I'm not a fan of customer surveys. I actually think it sucks when I spend my money for a product or service, and then you expect me to also give my time for a survey. My time is very valuable. I already paid for your product, and now you want my time? Its actually a ridiculous expectation. I especially hate surveys that go on and on asking the same question in slightly different ways each with a 1-10 scale option. Blah....
Want to know how you are doing? Am I repeat customer? If so, you are doing ok. Thats a good start.
If I get great service or find a great product, I'll tell all my friends about it. And if I get shit service, I'll scream loud and clear. And the good news for you, dear marketing department, the world has changed. You can actually listen to me tell my friends about you via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, badges, etc. You don't have to ask, and ask, and ask, you just have to LISTEN!
I spent the first few years of my professional life working for a fairly large family business. When I started with them in the mid 80's they were still family owned and most of the top brass were either family or people that worked their tails off to be a part of the family business. I was talking with a friend a few days ago, who also happened to begin his career with a very well respected family business. They both had customer loyalty like you wouldn't believe.
Its true that the loyalty didn't come for free. And the loyalty definitely didn't come from survey questions on a scale of 1-10. During their hay day, they didn't spend money on customer satisfaction surveys. No, instead they spent money making customers happy, and building a reputation of quality. And they demanded nothing less from their employees.
I remember hearing the company president's son (he was in charge of marketing at the time) say something along the lines of "we strive to create a total quality experience around our company and product" He went on to describe how this idea was completely encompassing. When somebody notices one of our tractor trailers on the highway, its important that it speaks quality. The trucks had be clean, run well and be worthy to carry the quality product inside. And so they had their own mechanics, truck washers, and top of the line tractors that most truck drivers would dream of driving. The manufacturing plants had tours open to the public, and most school children in the area had a chance at one time or another to take a tour of the plant and see how state of the art equipment was used to bake 10's of thousands of loaves of bread a day, as well as cakes and the then famous chocolate chips cookies. All to showcase the company quality.
As I was talking with my friend, we realized that we shared similar war stories. Various things we were expected to do, all in the name of customer satisfaction and building a brand of "quality" around the business and service. It was not that uncommon to finish a 12 hour day, and get a call from the tiniest of tiny customers in need of additional product (a fish fry joint out of rolls, a corner store out of bread for the weekend, etc.) It really didn't matter if it was huge $5000 a week supermarket or small mom and pop grocer that did about $25 bucks a week in business. If a customer called with a real need, we did what we could to make them happy. Often it meant bringing some product with us on our way home from an already long 12 hour day, just to make a customer happy. Often the extra trip involved getting back in a delivery truck and heading out for another hour.
And often the overall "extra" work, if measured as a line item on spreadsheet would come at a loss. The gas, time and effort to drive a 25 mile round trip just to deliver a few dozen extra rolls to a fish fry joint probably looks insane on paper. But if that happened to be a Friday night during Lent when that fish fry joint did more business in one night then they might do agin in the next few weeks... well then the return is unmeasurable! From the owner, to everybody working there, to the customer's customers that see you making the delivery at 7:00 pm on a Friday, you deliver a message about your company. And during their hay days, that loyalty was rewarded with mind boggling market share over the competition.
Over the years, and a few generations removed, often these business that did things the right way get bought and sold and the original message gets lost. Instead of spending money on quality and earning true customer loyalty, its about the bottom line of every action, as if every action is a stand alone decision. Little by little things happen. The tractor trailers get farmed out to a hauling company. Eventually people see them carrying your product around in dirty crappy smoky trucks. Plant tours are closed for insurance liability reasons. And the fish fry joint that calls looking for a few dozen extra rolls at 7pm on a Friday gets a recording "sorry, we are done making deliveries for the night, but we will have somebody there first thing in the morning"
But, its all good, because we are hiring this new image building company, and they have suggested this new whiz bam customer survey that helps our customers feel empowered towards driving change back into the organization.
Forget the survey. Don't waste my time. Just make me a real happy customer. I'll tell all my friends about you, promise.
