Are You Working Your Customers Too Hard?

These days it seems that as soon as we buy anything, whether it’s a meal in a restaurant, an electrical product, or a car service, even a dental hygiene check, we are immediately bombarded with requests for feedback, from lengthy satisfaction surveys, to suggestions for Trip Advisor reviews and ‘star ratings’ to help businesses overtake their competitors.

Just recently, salteditor and a friend had a drink at the bar of a branch of a well-known chain. As soon as the drinks were served, the cheery restaurant manager handed us a sheaf of paper with handy instructions and a request for us to ‘rate’ them on Trip Advisor.

In another case, the manager of a long-established independent restaurant, (a favourite of salteditor’s as it happens), was complaining about the pressure he was under to take part in yet another ‘Good Food Awards’ scheme, which would involve asking every customer to fill out a form before leaving the restaurant. “We don’t want our guests to feel as though they have to do something for us,” he said, “we just want them to leave feeling that they would like to come again.”


So the dilemma is this: How should small businesses use the valuable resources available to them to harvest, assess and implement customers’ experience and views, while at the same time, just allowing the customer to enjoy a good experience?


Why you should request customer feedback:
Customers get a chance to think about you in detail, which cements your relationship.
Small problems can be identified and rectified quickly, before they escalate.
You can assess your position in your market, with regard to your competition.
You can assess the relative value of specific initiatives, such as promotions, sales, or specific offers.
You can demonstrate to your customers that you care what they think.


When you should request customer feedback:
After the service has been provided in full, and before the customer has forgotten about it.
After the customer has had a chance to experience the product fully.
Where the specific experience can be usefully evaluated, and not just as a ‘matter of course’.


How you should request customer feedback:
Choose the right time, and do not assume it is your right to expect it.
Not too often. Regular customers get very tired of being constantly asked the same questions.
Not too much. Ask questions which are relevant, which will clearly direct you to areas of potential improvement, and which the customer will appreciate are valuable.
Don’t try to direct customer response. Wording your question ‘we think all our waiting staff are marvellous, would you agree?’ is irritating; the customers may not have anything to say about the staff, but will be distracted from suggesting something more relevant to them.
Use your usual language. Use the ‘voice’ you employ for all your marketing and business literature. Don’t suddenly revert to Dickensian speech, or what you believe to be the language of academic researchers.


And before you start:
Do you really need this research?
What do you hope to gain by it?
What will you do with the results?
There is only one thing more annoying than being constantly asked if you are having a nice time, (while you are still having it) - and that's telling someone you are not having a nice time, and then seeing them do nothing about it.

​After all, your customer has the right to expect that you will do your job well, and ideally, that you will provide a better experience than he or she expects.


What else do you want – a medal?