjab inaugurates Tata Motors supported

State Institute of Automotive and Driving Skills.

Tata Motors appoints Mr. Carl-Peter Forster as Group CEO.

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Tata Motors Group displays the widest range of products and

environment-friendly technologies at Auto Expo 2010.

Tata Motors launches Magic Iris

On 26th April 2010, Tata Motors sold its 4 millionth

Commercial Vehicle.

MANAGEMENT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mr. Ratan N Tata (Chairman)

Mr. Ravi Kant

Dr. J J Irani

Mr. R Gopalakrishnan

Mr. Nusli N Wadia

Mr. S M Palia

Dr. R A Mashelkar
Mr. Nasser Munjee

Mr. Subodh Bhargava

Mr. V K Jairath

Mr. Ranendra Sen

Mr. Carl-Peter Forster

Mr. P M Telang
SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Mr. Carl-Peter Forster Chief Executive Officer & Managing

Director

Mr. P M Telang Managing Director-India Operations

Mr. C Ramakrishnan Chief Financial Officer

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Mr. R Pisharody President (Commercial Vehicles Business

Unit)

Mr. T Leverton Head, Advanced and Product Engineering

Mr. S N Ambardekar Sr. Vice President (Manufacturing

Operations-CVBU)

Mr. S Krishnan Sr. Vice President (Commercial-PCBU)

Mr. P Y Gurav Sr. Vice President (Corp. Finance-Accounts

and Taxation)

Mr. S B Borwankar Head (Jamshedpur - Plant)

Mr. Vikram Sinha Head (Car Plant - PCBU)

Mr. B B Parekh Chief (Strategic Sourcing)

Mr. U K Mishra Vice President (ADD and Materials - CVBU)

Mr. A A Gajendragadkar Vice President (Corp. Finance-Business

Planning)

Mr. N Pinge Chief Internal Auditor

Mr. R Bagga Vice President (Legal)

Mr. R Ramakrishnan Vice President - Sales &

Marketing(CVBU)
Mr. S Ravishankar Vice President (Engg. Systems, ERC)

Mr. Girish Wagh Head (Small Car Project)

COMPANY SECRETARY

Mr. H K Sethna

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Mr. Debasis Ray Head - Corporate Communications

MR. RATAN N TATA (CHAIRMAN)

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Mr Tata holds a B.Sc. (Architecture) degree with structural

engineering from Cornell University, USA and has completed the

Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, USA. He

joined the Tata Group in 1962. As Chairman of Tata Industries

Limited since 1981, he was responsible for transforming the company

into a Group strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in

high technology businesses. In 1991, Mr Tata was appointed

Chairman of Tata Sons Limited, the holding company of the Tata

Entities and currently holds the chairmanships of major Tata

companies. During his tenure, the Group's revenues have grown over

ten-fold to annualised Group revenues of $62.5 billion. Mr Tata is on

the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India, a Member of the Prime

Minister's Council on Trade and Industry besides being a member of

various global councils. He is also the chairman of two of the largest

private sector promoted philanthropic trusts in India. Mr Tata is

associated with various organizations in India and abroad.

The Government of India honored Mr Tata with its second highest

civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. Earlier, in 2000, he

had been awarded the Padma Bhushan. He has also been conferred

an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State

University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute

of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in science by the

University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London

School of Economics. Mr Tata has been on the Company's Board since

over 19 years including 13 years in an executive capacity and is

actively involved with product development and other business

strategies pursued by the Company. One of his achievements include

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designing and developing an indigenous Indian car - "Indica" which

besides creating a record of sorts, is one of the leading products in its

category in the car market.

MANUFACTURING 

Tata Motors owes its leading position in the Indian automobile

industry to its strong focus on indigenisation. This focus has driven

the Company to set up world-class manufacturing units with state-of-

the-art technology. Every stage of product evolution-design,

development, manufacturing, assembly and quality control, is carried

out meticulously. Our manufacturing plants are situated at

Jamshedpur in the East, Pune in the West and Lucknow in the North.

Jamshedpur:  

Established in1945, the Jamshedpur unit was the company's first

unit and is spread over an area of 822 acres. It consists of 4 major

divisions - Truck Factory, Engine Factory, Cab & Cowl Factories, and

the Novus. The divestments in March 2000 hived off the Axle and

Engine plants into independent subsidiaries viz. HVAL &HVTL,

respectively.

The Truck Division boasts of two assembly lines. The main assembly

line, measuring 180m in length has 20 work stations with a vehicle

rolling out every 8 mins. The other line is dedicated to special purpose

vehicles and for meeting the requirements of the Indian Army. The

uniqueness of the Factory lies in its possession of Advanced facilities

for manufacturing long members comprising of a set-up of 5000 Tones

Hydraulic press line, cut-to-length line for strip preparation

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purchased from M/s Kohler of Germany and a Camber Correction

line. Facility for hot forming of axle halves with a 3000 tone press and

heating furnace. Flexibility in manufacturing frames with an off line

Proto-typing facility.

The Cab, Cowl & Novus Factory is equipped with state- of- art

facilities like Centralized Paint Shop and Automated painting set up,

Robot painting, BIW Fabrication of day & sleeper cabs for trucks,

Articulates ( Tractor/ Trailer), BIW Fabrication of Cowls for buses, and

other miscellaneous applications.

The fully equipped Foundry, that the unit is supported by, supplies

high-grade SG Iron castings for automobile components and

excavators, and is rated as one of the cleaner, better and highly

automated foundries in the world. It has an annual capacity of 42,000

MT of Good castings and makes, both, Gey and SG cast Iron casting.

It manufactures all critical automobile castings e.g. Cylinder Block,

Cylinder Head etc. It has a sophisticated Kunkel Wagner High

Pressure Moulding line of a rated production capacity of 90 moulds/

hour. This is supported by a sand cooler and sand mixer from Kunkel

Wagner. Its melting shop has Medium Frequency Induction Furnaces

for melting and Channel Furnaces for holding. The pouring is done by

a Channel Press Pour coupled with a Steam Inoculation Dispenser.

The core shop has a state- of-the- art Cold Box Machine, making four

cores per minute. It has elaborate sand and metallurgical laboratories.

In 1993 the foundry was ISO 9002 certified by the Bureau Veritas

Quality International, which was later followed by the more stringent

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QS 9000 certification from the BVQI in the year 2000. Currently it is

certified as TS: 16949 by BVC.

The Engine Factory is responsible for the in-house manufacture of

Tata 697/497 Naturally Aspirated and Turbo Charged engines, and

the 6B series engines manufactured at Tata Cummins.

As one of the most modern forging set-ups in the country, the Forge

Division is equipped with a semi-automated forging line with 40,000

mkg Beche Hammer and state-of-the-art presses from Kurimoto of

Japan. It produces critical forgings like crankshafts, front axle beams

and steering parts for the automobile plant. The new forging line,

installed in April 1984, has the capacity to forge front axle beams at

90 sec per piece and crankshafts at 120 sec per piece. Mechanical

presses help produce a variety of heavy forgings. The sophisticated

FIDIA digit 165 CC Graphite Milling Machine links shop floor

machines to the design workstation. The Forge has been certified as

ISO 9002 and QS 9000 by the BVQI.

HV Axles Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, is currently

the market leader in medium and heavy commercial vehicles axles in

India with an installed capacity of over two lakh axles per annum. The

company's product range includes Front Steer axles- both live and

normal, Rear Drive axles and dummy/ trailer axles. It is currently the

sole suppliers of M&HCV axles to the Jamshedpur and Lucknow

plants of Tata Motors.

HVAL has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities for making all

major Axles components such as Front Axle Beam, Stub Axles, Front

& Rear Wheel Hubs, Differential, Axle Gears (Crown Wheel, Pinion,

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Bevel Gear & Shaft Gear), Banjo Axle Beam, Swivel Heads, Constant

Velocity Shafts etc. For being in the forefront of cutting edge

technology, HVAL has proven skills in manufacturing axles from

component level to assembly & testing. As a TS 16949 company,

HVAL encourages and continuously supports its vendor base to

upgrade their Quality Management System to TS 16949.

HVTL was established on 13th March 2000 as a major subsidiary of

Tata Motors by taking over operations of Tata Motors' erstwhile

Gearbox Division. It is a leading manufacturer of automotive

transmissions, components & engineering applications for a wide

range of medium & heavy commercial vehicles. The company has a

capacity of producing 94,000 gearboxes per year which is being

enhanced to a capacity of 120,000 Gearboxes per year. It provides

products and services of superior quality, matching with the current

economic and business trends in medium and heavy commercial

vehicle markets. The Quality System of HVTL is certified under ISO/

TS-16949. In the environmental and safety front, it was ISO14001

certified in 2004 and OHSAAS-18001 certified in 1999.

While making technological advancements, the social responsibilities

are also taken up seriously. Tata Motors, Jamshedpur, plays an active

role in serving rural communities surrounding its Works through

various community centres. While striving to create a culture for self-

help amongst the local populace, it has made significant progress in

community and social forestry, sustainable development of

wastelands, road construction, rural health and education,

development of rural industries, water supply and family planning. A

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signatory to the UN Global Pact, it also takes various initiatives in

human rights protection, labour standards, environmental issues,

modern effluent treatment facilities, sanitation drives, soil and water

conservation programmes, tree plantation drives, etc.

Pune:  

The Pune unit is spread over 2 geographical regions- Pimpri (800

acres) and Chinchwad (130 acres). It was established in 1966 and has

a Production Engineering Division, which has one of the most versatile

tool making facilities in the Indian sub-continent. It houses a Vehicle

manufacturing complex which is one of the most integrated

automotive manufacturing centers in the country producing a large

variety of individual items and aggregates. It is engaged in the design

and manufacture of sophisticated press tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges,

metal pattern and special tools, as well as models for the development

of new ranges of automobile products. Its capabilities have enabled

Tata Motors to introduce new products and improve existing ones

without resorting to imports of dies or fixtures.

Over the years, this division has developed expertise in design and

manufacture of automated dies, fixtures and welding equipment. Its

large design group is fully conversant with state-of-the-art CAD

facilities and manufacturing facilities comprising of light and heavy

CNC machine shops, jigs boring room, plastic template shop, wood

pattern and model pattern shop, five axis precision machine tools and

laser control machines. To cope with such a diverse range, four

assembly lines have been established, one each for MCVs and HCVs,

LCVs, Utility vehicles and one for Passenger Cars (Indica and Indigo).

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The Passenger Car Division in 'K' block executes the entire process of

car manufacture over five shops - the engine shop, the transmission

shop, press and body shops, paint shop and the trim and final

assembly shop. The shops are fully automated ensuring that there is

minimal chance for error in the manufacturing processes.

After the car is completely assembled, it goes through several checks

like wheel alignment, sideslip test, brake test, shower test, and a short

test run before it is ready for dispatch. All systems such as materials

management, maintenance and other activities are computerized,

enabling smooth operations and minimum inventory needs.

The Electronics Division is engaged in the production of a wide variety

of Machine Tool Controllers, PLCs, Test rig instrumentation,

Servomotors, Proximity Switches. In addition, it has developed a

number of components such as flashers, horns, timers that are used

in Tata Motors' vehicles.

Industry experts rate the fully automated Foundries at Chinchwad

and Maval among the best, worldwide. The Iron Foundry at

Chinchwad produced 37,000 Tons of high precision castings in 2006-

07 while the Iron Foundry at Maval produced 14000 Tons of

spheroidal Iron castings in 2006-07. These include Cylinder Blocks,

Cylinder Heads, Gear Box Housing, etc. To dispense with the need for

outsourcing, an Aluminium Foundry with an annual capacity of 3,300

Tonnes has been established.

Lucknow:

Tata Motors Lucknow is one of the youngest production facilities

among all the Tata Motors locations and was established in 1992 to

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meet the demand for Commercial Vehicles in the Indian market. The

state of art plant is strongly backed by an Engineering Research

Centre and Service set-up to support with latest technology and cater

to the complexities of automobile manufacturing. Fully Built Vehicle

business, which is one of the fast growing areas of our business, is

also established in Lucknow.

Our plant, rolls out commercial vehicles and is specialized in the

designing and manufacturing of a range of modern buses which

includes Low-floor, Ultra Low-floor, CNG & RE Buses. The Lucknow

facility also specializes in manufacturing HCBS (High capacity Bus

System) buses.

In light of Company’s aggressive growth plans, we are currently in

expansion phase and production at Lucknow would grow many-fold in

near future. The expansion shall be in the areas of painting, welding,

vehicle assembly & testing and utility services, driven by latest

technology. To achieve these plans we invite people who have good

Technical Knowledge, seek Challenging Opportunities and have a

Drive for Engineering Excellence to come and partner us in our

journey.

Uttarakhand

The company has set up a plant for its mini-truck Ace and the

passenger carrier Magic (based on the Ace platform) at Pantnagar in

Uttarakhand. The plant began commercial production in August

2007. This is the company's fourth plant, after Jamshedpur

(commercial vehicles), Pune (commercial vehicles and passenger

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vehicles) and Lucknow (commercial vehicles). The plant is spread over

953 acres, of which 337 acres is occupied by the vendor park.

State-of-the-art facilities include weld shops, paint shops, engine and

gear box shops and assembly lines. The company has invested over

Rs.1000 crores in the plant. Vendors for the vehicle have made

additional investments to set up their plants in the vendor park

adjoining the plant. The operation has generated about 7500 direct

and indirect jobs in the plant, among vendors and service providers in

the area.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The Scope of the Project are:

• To know about customer satisfaction towards the Cars of Tata

Motors. which will help them in improving their services

• This study will help to know that what more improvement in

services or product is required by Tata Motors.

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• This will help to know about the factors which is affecting sales

of Tata Motors.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH

The study of research method provides you with the knowledge and

skills you need to solve the problem and meet the challenges of the

fast- based decision. Marketing environment we define Business

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Research as a systematic inquiry whose objective is to provide

information to solve managerial problem.

It seeks to find explanation to unexplored phenomena to clarify

the doubtful facts and to correct the misconceived facts.

TYPES OF RESEARCH

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

Descriptive study is a fact- finding investigation with adequate

interpretation. It is the simplest type of research. It is more specific

than an explanatory study, as it has focus on particular aspect of the

problem studied. It is designed to get her descriptive information and

provide information for formulating more sophisticated studies. Data

are collected by using one or more appropriate method, observation,

interviewing and mail questionnaire.

TYPE OF DATA USED

There are basically two types of Data

 Primary Data

 Secondary Data

PRIMARY DATA
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Primary Data is first hand information that the researcher collects. It

helps in collecting useful and most accurate information that is

needed for the researcher to do his research.

SOURCES OF PRIMARY DATA

 Questionnaire

 Interview Schedule

SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data is what the researcher collects from different sources.

It also help researcher to get elaborate information to do his research.

SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA

Internet

Journals

TARGET GROUP/ POPULATION

As this research is based on Customer perception my Target group is

Car Owners.

AREA OF STUDY

Gorakhpur city

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION

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The Various method of Data gathering involves the use of appropriate

recording forms. These are called tools or instrument of data

collection.

SAMPLE SIZE

100 (Fifty)

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Q.1 What is Your are age ?

Age Percentage

25-35 53

35-50 37

Above 50 10

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100
90
80
70
Percentage

60 53
50
40 37

30
20
10
10
0
25-35 35-50 Above 50

Interpretation :

According to above table, 53% respondents are 25-35 years age, 37%

respondents are 35-50 years age and 10% are above 50 years age.

Q2. What is your profession ?

Profession Percentage

Businessman 42

Servicemen 38

Others 20

89
 90

100
90
80
70
Percentage

60
50 42
38
40
30
20
20
10
0
Businessman Servicemen Others

Interpretation :

According to above table, 42% respondents are businessman, 38% are

servicemen and 20% do other types of jobs.

Q.3. Are you aware about the Cars of Tata Motors?

Option Percentage

65
Yes
30
No
5
No reply

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100
90
80
70 65
Percentage

60
50
40
30
30
20
10 5
0
Yes No No reply

Interpretation :

According to above table 65% respondents said that they are aware

with the Cars of Tata Motors, 30% respondents said they are not

aware with the products and 5% respondents gave no reply.

Q.4. Why do you prefer to purchase Cars of Tata Motors?

Option Percentage

Cheap 40

Genuine Product 20

Delivery On time 15

Other reasons 25

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100
90
80
70
Percentage

60
50
40
40
30 25
20
20 15
10
0
Cheap Genuine Product Delivery On time Other reasons

Interpretation :

According to above table, 40% respondents said that due to cheap

rates they prefer to Tata Motors Cars, 20% respondents said due to

genuine products, 15% respondents said due to delivery on time and

25% respondents said due to other reasons.

Q.5. Are you satisfied with the quality of Cars of Tata Motors.?

Option Percentage

Yes 82

No 15

No reply 3

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100
90 82
80
70
Percentage

60
50
40
30
20 15
10 3
0
Yes No No reply

Interpretation :

According to survey I found that 82% respondents said that they are

satisfied with the cars of Tata Motors, 15% respondents said no and

3% respondents gave no reply.

Q.6. Are you aware with the agencies and dealers of Tata Motrs in

your area?

Response Percentage

Yes 45

No 40

No reply 15

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100
90
80
70
Percentage

60
50 45
40
40
30
20 15
10
0
Yes No No reply

Interpretation :

According to above table 45% respondents said that they are aware

with the agencies/dealers of Tata Motors in their area, 40%

respondents said no and 15% respondents gave no reply.

Q.7. Have you ever used the Cars of Tata Motors?

Company Percentage

65
Yes
25
No
10
No reply

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100
90
80
70 65
Percentage

60
50
40
30 25
20
10
10
0
Yes No No reply

Interpretation :

According to survey I found that 65% respondents said that they have

used the Cars of Tata Motors, 25% respondents said no and 10%

respondents gave no reply.

Q.8. Are you satisfied with the information provided by the company

representative while purchasing Car?

Company Percentage

95
Yes
5
No

95
 96

100 95

90

80

70

60
Percentage

50

40

30

20

10 5

0
Yes No

Interpretation :

According to above table 95% respondents said that they are satisfied

with the information provided by the company representative while

purchasing car.

Q.9. Do you think that becoming dealer/distributor is a profitable

business?

View Percentage

Yes 86

No 10

No reply 4

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100
90 86
80
70
Percentage

60
50
40
30
20
10
10 4
0
Yes No No reply

Interpretation :

According to above table 86% respondents said that becoming a

dealer/distributor of Tata Motors is profitable business, 10%

respondents said no and 4% respondents gave no reply.

Q.10. Are you satisfied with the after sale services of Tata Motors?

View Percentage

Yes 92

No 5

No reply 3

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100 92
90
80
70
Percentage

60
50
40
30
20
10 5 3
0
Yes No No reply

Interpretation :

According to above table, 92% respondents said that they are satisfied

with the after sales services of Tata Motors, 5% respondents were not

satisfied and 3% respondents gave no reply.

FINDINGS
 53% respondents are 25-35 years age, 37% respondents are 35-

50 years age and 10% are above 50 years age.

 42% respondents are businessman, 38% are servicemen and

20% do other types of jobs.

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 65% respondents said that they are aware with the Cars of Tata

Motors, 30% respondents said they are not aware with the

products and 5% respondents gave no reply.

 40% respondents said that due to cheap rates they prefer to

Tata Motors Cars, 20% respondents said due to genuine

products, 15% respondents said due to delivery on time and

25% respondents said due to other reasons.

 82% respondents said that they are satisfied with the cars of

Tata Motors, 15% respondents said no and 3% respondents

gave no reply.

 45% respondents said that they are aware with the

agencies/dealers of Tata Motors in their area, 40% respondents

said no and 15% respondents gave no reply.

 65% respondents said that they have used the Cars of Tata

Motors, 25% respondents said no and 10% respondents gave no

reply.

 95% respondents said that they are satisfied with the

information provided by the company representative while

purchasing car.

 86% respondents said that becoming a dealer/distributor of

Tata Motors is profitable business, 10% respondents said no

and 4% respondents gave no reply.

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 92% respondents said that they are satisfied with the after sales

services of Tata Motors, 5% respondents were not satisfied and

3% respondents gave no reply.

SUGGESTION
 Tata Motors should try to do more advertisements basically

in Rural areas.

 Provide complete information of price and feature of the

model in the advertisement.

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 Supply of product should be done on time.

 Company should technically satisfy with the services.

 More awareness should be given to the public of

Gorakhpur city about Tata Motors.

CONCLUSION
Maximum customers of Tata Motors were satisfied with the products

of Tata Motors. Customers of showed interests in the products

provided by the Tata Motors to the customers. Awareness about

Tata Motors products was good in Gorakhpur and near by cities

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therefore effective advertisement plan should be implements by

the Tata Motors to increase their market share in the other city.

Many shopkeepers and distributors are taking dealership and

distributorship of Tata Motors to earn more profit in their

business.

ANNEXURE

Q.1 What is Your are age ?

Age Tick Mark

25-35

35-50

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Above 50

Q2. What is your profession ?

Profession Tick Mark

Businessman

Servicemen

Others

Q.3. Are you aware about the products of Tata Motors?

Option Tick Mark

Yes

No

No reply

Q.4. Why do you prefer to purchase Tata Motor cars?

Option Tick Mark

Cheap

Genuine Product

Delivery On time

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Other reasons

Q.5. Are you satisfied with the quality of Tata Motors Cars?

Option Tick Mark

Yes

No

No reply

Q.6. Are you aware with the agencies and dealers of Tata Motors in

your area?

Response Tick Mark

Yes

No

No reply

Q.7. Have you ever used the products of Tata Motors ?

Company Tick Mark

Yes

No

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No reply

Q.8. Are you satisfied with the information provided by the company

representative while purchasing products?

Company Tick Mark

Yes

No

Q.9. Do you think that becoming dealer/distributor is a profitable

business?

View Tick Mark

Yes

No

No reply

Q.10. Are you satisfied with the after sale services of Tata Motors?

View Tick Mark

Yes

No

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No reply

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