A service provider called me recently, unhappy that I had not given his firm the highest rating in every category. His purpose was not to find out why I rated the service the way I did, but to tell me my “complaint” would cost him money. I thought I had rated the service pretty well, 5 out of 5 on most things, a couple 4s and one 3; so it got me to thinking about customer satisfaction surveys in general. Crafted properly and interpreted properly, these surveys can be very helpful. However, in the zeal for achieving perfection, they can lead to some unintended consequences.
Customer satisfaction is a KPI in most companies – with good reason. As Baldrige has demonstrated, happy customers are more loyal to your firm, cost less to service, are less price sensitive, can help you expand into complementary areas, and can actually promote your business. It makes perfect business sense to find out what your customers like and don’t like, improve the things they don’t like, communicate and demonstrate those improvements, and continue to build your business with those happy customers. The unintended consequences arise when the results are interpreted incorrectly or employees are punished for less than perfect results. Remember, the goal of measuring customer satisfaction is not the score itself, but building customer loyalty and continuously improving.
Let me offer examples. Over the past 3 years I have taken our family cars to 3 different dealers for service (they are all different makes). In each case, I was happy with the work performed and the way I was treated by the service department. For Dealer #1, I completed the survey which requested answers from 1 (awful) to 10 (truly outstanding). I gave the dealer 10s on all the items related to how they treated me and the quality of the work. I gave slightly lower answers on the waiting area and showroom – decent, but not perfect. I gave average answers for the prices of parts, because I really think their parts prices are high. The next day, I received a call from the service manager, saying he was sorry I was not happy with his service, and asking what he could do to fix it. I explained that I was happy and I thought I gave him pretty high marks, especially on the things he could control. The service manager then explained to me that part of his compensation was tied to customer satisfaction results, and for each survey without all 10s, he would lose some compensation. The next time I completed a survey for that dealer, I gave it all 10s, even though I still think the waiting area and showroom are not “truly outstanding”, and I think their parts prices are high.
After having work done on a different car by Dealer #2, my service advisor said I would be contacted to complete a survey. He asked me to let him know if there were any areas for which I would not give a rating of 10. I told him I was happy with the work they did and how I was treated, and I asked the advisor if his compensation was affected the by the survey results, which it was. When that survey arrived, I answered with all 10s, although there were some categories in which that dealer was not “truly outstanding”, but rather like most other dealers. For example the waiting room was just OK, and it could have used a water cooler. When completing the survey, I thought if I were the car company, I would want to know relative strengths. Which areas are strongest, and even if not bad, which areas are less than perfect? If all the answers are 10s, the company does not learn which things to work on. However, I did not want to penalize the service advisor for things he might not be able to control, so the company did not get to see my real relative rankings.
After having work completed by Dealer #3 on the car my kids drive, the service advisor alerted me about a coming satisfaction survey. He also asked me to let him know if there were any areas for which I would not give a rating of 10. I again told him I was happy with the work they did and how I was treated. When the survey arrived, I looked at the questions (similar to the first 2 dealers), but I did not complete it. I did not see the value in spending my time answering the survey if I could not do so honestly, without financially penalizing the service team. After all, I was happy with the service but I could also suggest a couple things to do better.
It is perfectly understandable that companies strive to have customers rate them in the top box or top 2 boxes. In general, those are the ratings you will get from the most loyal customers and the customers most likely to promote your business. It is also important to recognize that companies are comprised of a multiple individual employees, each of whom must do his/ her job well in order to make it a good experience for the customers. So it is logical to have incentives that encourage employees to do the work in a way that will maximize customer satisfaction. I am willing to give negative feedback and have the provider suffer the consequences if the provider could have done something about it. On the other hand, it is counter-productive to have survey practices that discourage honest feedback. If the reward system deducts incentive money for every sub-perfect answer, the managers will have the incentive to hide the imperfections. A better reward system would encourage all feedback and reward managers and employees for improvement, not just perfection.
In the cases of my car dealers, all 3 service departments have done good work, but there are some things I think the dealers can improve. If others are like me and don’t tell the dealers what those areas are, how will the dealers find out? In the case of the service provider I referenced at the top of this article, his reaction to my honest feedback left me with a sour taste. I thought I gave him good results. He was upset apparently because it will cost him some incentive money, and I am now less likely to use that firm in the future because of his reaction. In that case, his firm learned areas where I thought service was good, not great; but the process may have cost them a customer.
I am a strong proponent of customer satisfaction surveys, but I urge caution in how you design, use and interpret them. Make sure your surveys and corresponding incentives are actually enabling you to build customer loyalty and continuously improve. Also make sure your surveys are not just a way to tick the box on a KPI and allocate compensation.
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