Make sure customer surveys work for you, not against you

If you share your personal e-mail address with companies you frequent, chances are you have received a survey about your level of satisfaction regarding a recent transaction. Interesting things, these surveys.

Let’s look at them from the opposite point of view. For businesses, surveys can be valuable tools, even though they’re not always statistically accurate nor do they provide a true cross section of your customer base. We all want to know how well we are serving our clients. But a survey is just one tool, not the whole box. To get the best feedback, nothing beats a phone call from a caring staff person asking consistent, open-ended questions. However, reality often dictates Survey Monkeys and short, point-of-sale surveys.

Some general rules about surveys:

• Keep them short: If you need a long, in-depth survey, make it worth your customers’ time by offering a coupon or other bonus. And be sure you tell them up front that it will take 20 minutes, but that you will reward them for this valuable feedback.

• Keep the questions focused on one area: You want the responders to keep one area of service in mind, so if you want feedback on your hotel, don’t wander into asking questions about your restaurant or the city in general.

• Let them select anonymity or not: Some people simply will not respond unless they can do so in private. Others want a reply from you, or want you to know how happy they are, and are quite willing to share their identities. Just let them choose.

• Measure the same thing over time to see if you are improving: There are so many things we want to know that we alter the survey each month or week. Resist that temptation and follow your trends for at least six months. Then you know what consistently needs attention and where you excel.

• Try to solicit comments: People really like to compliment individuals, so make it easy for them. Encourage use of names when they want to offer a pat on the back to one of your team members who knocked their socks off.

• Follow up or don’t ask: I stay at the same hotel chain when I travel, use the same rental car company and fly two or three airlines. Most of them send me a survey after my transaction. And I know that, so when I am in the midst of my use of services I keep in mind that a survey is in my future. I note names of excellent employees, jot down when they fall short and do a good job of preparing for the questions I am sure will come. And I always use my name. Anything important enough to say deserves a name attached to it.

But this is where some surveys fall flat and actually do more harm than good. If I have something negative to say, and you asked me for it, you must be ready to respond to me when something went wrong. It is like not bothering to answer a complaint sent to you by the BBB. The message is that this customer and their feedback are so unimportant that I will not even bother to let them know I am sorry and we will fix it.

Once I had an “I think I am in the Twilight Zone” experience at my regular hotel chain and let them know in a survey response. Nobody ever contacted me about it – no apology, not a word. It felt a bit like asking me if my dinner was OK, me telling the server it was not, and having them shrug and walk away. Not a good feeling, to be sure.

Dismissing feedback you don’t like cheapens the whole survey process and makes us all a bit skeptical about the care the company takes in the answers. Just a quick e-mail response letting me know you heard me is all I really want. I am not filing a formal complaint, just letting you know I was not entirely happy with the experience. And that gives your company the opportunity to reach out and let me know you will work on it and look forward to showing improvement next time I visit.

Great customer service (and business longevity) involves questioning your customers and making sure you’re ready for the answers. Then your surveys will work for you, not against you.