The Pros & Cons of Surveys
Surveys are often plagued with biases and inaccuracies. The really big problem is that the information they omit or obscure can be what’s most central to increasing customer loyalty.
While customer satisfaction surveys make up a huge industry, which is not going away anytime soon, we find that companies frequently use poorly designed surveys that run counter to their best interests.
5 Responses to “The Pros & Cons of Surveys”
About Pros Cons Surveys
One ‘pro’ that you didn’t mention is that companies expect to do surveys so the manager who doesn’t produce survey results may be viewed as remiss in their boss’s eyes. How do you sell alternate methods to stakeholders? If you can address this I may be game to try something new.
By Julie Falkenberg on Apr 11, 2008
One more thought about this … one has to look at the current political climate to know that surveys don’t work. I assume the best market research companies in the world administer these surveys but not one of them can agree on who is in the lead. When they project the point spread is between Barack and Hillary, the results are more often than not wildly off the mark.
By Julie Falkenberg on Apr 11, 2008
About the cons of surveys … the last time I bought a car, my sales rep said (and I kid you not) “I can take $500 of the price if you fill out a satisfaction survey and give me all 5’s, that’s the totally satisfied grade.” Because I’m a cheapskate I agreed to the survey and bought the car. Talk about gaming the system! I just don’t get how corporate America could be so oblivious to the fact that these kinds of deals are made every day.
By Rollin Thomas on May 6, 2008
Contra surveys … “are we delivering?”. That’s what we want to know. We want to deliver a “superior”" experience. The survey leads you down a path ending at the “mean”. And, a biased mean at best. Last time I checked, “average” did not equal “superior”.
By Curt Smeller on Jun 2, 2008
Based on our findings we’ve seen that respondents feel that the standard approach to surveying is becoming less effective. Surveys certainly are one way to obtain information; however respondents are looking for a more interactive experience. Many surveying techniques can be unilateral. With the advent of “social networking” we’ve found that people are more interested in a mutual exchange of information. This is the main reason why we focus on enhancing relationships between businesses and their customers through interaction and communication from both parties as opposed to using surveys.
By AlliedInput on Sep 3, 2008