Have You Received a Survey in Your Inbox Lately?
I originally wrote about this a few years ago, but unfortunately, the situation has actually gotten worse as more businesses adopt e-commerce and the pandemic has driven more activity online. So if you’ve completed any transaction recently - online or offline - it’s likely you’ve been asked to fill out a customer survey as a follow-up.
Online transactions make it particularly easy. Right after the confirmation email comes the one where they need your opinion. Phone conversations - when you can get someone on the phone - are now almost all followed but the “how did we do” email. While there has been less in-person activity, I can confirm survey emails after dentist appointments, car service, and simple bank transactions. And the once and future survey king remains the travel industry (e.g. hotels, airlines, etc.), even if most of us haven’t experienced it lately.
Look, I appreciate it if a business cares enough to ask, but at some point, it feels like businesses have just put these surveys on “set it and forget it” mode. There is little reason to believe that anything will come from your response, other than another formatted reply. For example, I don’t believe a bad survey - or even a significant number of them - can reform the airline industry at this point.
So, what to do …
Customer Satisfaction Still Matters
As most industries continue to get more competitive, satisfying your current customers is critical, and the feedback you get from them can inspire ideas to attract more. Likewise, technology is allowing businesses to deploy surveys as well as capture and analyze results with greater ease.
But these factors don’t change a fundamental truth – customers are about relationships and you need to act accordingly. So, what does that mean for surveys?
Don’t make them too long. In many of these surveys, the last question is something like – “do you have any other comments.” Most of the time I tell them their survey is too long. This is the most basic way to respect your customer – respect their time. You’re asking for them to use their time to help you, so be conscientious and courteous and only ask for the necessary amount. Which leads to …
Narrow questions to those that give you actionable insight. When evaluating any survey question, you should ask “what am I going to do with this information when I get it?” It’s easy to include questions to get information that would “interesting,” or that look good on a KPI dashboard, but again, you’re asking for people to take their time, and you ideally want them to be thoughtful. Really evaluate what you need to know, and what you’re going to do when you know it. Be diligent in limiting your questions and protecting your customers’ time.
Let them know they were heard. Acknowledge that you’ve received the feedback and that you are going to use it to truly improve your product or service. That could come as a personal note from the owner, CEO, General Manager, etc. Also, consider offering an incentive or reward. It doesn’t need to be big or expensive, but just something that makes the customer feel special, like a true insider. The higher-touch this is, the better. It’s worth limiting the number of people you ask for feedback in order to make the experience itself one that actually reinforces the relationship.
Have a Plan to React. You need to have a plan for how you’re going to regularly analyze, report, and come up with action plans based on the feedback. No one cares that you review it at your weekly leadership meaning if there is no result for customers. Again, if you’re not planning to do anything with the information, why are you going through the trouble to ask? And please don’t just use it to “hold people accountable.” Surveys can not only improve relationships with customers, but with employees. Use the results to learn, coach, and improve.
Respond to specifics. If there is something particularly specific, respond in a timely manner, and directly. In one hotel survey, I made a comment about the limitations of room selection through their website. The manager got back with me directly and we had an exchange that left me with the impression that he was sincerely paying attention to what his customers were sharing. If you made an actual improvement based on feedback, say so when you communicate the improvement and communicate directly with recent responders - “Susan, since you were willing to provide us feedback in the last six months, we wanted you to know …”
Find new channels to solicit feedback. Email and automated phone surveys seem to be the most popular. Today, options for text-based follow up is more widely available. And why not make it a permanent part of email messages and your homepage … a simple call out that people can respond to at any time.
BONUS: Provide an opportunity to recognize an employee. When people go above and beyond or do their job particularly well, many of us want to recognize that. If you’re like me, too often we just don’t take the time (but kudos to all of you who do). In your survey, provide a quick, easy way for customers to recognize an employee by name, and be sure to follow up with that employee.
Like any research, the most important thing is that you define a specific objective – not only in what you want to learn but what you’ll do with the information. If you’re going to roll-out an ongoing customer feedback mechanism, you also need buy-in from your senior leadership. It’s not a box to check off, or a report to refer to now and again. It is a tool to improve your customer relationships, and remember – it’s just a tool – you’re the one who builds the relationship.