The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
Human vs. Automated Surveys
Thursday - January 19, 2006 04:50 PM in
The question of whether to use human vs. automated surveys came up in a discussion I had today, so I figured this would be a good time to address the basics.
Both people and computers are capable of administering a survey. There are arguments for and against each, and we use both types of surveys in different VocaLabs services (our panel-based research uses computerized surveys, while our surveys of live customers use human interviewers).
For example, an automated survey is much more consistent than a person, so you can be assured that the survey is always administered the same way every time. But a human can probe more deeply, ask follow-up questions, and explain the meaning of a question if it isn't clear.
Response rates tend to be higher (sometimes much higher) when you have a human asking the questions. Most people don't have any problem ignoring or hanging up on automated pleas to take a survey.
But in most cases there are really only two differences which matter: Human surveys leave the customer with a positive impression. And automated surveys are much cheaper.
If one of your surveying goals is to connect with and make a positive impression on your customers, then you shouldn't even consider using automated surveys, since most people tend to be put off by being surveyed by a machine (which is one of the reasons automated surveys tend to have a lower response rate). On the other hand, if you are working under a tight budget, you probably can't afford human surveys, and you'll simply have to live with the drawbacks of computerized surveys.
Posted by Peter Leppik
For example, an automated survey is much more consistent than a person, so you can be assured that the survey is always administered the same way every time. But a human can probe more deeply, ask follow-up questions, and explain the meaning of a question if it isn't clear.
Response rates tend to be higher (sometimes much higher) when you have a human asking the questions. Most people don't have any problem ignoring or hanging up on automated pleas to take a survey.
But in most cases there are really only two differences which matter: Human surveys leave the customer with a positive impression. And automated surveys are much cheaper.
If one of your surveying goals is to connect with and make a positive impression on your customers, then you shouldn't even consider using automated surveys, since most people tend to be put off by being surveyed by a machine (which is one of the reasons automated surveys tend to have a lower response rate). On the other hand, if you are working under a tight budget, you probably can't afford human surveys, and you'll simply have to live with the drawbacks of computerized surveys.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 04:50 PM by | | | |