The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
Some Thoughts on Survey Technique
Wednesday - March 15, 2006 10:35 AM in
A few days ago, Peter commented here on his statement that end-of-call surveys could overstate customer satisfaction scores by 20-40 percent. And I was one of the people who expressed some doubt the error range was that dramatic. But the data is showing that Peter's estimate is plausible. For example, we have a client who hired VocaLabs in part because they were suspicious of the high satisfaction scores they were receiving via the services of a well-known survey/consulting firm. Client: "We know we're pretty good, but not THAT good." Sure enough, switching from an end of call survey method recommended by their (now former) consultant to VocaLabs Express Feedback and satisfaction scores dropped by almost exactly 40%.
I have been reluctant to make sweeping statements about the shortcomings of end-of-call surveys under the logic that anything that improves the customer experience is a good thing, and one example doesn't provide definitive proof. But as I also explore why it is taking so long for true service quality to improve in many companies, I uncover further hints that bad information is a major culprit.
Time and again we encounter a disconnect between how a company thinks they are serving their callers and what the customers of that company report. There are a lot of intertwined issues going on, but the gist is this. If a study delivers positive results such as the appearance of high levels of customer satisfaction, it is easy to pat oneself on the back and then do nothing. So when customers complain or even leave, the tendency is to look elsewhere for reasons. "The competition spends more money on sales and advertising; they did 'this' which pulled some of our customers away". The list of "they dids" is long and often creative. But seldom do I hear of a company looking inward to question their assumptions on performance: "Can't be us, after all we have a 95% customer satisfaction rating!"
I feel like a stuck recording when I repeat that satisfied is not a positive rating in the mind of the consumer. At best it is neutral as in "I didn't expect good service, but I got my business done so I'm satisfied." Just as frequently, it is a safe response: "Go away, I don't feel like being confrontational and having to defend a negative comment."
Already a difficult term to quantify, if satisfaction surveys are further skewed with a method that systematically excludes the disgruntled as does the end-of-call method (anyone who hangs up in frustration isn't included or because the CSR can easily select who gets to participate); the result is a misleading score.
So yes, the sole positives about an end-of-call survey method are that it is cheap and usually makes the call center look good. But nowhere is the old saw garbage in-garbage out more appropriate.
Posted by Rick Rappe'
Time and again we encounter a disconnect between how a company thinks they are serving their callers and what the customers of that company report. There are a lot of intertwined issues going on, but the gist is this. If a study delivers positive results such as the appearance of high levels of customer satisfaction, it is easy to pat oneself on the back and then do nothing. So when customers complain or even leave, the tendency is to look elsewhere for reasons. "The competition spends more money on sales and advertising; they did 'this' which pulled some of our customers away". The list of "they dids" is long and often creative. But seldom do I hear of a company looking inward to question their assumptions on performance: "Can't be us, after all we have a 95% customer satisfaction rating!"
I feel like a stuck recording when I repeat that satisfied is not a positive rating in the mind of the consumer. At best it is neutral as in "I didn't expect good service, but I got my business done so I'm satisfied." Just as frequently, it is a safe response: "Go away, I don't feel like being confrontational and having to defend a negative comment."
Already a difficult term to quantify, if satisfaction surveys are further skewed with a method that systematically excludes the disgruntled as does the end-of-call method (anyone who hangs up in frustration isn't included or because the CSR can easily select who gets to participate); the result is a misleading score.
So yes, the sole positives about an end-of-call survey method are that it is cheap and usually makes the call center look good. But nowhere is the old saw garbage in-garbage out more appropriate.
Posted by Rick Rappe'
Posted at 10:35 AM by | | | |