Customer satisfaction surveys: disadvantages & risks
Customer satisfaction surveys have no disadvantages as such, but they do involve (avoidable) risks and potential sources of error. However, if you follow our tips on planning your customer satisfaction survey and find the right survey tool for your customer survey, there is very little that can go wrong.
At our customers’ request, we would like to present and explain the four greatest risks and avoidable mistakes associated with customer satisfaction surveys:
Telling instead of asking
Instead of asking focused questions, companies often suggest answers to customers or list product features. A successful customer satisfaction survey works the other way round: short, concise and precise questions should elicit detailed and honest answers. Even if you are used to presenting your company and its products, a customer satisfaction survey is primarily about listening.
Restrictions instead of freedom
Many companies tend to present customers with long matrices containing numerous boxes to tick. The intended aim is to obtain comparable responses, but the actual result is often frustration and survey abandonment. Why? Because it is impossible to provide every suitable response option for every customer. Customers are therefore forced to choose between selecting an inaccurate answer and abandoning the survey. Instead, give them the freedom to express their own opinions and write their own answers. They will appreciate it, and the insights you gain are often more profound.
How instead of why
When creating a customer satisfaction questionnaire, people often tend to ask only “how” questions (How satisfied are you with…? How would you rate…?). Yet what you really want to know is “why” – and customers generally want to tell you. Therefore, always ask why the customer is satisfied or dissatisfied, or why they gave a particular rating. This allows you to discover the real reasons behind good or poor ratings, for example, and take appropriately targeted action where necessary.
Once and never again
If you conduct a customer satisfaction survey only once a year, you will find out only once a year how customers rate the service or product you provide. With the right software, running satisfaction surveys regularly is neither expensive nor time-consuming. Regular surveys allow you not only to identify weaknesses, but also to ask about, derive and review appropriate measures.
Read more: The best tips for a customer satisfaction survey questionnaire
I am more than satisfied, both with the customer service (thank you again for the quick help in sorting things out with our data protection officer!) and with creating and analysing the survey. Your tool is really helpful. I found everything I needed straight away and was able to implement my ideas well. Thank you very much!
We successfully use LamaPoll for our customer and employee surveys. Ease of use, helpful personal support and the high level of data protection offered by LamaPoll are particularly important to us.
