You’ve been busy rolling out exciting new products for your customers. Maybe you’ve even introduced a loyalty program with financial incentives to keep your clients. If you’re still experiencing lackluster sales, check out another source of customer unhappiness: employee satisfaction.

The Correlation Between Customer Satisfaction and Happy Employees

Two Glassdoor employees recently measured the extent of the correlation between happy employees and happy customers. Andre Chamberlain and Daniel Zhao looked at Glassdoor reviews written by employees who work for specific companies. They compared these ratings to the customer ratings accumulated by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Over a period of time, they “found that each one-​star improvement in a company’s Glassdoor rating corresponds to a 1.3 out of 100 improvement in customer satisfaction scores — a statistically significant impact.” In industries where employees interact frequently face-​to-​face with customers, the correlation was much higher — 3.2.

We all know it’s more profitable to sell to an existing customer than to acquire a new one. It’s also easy to focus on the bottom line and overlook employee satisfaction. If you want your employees to greet clients with a smile, whether you’re operating a health care services or a retail business, take a minute to understand what’s going on in your workplace. Satisfaction isn't just about compensation. It's also about your team members' every day experience. 

Tips to Improve Employee Satisfaction

Are your managers encouraging their team members to come forward with ideas about how to improve customer service? Do they strive to give employees a good work life balance? Do your employees tell you that they love coming to work or are they looking for another job?

A quick employee survey will give you answers to these questions. Then you can embark on a program to improve employee satisfaction. 

The results of this study confirm what many of us already know. But it’s nice to have the numbers quantified. It would be even nicer for your employees and your bottom line if you take concrete steps and create a business where people want to work.