How do you know -- and act upon -- what your customers are saying about your business?

There are ways of measuring "behavioral satisfaction" (brand affinity) as opposed to "attitudinal cust sat" (which is often little more than lip service - in fact, some of your best customers are also the most critical).

We need to get past the usual cust sat surveys to provide meaningful feedback to sales people. Without this, those in sales will continue to find most marketing supplied metrics as irrelevant.

Brand Affinity Metrics: Improving the Value of Satisfaction Ratings and Their Relationship to Consumer Behavior
http://www.dmreview.com/specialreports/20070731/1088991-1.html

Brand Affinity metrics provide feedback that businesses can act on.

For many years, I have used the 'listening post' model and created many points to monitor and solicit customer feedback, but most importantly acknowledged and then acted on the feedback, communicating the results of feedback to all stakeholders.
While newer survey tools, social networks and other technologies may make accessing customers easier, the basics of providing what customers want, asking them about how it can be improved and how well it meets their needs, acknowledging the feedback and acting on it have not changed in the years I have been dealing with customers.
While customers have raised the bar as far as their expectations are concerened, it is still possible to exceed their expectations and provide WOW services.
The biggest mistake I see out there is companies armed with all the tools, techniques and questions, who ignore the basics and just don't listen to their customers or act on the feedback and don't provide feedback internally. And then they wonder why they have to spend so much time trying to improve their image. Go figger.

Set up a Google Alert for all variations on your company name. Monitor Yelp.com and Twitter.com, and AngiesList.com if appropriate for your business. When you see a positive comment, copy that link to your company blog or e-mail newsletter to refer potential customers to the kind words posted. When you see a negative comment, fix the problem, request the customer acknowledge you've done damage control, and link that to your blog or mention it in your e-mail newsletter.

I think the level of execution has to be much higher because in social networks the negative feedback doesn't disappear. It remains online and searchable. Addressing any issue as early as possible is critical.

Great question Michael! I saw it and immediately joined the group. I must have read that very Harvard Business Review article. As an independent security management consultant I rely on the pulse of the client to measure my effectiveness and ultimately my success, repeat business, referrals and open relationship to measure customer satisfaction. When I ask the HR Manager how am I doing and I see the twinkle in her eye before she answers, I know I nailed the answer.

The hardest measurement of success is knowing how the client really feels about you. So, I am always asking my clients how am I doing. It does not make any difference whether it is the influential member of the client's team or a subordinate who was impacted by my training, recommendations or changes. I constantly ask for feedback and welcome the advice. As such, the client's employees are open to me and thank me for having implemented their ideas and suggestions. This is a powerful testimonial because making longterm repeat client is really unachievable on one's own.