My original post-service survey
When I first started sending a post-service survey after a service visit, the surveys were this long:
They contained around 25 questions, took “forever” to complete, and yielded so much data that we never had the time or resources to produce actionable insight. And we never provided any feedback to the respondents about what we learned and what we would improve.
Those were the days when the vendor was King or Queen, and customers were afraid to not complete the survey for fear that we would somehow punish them!
New style post-service survey
Well, times have changed.
Today, the customers are Kings and Queens, and the vendors (that would be me) are constantly trying to create value for our customers and trying even harder not to waste their time. And now, the post-service survey has been reduced to the absolute minimum number of questions. Like this:
Coincidentally, I received two email surveys today. The first is from my Web hosting and support firm. They respond to email questions automatically (less than 5 minutes from when I open the ticket). They were a bit slow today handling my request because it took them about 15 minutes to do something that has been bothering me for a while.
I wanted the ability to select either myself or a “Guest Author” when I post a guest blog. My content management system only allows people to be identified as authors if they have a company email address. Now I have that capability!
They set up a dummy email address, and I got the second author. After a back-and-forth exchange of emails, the ticket was closed out. Along with the close ticket message came this survey:
Pretty cool, right? I think people will send comments for the Just Okay and Not Good choices, although I doubt if the web folks ever earn that feedback. But the only way for them to get any detail is to hope the customer will add something useful in the Comment box. And if someone tells them they are fantastic, they have no idea why.
Yesterday, I had a plumber do some work on a sink at my house. Their system is to have the technicians drop off their work tickets at their office the following day. So, my slip was delivered to the plumber’s office by 8 AM. At 1:22 PM, I received an email with a nice thank you message and my invoice. I had the choice of sending a check or calling them with my credit card information. (I know that a more modern system would have me enter my credit card information, and the system would process it without any interaction on their part, but I like the person there and enjoy the banter when I call.) A few minutes later, I received the “PAID” invoice and this simple survey:
I checked the left-hand emoji and immediately received this more elaborate survey:
This survey now tells the service provider how I feel about their plumbing service and why I feel the way I do.
Can you ask for anything more? And, because the survey is so short and easy, I know I will continue to provide feedback. It helps keep these two companies delivering great service. If you live near me (Framingham, MA), I am happy to provide all the information for you to contact either company and take advantage of their excellent service. For the plumber, you had better be a neighbor because I doubt they would travel Internationally to fix a sink!
Key Takeaway
Are you providing a post-service survey to collect feedback after you perform a service activity? Because of the things I just described, this is what we now expect from our B2B service providers.
About Middlesex Consulting
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