Ever Wonder What Happens to Your Customer Surveys
I don’t know about you, but I would prefer a provider not pretend they care about what you have to say as opposed to claiming they care, and then don’t follow thru. We are conditioned to providers not doing anything after the purchase such that we don’t give it much thought when they don’t. More often than not, I don’t respond to providers’ requests for a survey response, but sometimes, because they have a great way of asking for it, or something really good or bad happened, I do respond. So now the provider has raised the bar, especially when they ask, “Can somebody follow-up with you if they have additional questions?” or “Would you like someone to follow-up with you?”
And people remember ….I remember that I had an issue at the Ritz-Carlton, they provided a follow-up survey, I responded, asked for someone to contact me, and no one ever did. I will remember that, not for what happened at the hotel, but how they handled the follow-up. I remember that the Holiday Inn send out a survey to one of my employees who stayed at the hotel, had a problem, and how did they respond – the next time he stayed there, they acknowledged the problem, said the problem was fixed, and there was a bucket full of complimentary bottled water when he checked in. What will we remember more, the problem or how they handled it?
So where am I heading with this, and what does it have to do with great Customer Service? If you are going to tell your customers that you care about their feedback, and that feedback is important because it helps you provide great customer service, you better follow thru, or telling your customers that Customer Service is important to you is just hollow words, and they will remember.
Great Customer Service takes more than some words or a survey. It requires commitment and follow-thru. Remember that the next time you tell your customers you provide superior customer service.
Until Next Time,
Stephen
