Of course we all want to be customer-centric. We want to offer the products and services that our customers are yearning for. We want to deliver real satisfaction.

And although we may want to think otherwise, there are those customers, those detractors, who, for any myriad of reasons, are unsatisfied with a company's products or services. They may spread negative word-of-mouth comments about the company, which can negatively impact the company’s reputation, ability to attract new customers, and employee morale.

How then to turn these dissatisfied customers into highly-satisfied ones, who will return, again and again, to a company's products and services, and who will likely spread positive word-of-mouth and recommendations to new customers? In other words, how to turn detractors into promoters?

In Kannon's recent work on the major drivers of customer satisfaction and business growth, building on the Net Promoter® Score (NPS) metric, we have identified key attitudinal statements that drive customers to recommend a company's products or services.

These studies have ranged across different industries, but for the purposes of this article, let's focus on the drivers of customer satisfaction among media advertisers.

The attitudinal drivers of customer satisfaction we have identified revolve around the fundamental, but strategically significant, tenets of delivering results that meets a customer's budgets and sales goals; providing products and services that are a "good fit" to a customer's advertising needs; and being a good company to do business with.

Meeting a customer's budgets and sales goals and providing a good fit to an advertiser's needs, seem to be relatively simple and straightforward drivers of satisfaction. But what exactly does it mean to be a good company to do business with?

It means having sales representatives who understand an advertiser's business needs and tactical goals.

A rep who goes into a sales meeting without first understanding the advertiser's core strategic objectives and elemental aims will likely end up with a highly disgruntled customer.

Advertisers also want to know that their requests are being handled efficiently and effectively. Courtesy and professionalism also go a long way in keeping customers happy. And providing quality research and information that supports what is being offered.

Satisfied advertisers are ones that feel the media company is working with them, is their partner in meeting sales goals and objectives.

Beyond these primary drivers of satisfaction are several secondary, but still crucial, drivers of customer satisfaction. They include creative problem-solving skills, an easy-to-understand rate structure, accurate and easy-to-read invoices, and a billing/credit staff that is helpful and professional.

Companies may be able to increase performance and decrease unhappy, dissatisfied customers by addressing these key attitudinal and competitive statements. They should strive to increase performance ratings on being a good company to do business with, providing products and programs that are a good fit to an advertiser's needs, and delivering results that meet an advertiser’s budget and sales goals. Also reevaluate the overall value, buying and execution process, and results relative to the competition.

Remember, the goal is to improve ratings on key attitudes, with the ultimate objective of increasing the percentage of customers who rate a company as "much better," or at the very least "about the same," versus competitors on key attributes and decrease the percentage of customers who rate a company as "much worse" than competitors.

Turn poor, neutral, or even fair ratings into good and very good ones.