Do You Know That You Run the Risk of Losing Customers When You Conduct a Survey?

I recently booked a hotel for a three-night stay. Once I reached there, I realized there wasn’t much to do in that location for three nights, so I decided to cut the trip to two nights.

Only then did I realize that I had made a non-refundable booking using a travel app? Despite that, I reached out to the travel app’s customer service and requested them to cancel my last night’s booking.

The customer service rep listened to me patiently and explained that it was a non-refundable booking. However, he said that he would try to help me with my request. He mentioned that he would check with the property, and if they agreed, he would accept the cancellation and process the refund.

He put me on hold for a couple of minutes and spoke to the property guys. They agreed to the cancellation, and he accepted the cancellation and initiated the refund.

Right after this interaction, he asked if I could take a couple of minutes of my time to rate the service I received.

I was more than happy to oblige. They had only three questions:

• Was the representative knowledgeable enough to address my query?
• Were I pleased with the resolution provided?
• Would I recommend their services to my friends and family?

I will give you one more example.

I booked five tickets for a movie show. They had the option of giving back a 75% refund on any cancellations that you do before a certain number of hours.

Something came up, and we decided to cancel the tickets. I went to their app and canceled the ticket. It was promptly canceled, and the ticket was removed from ‘my bookings.’ The only issue is that I haven’t received a refund from them. Neither did I get any communication from them.

Then, I went to the support function in their app. When I clicked on support, I was directed to a chatbot. I explained my issue, and I received an impersonal acknowledgment that stated, “Thank you for reaching out to us. We will look into the issue.”

After this, they also showed a link for me to rate their service and provide my feedback.

I didn’t want to rate their service, as I wasn’t sure if my issue would get resolved. As it stands, till the time of this writing, I haven’t received a refund or any communication from them.

In both these instances, I was offered the option to provide feedback and rate their service. I wasn’t keen to rate or provide feedback in the second instance.

Would you agree that you are willing to fill out a satisfaction survey in the right circumstances?

What Really Goes Wrong With Surveys?

Shep Hyken, in his Forbes article, quotes a CX research they did, and the findings are surprising indeed:

• One in five customers (19%) have stopped doing business with a company because its survey was too long.
• Seven out of 10 customers (67%) won’t complete long surveys.
• 23% of customers said they stopped doing business with a company because it kept sending too many surveys.
• If the experience is good, you have a better chance of getting a completed survey – at least 74% of the time. If the experience is bad, 42% chose not to complete a survey to avoid more interactions with the company or brand.

When you look at the examples I quoted, and this research, one thing that comes out is that you would fill out a survey only when the experience is good.

Is That the Purpose of Running a Survey?

You run a survey to understand what your customers feel about your service deeply, and you want to improve so that they become champions of what you do.

This is the intention with which most surveys start, but it is seldom perceived that way.

Let me list out the challenges:

• Customers don’t fill out the survey because they think the company does not value their opinions. More often than not, companies don’t even acknowledge the receipt of your survey responses, let alone act on your feedback.
• Sometimes, the surveys are too long.
• Sometimes, the surveys don’t allow customers to provide qualitative feedback at any point.
• The survey is sent out pretty late after the service experience. Customers don’t feel inclined to recount their experience unless something great stands out.

What Do You Have to Do to Make Your Surveys Work the Way They Were Intended To?

Keep Them Short

Make it so short that you are able to get the inputs you desire, and at the same time, the customer is not spending more than a minute or so on it.

Besides, don’t send too many surveys to a customer. Too much too frequently would devalue the entire exercise, and customers usually tend not to respond.

Time the Surveys

Good or bad experience, it doesn’t matter. Your purpose in sending the survey is to learn and improve the customer experience you provide. So send them as soon as they have a service experience with you. 

Apparently, 84% of the customers tend to fill out surveys when it is sent immediately.

Act on the Feedback

Here are the basics of acting on the input.

• Firstly, acknowledge the receipt of the filled-out survey and thank your customers for taking the time to fill them out.
• If they have provided a phone number or email, communicate to them how you plan to act on their feedback.
• Also, communicate the outcome of the feedback to them in your customer experience function.

In summary, you have to think of customer surveys as a part of your customer experience journey. Every survey, or for that matter every interaction, is a way to show that you value your customer’s inputs and you are serious about acting on their inputs.

Do you remember the last time someone acted on your feedback? I am sure you do, and I am sure you have spoken about it to hundreds of people in your network.

That’s the power of acting on the feedback, which can lead to positive engagement and lifelong relationships.