US 7,734,496 B1Granted

Service provider and client survey method

AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.

InventorsLaura Crandon, Louis A. Venezia, King Yun Lo

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Abstract

An improved survey method is disclosed for evaluating the satisfaction of a client with the services and support provided by a service provider. The survey method includes first surveying at least one representative of a service provider providing a service to a client. A plan is then developed for the client based on survey data from the service provider representative survey to address at least one aspect of the provided service requires changing. The developed plan is then presented to the client. A second survey is then taken of at least representative of the client based on performance of the service provider and the developed plan. The survey method advantageously exploits the knowledge of those service provider representatives that provide a service to the client for identifying advantageous modifications of the service or support areas before presenting the client with a survey. In such manner, such survey results would enable a service provider to more quickly implement a plan for service changes that would likely increase client satisfaction with a single or reduced number of client surveys.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method for a service provider client survey comprising:

electronically providing, via a survey computer, a first survey to a representative of a service provider providing a service to a client;
developing a service plan for the client based on scores corresponding to responses from the representative of the service provider to the first survey to address at least one aspect of the service to be changed;
presenting the service plan to the client;
prior to implementing the service plan, electronically providing a second survey to a client representative of the client based on the service plan and performance of the service provider, the second survey including service-based questions and value-based questions, the service-based questions eliciting feedback regarding expectations on contracted for services and the actual services provided, the value-based questions eliciting feedback regarding intangible benefits the service provider provides relating to client business objectives beyond contracted services;
electronically generating a service-value index based on the responses from the client representative, wherein a service portion of the service-value index is based on responses to the service-based questions and a value portion of the service-value index is based on responses to the value-based questions;
and
characterizing a type of service provider-client relationship based on a comparison of the service portion of the service-value index to a first threshold value and a comparison of the value portion of the service-value index to a second threshold value.

4 more elements

A service provider performance survey computer program stored on a tangible computer readable medium that, when executed, causes a machine to:

buffer first scores corresponding to received responses to a first survey of a representative of a service provider providing a service to a client;
buffer second scores corresponding to received responses to a second survey of a client representative based on the service plan and performance of the service provider, wherein the second survey of the client representative is administered before implementing the service plan, the second survey including service-based questions and value-based questions, the service-based questions eliciting feedback regarding expectations on contracted for services and the actual services provided, the value-based questions eliciting feedback regarding intangible benefits the service provider provides relating to client business objectives beyond contracted services;
generate a service-value index based on the second scores, wherein a service portion of the service-value index is based on responses to the service-based questions and a value portion of the service-value index is based on responses to the value-based questions;
and
characterize a type of service provider-client relationship based on a comparison of the service portion of the service-value index to a first threshold value and a comparison of the value portion of the service-value index to a second threshold value.

2 more elements

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:

provide a first survey to a representative of a service provider providing a service to a client;
store a service plan for the client based on scores corresponding to responses from the representative of the service provider to the first survey to address at least one aspect of the service to be changed;
present the service plan to the client;
prior to implementing the service plan, provide a second survey to a client representative of the client based on the service plan and performance of the service provider, the second survey including service-based questions and value-based questions, the service-based questions eliciting feedback regarding expectations on contracted for services and the actual services provided, the value-based questions eliciting feedback regarding intangible benefits the service provider provides relating to client business objectives beyond contracted services;
generate a service-value index based on the responses from the client representative, wherein a service portion of the service-value index is based on responses to the service-based questions and a value portion of the service-value index is based on responses to the value-based questions;
and
characterize a type of service provider-client relationship based on a comparison of the service portion of the service-value index to a first threshold value and a comparison of the value portion of the service-value index to a second threshold value.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.