Are Customer Satisfaction Surveys Worth Your Time?

What have the following activities in common: You book a flight, you buy something online, you are a subscriber to a newspaper or magazine, you change your broadband and / or phone service provider, or have you complained to an organisation (and I could give you more examples, trust me!): At first glance not much – except that after each of these interactions you are very likely to receive an email with a request to complete ‘customer satisfaction’ survey.

Of course it is laudable that all these companies are so concerned that the products and services they provided meet our expectations or, if they didn’t, that at least the problem resolution was satisfactory (of course that is the subject of yet another survey). But I think I am not alone in thinking that overall the services and goods provided are of ever decreasing quality. Take the survey by a low-cost airline which my son had the opportunity to complete recently following a flight he took being delayed by 90 minutes: There were questions such as ‘were you informed that your flight was delayed’, ‘how were you informed’, ‘were you kept up to date with the change to the departure time’ and so on. Before the survey even started, the airline reminded him that they were Europe’s most punctual airline – and of course apologising for the delay. Thanks for the apology, but if my flight late at night when I want to get home is delayed reminding me of how punctual you normally are antagonises me more than anything else.

Then there is the time it takes these surveys! Many state the expected time it will take – and I frequently notice that it takes you somewhat or even much longer than expected. I just completed a survey this morning which was expected to take 12 minutes – well it took me 18! And I frequently take longer than I am supposed to: Does that mean that I am maybe more conscientious in answering the questions? Or simply too daft? And quite honestly, normally I don’t mind answering a few questions which take a few minutes of my time, but some surveys really push my buttons by not telling me how long it will take to complete – and 15 minutes later I am still only at 70%…. I have actually abandoned surveys halfway through just because I got fed up.

Personally I also feel that service levels in general are getting worse rather than better, and so I wonder, since I am not the only one completing these surveys, whether anyone actually reads and draws conclusions from them. Call centres halfway across the world because labour in India and the Philippines is cheaper than in the US or UK are one thing (although some organisations in the UK have now repatriated their support services to their own shores), but how many times have you felt that the operative you are talking to is reading basically a scripted answer which not even remotely addresses the problem you try to resolve? Basically a case of ‘the computer says no’, a catchphrase popularised by the iconic British comedy show Little Britain (see a clip here).

At the end of the day, based on my personal experience as a Management Consultant working with and for businesses, it all boils down to cost: In theory all businesses want to provide the best possible products and services, but at the lowest possible cost to them. And if it comes to choose between service levels and cost, the finances in most cases will win. I can’t help thinking that we as consumers are somewhat to blame for this: We are ever more cost conscious, shopping around for the best deal, switching providers on a whim. Don’t get me wrong, I too am doing exactly that and encourage you all to do likewise, as otherwise the ‘standard’ rates we pay subsidise the fantastic deals which businesses offer to new clients (that might be a topic for a future blog post).

Nevertheless, this should not be a reason not to ask for outstanding products and quality, after all we pay for them. But I leave it to you to decide for yourself, whether participating in yet an other customer service survey is worth the effort and your time. Sometimes, if you are dissatisfied, it’s easier simply to vote with your feet.