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It puzzles me why so many organisations keep wasting good money gathering feedback from customers that doesn’t tell them what they need to know. I have in mind the much used annual or bi-annual Customer Satisfaction Surveys. A long time ago research showed that there is no direct relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty, and extensive further research since then has continued to confirm that. So if the goal of a survey is to discover ways loyalty can be improved, asking questions about customer satisfaction will not provide many, if any, useful insights. But if questions about customer satisfaction are unlikely to tell us what we need to know, the question is…..what questions will?

I am convinced there are five key areas for questioning that will provide really worthwhile information and key insights into what could be done to improve loyalty. I’ve listed them below, with examples of the type of questions you might ask.

• Was what you experienced in any way different to what you expected?
• Which of your expectations were not met?
• Were you made to feel as welcome as you expected?
• Which of your expectations were exceeded?

• How easy did you find us to do business with?
• How easy was it to get any information you needed?
• How easily did you achieve any goals you had?

• What did you feel about …….?
• How valued as a customer did you feel?
• What feelings did you have when …..?
• What words would you use to describe how you felt about …….?

• What do you remember most about the experience?
• Is the anything you will never forget?
• Did you later tell any family/friends/colleagues about anything you experienced?
• If asked, how would you describe your experience to family/friends/colleagues?

• Based on your experience, how likely are you to recommend us to family/friends/colleagues?
• Have you ever recommended us to family/friends/colleagues?

My experience with all types and sizes of organisations in both B2B and B2C sectors have shown that these types of questions elicit really valuable information that if used well, can indicate where changes can be made that will improve customer loyalty. So if you’re still using customer satisfaction surveys, maybe you should seriously question your questions?

© copyright Chris Daffy