By on October 3, 2017

Much like most Service Desks, you probably want to measure how well you’re scoring with your customers. You make a survey, but the results just aren’t coming in. Perhaps you should ask if your survey is user-friendly enough.

Customers are usually happy to give feedback – as long as it’s easy for them to do so. The clearer their experience is, the better results you get.

I delivered a webinar on this very topic which you can find via this link. But if you are a bit pressed for time, the key take-away of that webinar is that your customer satisfaction survey should be customer centric. How?

1. Manage expectations

Faced with a survey request, the essential question in a customer’s mind is “do I or don’t I fill in this survey?” Make sure you get more “do’s” than “don’ts” by managing expectations.

Remember that your customers may be busy – so it’s best to keep it brief for their benefit. Let them know it won’t require much effort by saying something like “30 second survey” or “just a quick question.” And if you do need some more in-depth information, let them know before they start. This usually means less drop-offs half-way through, when they realise filling in your survey was a bigger undertaking than they thought.

2. Make it seamless

The best point to ask for feedback is right after completion of a service. Quick 5 star ratings with a comment box at the point of ticket closure give really high submission rates, and tend to give you everything you need. If you have ever seen those “how was your experience?” modules with the red to green smiley faces that you can find in airports, you know what effect to aim for.
If you feel like you need to ask more questions – be careful! You may well do, but try your upmost to cut as much “excess fat” as possible. Do you really need this data? My colleague Sarah wrote a great piece on that here.

And remember that even from a small statistics you can get a lot of insight: seasonal variance, differences between different call types, and so on.

3. Make it short

If you do end up needing a longer questionnaire, make sure it doesn’t take a lot more extra time from customers. Don’t expect them to write essay-style answers to your questions.

Make the process of answering the question as simple as possible. Star ratings, one-word replies etc. You will get more replies, clearer replies and an easier time analysing your data.

4. Make it clear

Not everyone speaks Service on your level. Refrain from using jargon, and make sure the questions are clear and concise. But on top of that, make sure that the point of the question is easily understood. Why is it in there, and what exactly are you trying to find out?

Being clear, consistent and transparent is key not only in good service, but also for good surveys.

More on Surveys, Customer Focus and a modern approach to Service Management in our Customer Centricity E-book.