A needs assessment affords the opportunity to explore what customers really need and want vs. what you believe they need and want. If you decided to ask “importance" questions and satisfaction questions on your customer satisfaction survey, you may already have a feel for a “gap" that may exist between what your customers want and what you are currently providing them. A needs assessment helps flesh out this gap. In addition to importance rating results you may have obtained, examining these additional sources of data can provide a more comprehensive look into what your customers may need.
Additional data collection tools that can be implemented are:
OQM has conducted numerous needs assessments with ORS service groups to help identify gaps and ideas for better aligning products and services with customer requirements. Some examples include: