Too many surveys

[Antonmb]

On Monday I visited an orthopedist (nothing serious). Today I got a survey in the mail, asking me to rate my “experience.” It seems now that we can’t have any commercial interaction without receiving a request for a survey. Every chain hotel now routinely emails me a survey after I check out, my doctor’s office and any lab or test facility I’m sent to sends a survey, almost anything I buy online generates a survey request, and every phone interaction asks if I’d like to stay on the line for a survey. What happens to all these surveys? Would they have me believe that someone is actually paying attention to and acting on them? I can understand the occasional customer survey: when I was working, we’d survey our customers and our employees every other year, but any more than that and participation and satisfaction rates would drop, and we’d get feedback to stop wasting their time. We also found that, to be really effective, you had to pay attention to the results and commit to action plans to create improvement. That takes time, and surveying too frequently doesn’t allow for change to take hold and be registered. If people are actually responding to all of these surveys, then Hilton, Marriott, Avis, etc., are receiving thousands of responses a day - are they really able to do anything meaningful with that information?

It seems to me surveys have become an epidemic and a time waster for all of us.

Rant over.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

On Monday I visited an orthopedist (nothing serious). Today I got a survey in the mail, asking me to rate my “experience.” It seems now that we can’t have any commercial interaction without receiving a request for a survey. ..............................................
It seems to me surveys have become an epidemic and a time waster for all of us.

Rant over.

My turn. In addition, these surveys are too long and too general. Many offer a one or two question form on the e-mail and any response takes you to a site with a multipage form. I never respond to any form with more than a handful of questions or more than one page.

[jdandy]

Tony.......I don't respond to any surveys. Why should I, especially since most are conducted by survey companies that make a profit from the business model collecting data for sale without compensating the ones who provide the actual data. Offer me $25.00 to answer your questionnaire and I may be more amicable, otherwise don't bother wasting my time. I have the same sentiment toward Internet retailers who send customer questions to me about a product I purchased, sort of like "Can you help Joe Shmoe with his question about battery life of the electric screwdriver you recently purchased?" No, I can't. Help Joe yourself by utilizing one of your own paid employees. I don't work for you. Delete, delete, delete. That's my response.

[mchydro]

I love it Dan. That's awesome! Totally agree.

Originally Posted by jdandy

Tony.......I don't respond to any surveys. Why should I, especially since most are conducted by survey companies that make a profit from the business model collecting data for sale without compensating the ones who provide the actual data. Offer me $25.00 to answer your questionnaire and I may be more amicable, otherwise don't bother wasting my time. I have the same sentiment toward Internet retailers who send customer questions to me about a product I purchased, sort of like "Can you help Joe Shmoe with his question about battery life of the electric screwdriver you recently purchased?" No, I can't. Help Joe yourself by utilizing one of your own paid employees. I don't work for you. Delete, delete, delete. That's my response.

[W9TR]

I agree we are being surveyed to death.

After each customer engagement (usually they last a few months) I ask two questions:
What went well?
What can be improved?

I got a survey from Sonos last week. They have fallen totally off the wagon to the point they have turned me from a fan into a hater. So I gave them some very constructive criticism. I gave them my e-mail address - I don’t expect to hear from them.

[jimtranr]

I respond to some and not to others, Tony. If I've had an extremely good (or extremely rotten) experience with a health provider, for example, I'll take the time to not only answer the multiple-choice pick-from-A-to-E questions, but also submit comments about specific aspects of service that in my judgment either require a lot of work or exhibit an above-and-beyond approach to client needs. I do the latter not to massage the provider's ego, but rather to encourage the maintenance of that standard of service (with an implicit suggestion that that high standard should be expected of everyone in the provider's bailiwick). And I find it a good way to maintain an ongoing relationship with the specialists and their PA's or NP's I see annually.

As it happens, I'm now working with an orthopedist who will likely render me bionic with a new hip in a couple of months (he's heavily sought after, so his OR waiting list is miles long). Not long after my first appointment with him two weeks ago, and without advance notice, I started receiving text messages from his office intended to maintain two-way communication on every phase and step of pre-op preparation, so I'm not left twisting in the what's-going-on wind during the consultation and paperwork process required to determine my fitness and qualification for surgery. If a survey request shows up after all is said and done, I'll be sure to respond to it.

On the other hand, I'm with Dan on the "can you help our customer" requests. I typically get one or two monthly from Home Depot regarding DeWalt table and miter saws I purchased from them. I figure that's what HD's sales associates are there for and that aftermarket service is their responsibility, not mine. I'm funny that way.

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by jimtranr

I respond to some and not to others, Tony. If I've had an extremely good (or extremely rotten) experience with a health provider, for example, I'll take the time to not only answer the multiple-choice pick-from-A-to-E questions, but also submit comments about specific aspects of service that in my judgment either require a lot of work or exhibit an above-and-beyond approach to client needs. I do the latter not to massage the provider's ego, but rather to encourage the maintenance of that standard of service (with an implicit suggestion that that high standard should be expected of everyone in the provider's bailiwick). And I find it a good way to maintain an ongoing relationship with the specialists and their PA's or NP's I see annually.



As it happens, I'm now working with an orthopedist who will likely render me bionic with a new hip in a couple of months (he's heavily sought after, so his OR waiting list is miles long). Not long after my first appointment with him two weeks ago, and without advance notice, I started receiving text messages from his office intended to maintain two-way communication on every phase and step of pre-op preparation, so I'm not left twisting in the what's-going-on wind during the consultation and paperwork process required to determine my fitness and qualification for surgery. If a survey request shows up after all is said and done, I'll be sure to respond to it.



On the other hand, I'm with Dan on the "can you help our customer" requests. I typically get one or two monthly from Home Depot regarding DeWalt table and miter saws I purchased from them. I figure that's what HD's sales associates are there for and that aftermarket service is their responsibility, not mine. I'm funny that way.

I think this is all very reasonable. Like you, if I’ve had an outstanding or lousy experience, I’ll take the time - or if I think a good business making an effort will actually use and benefit from the feedback. On the other hand, the Hilton survey usually gets deleted. The orthopedist visit that got me started lasted 10 minutes, just long enough for him to tell me he didn’t think surgery was necessary based on my mri (rotator cuff), ask if I wanted a physical therapy referral, and give me some exercises to do at home. The survey was 4 pages and would have taken longer than the visit. If it had been Tom’s two questions, what went well and what could have been better, I would have been more likely to respond.

[Formerly YB-2]

Only survey I respond to is from my health services (UPenn). They are truly a "big machine" health provider, but have done a good job for me and want that to continue. If my feedback helps, I'll my part.

[crwilli]

Good post Tony. I thought of you today when I saw an Edward Jones commercial bemoaning the number of surveys. Their punch line - Shouldn’t somebody be listening?

[Cohibaman]

Funny you ask. I’ve been traveling for years and have status at various hotel brands. This week, one pissed me off royally. Needed to get GM involved. I got an email to today to take a survey. Muwahahahahaha (throws head back and lets out an evil laugh!).