National standards of customer satisfaction in facilities management

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the first stage of primary research undertaken to establish generic customer satisfaction benchmarks for the facilities management (FM) industry, and test whether the benchmarks can be strategically implemented into individual FM provider organisations to further enhance their existing performance measurement processes and subsequent service provision. Design/methodology/approach - The study proposes the development of a conceptual framework, the Customer Performance Measurement System (CPMS). The CPMS consists of four stages, and uses a mixed methodological strategy. This paper provides the findings from the first stage of the CPMS, to establish generic customer satisfaction benchmarks for the FM industry. This is undertaken through two annual customer satisfaction surveys in 2007 and 2008 across the UK and Ireland. Findings - The paper establishes customer satisfaction benchmarks for individual FM services. The benchmarks identify trends between key variables of criticality, efficiency and service provision, including general variables regarding the performance of the FM team delivering the services and overall satisfaction with all services provided. Research limitations/implications - The research presented forms part of a wider study testing the concept of the CPMS framework. The paper provides an overview of the wider study, while focusing on the completion of the first stage of primary research. Originality/value - Information on the application of customer satisfaction indicators within the industry is limited. This paper provides an insight into how customers perceive individual FM services within the UK and Ireland.