Business managers today require demonstrable links between survey-based customer loyalty results and financial outcomes, as well as links to key operational and employee metrics. Leading organizations strive to quantify the relationships that exist between customer loyalty data and employee, operational and business results through linkage analysis. Prior to engaging in analytical linkage, Linkage Assessment should be conducted to identify the inputs for linkage analysis, as well as maximize efficiency of the linkage process.

Linkage Assessment is the process Burke uses to examine the financial, operational, employee, and customer data available for quantitative linkage analysis. This assessment can be expedited through Blueprinting of the business as well as Voice of the Customer (VOC) Architecture Assessment. Linkage Assessment is a flexible service that generally involves the following steps:

• From the business Blueprint, identify the measures of operational, employee, and financial measures available for linkage analysis
• Identify data "owners" within the organization, including champions of different customer survey efforts; VOC Architecture Assessment can assist with this step
• Examine the form and frequency of existing data sources
• Assess whether Linkage Analysis is possible with data streams in their existing forms.

Linkage Assessment produces the following for client deliverables:

• A linkage project plan if linkage can be conducted, including prioritization of different types of linkage analyses
• Alternative data structures for linkage, either currently or in the future
• Recommendations for improving data sources to enhance the value of linkage analysis

Burke is the industry leader in Linkage Analysis, and Linkage Assessment is a key factor in our success linking customer loyalty to employee, operational, and financial metrics used by organizations.