2009 U.S. Customer Survey Results
By Ronald E. Bishop, Bishop & Associates Inc.

Bishop & Associates conducted its annual U.S. customer survey of the connector industry in September. A total of 485 of  your peers evaluated the performance of 47 connector companies.

The following provides the distribution of responses by job function and sales channel.

The following table shows the number of evaluations which were given to each company.

Each participant answered 16 questions, selecting one of the following six choices for each question. The evaluation choices are shown below:

Using this methodology, scores of 3.50 or lower indicates a degree of “dissatisfaction.” Scores above 3.50 indicate a degree of “satisfaction.”

The following provides a list of the questions that were asked. 

1. What is your overall satisfaction with the quality of products?

2. Which phrase best describes how you perceive the product quality of each company?

3. What is your level of satisfaction with the ability to meet your requested delivery dates?

4. In your estimation, what percentage of the time do these companies deliver on-time to your requested date?

5. What is your level of satisfaction with the performance in meeting promised ship dates?

6. What is your level of satisfaction with order lead times?

7. What is your level of satisfaction with price competitiveness?

8. In your opinion, which company is consistently the most price competitive?

9. What is your level of satisfaction with technical support and expertise?

10. How satisfied are you with the turnaround time required to design a new connector?

11. What is your overall satisfaction with the outside sales representative's support of your business requirements?

12. What is your level of satisfaction with the inside sales/customer service function?
    (i.e., ease in placing orders, order status information, price quotes, helpfulness, politeness)

13. What is your level of satisfaction with the overall effectiveness in handling problems?

14. How often do you use this company’s printed product catalog?

15. What is your level of satisfaction with the completeness and ease of use of the printed product catalog?

16. Overall, what is your level of satisfaction with support in obtaining product samples?

The Top 10 Overall Best Performers
The top 10 companies with the best customer evaluations are shown in the following table. In 2009, Kycon was ranked BEST OVERALL. Samtec, which was ranked # 1 for 12 consecutive years, was ranked # 2 in 2009.

Seven U.S. manufacturers and three German companies rank in the top 10, according to customers.

The following tables provide the score of the top 10 best performers in:

• Quality

• Delivery

• Lead Times

• Price

Question #1:        What is your overall satisfaction with the quality of products?

Question #3:        What is your level of satisfaction with the performance in meeting your (requested) ship date?

Question #6: What is your level of satisfaction with order lead times?

Question # 7:       What is your level of satisfaction with price competitiveness?

If you would like to subscribe to the Connector Industry Forecast, go to connectorindustry.com and select “Research Reports.” You may also contact us at bishop@bishopinc.com, or by calling 630.443.2702.