Surface Ripples

Asking Questions Right

I often receive questionnaires or “feedback forms” asking what I think about the “Customer Service” (or just the “Service”) I’ve received from a particular business.  In some cases, the questionnaire/feedback form comes right after my interaction.

Every organisation that’s serious about keeping its customers loyal wants to know what it can do to make things better.  If we don’t look after our customers, someone else will, and bang goes our business.

The three main ingredients for a successful customer experience are that:

1. It should meet customers’ needs
2. It should be easy to use
3. It should be enjoyable

All our efforts should be geared towards these three goals.  To do this, we need to ask the questions that support this.

The art is knowing why we’re asking, when to ask, what to ask, how to ask, what we’ll do with the information and how our customers will benefit. 

Why Are We Asking?

Are we introducing new products, improving service or making sure that service is meeting (or exceeding) our customers’ expectations?  What answers do we need and what will we do with them (see below).

When to Ask?

Closely related to Why Are We Asking, this depends on the business and why it’s asking.  If we want immediate feedback, we ask right after the interaction.  If we’re looking at introducing new/different products/services, we ask before making any major investments.  

What to Ask:

What do we really need to know to make our customers happy?  We should never assume we know what they need.  Needs evolve over time, particularly if there’s competition.  I’ve worked with businesses whose competitive advantage is simply the quality of service they provide.  Others may be cheaper, faster or closer, but this isn’t always what customers want.  In short, we need to ask the “right” questions.

What Do We Do to Make it Easy to Answer?

After working out the “right” questions, we need to “ask them right”.  It’s no use working on what information to extract if we can’t extract it in a way that ensures that we’re “on the same page” as our customers.  For example, I’ve been asked to rate my level of satisfaction with one of several “emojis”, e.g: 

😠 ☹️ 😐 🙂 😃 

It’s one way of obtaining quick, easy-to-give feedback, but does my definition of (say) 😐correspond with what the business means?  Does 😐mean “neutral” or “satisfied”?   If our customer is in a position where they’re asking themselves, “What do they mean by…?”, we haven’t asked the question right.

If we want the “right” answers to what we think are the “right” questions, we have to make sure customers understand what we mean. However hard we try, this is never easy.  My definition of “satisfactory” may be stricter or more demanding than someone else’s, so what I describe as “satisfactory” may be “excellent” for someone else as we both have different expectations.  

What Action Will We Take?

Assuming we’ve asked the “right” questions and obtained the “right” answers, what are we going to do?  Is there anything we can do (assuming we can afford it and we’re not breaking any laws, etc)?  There’s no point in getting a response, building up a customer’s expectations, and then finding we can’t do anything.

How Will Respondents Benefit?

If I respond to a questionnaire or feedback form, my expectation is that something will happen (even if it’s just a response from the business thanking me).  Too often, my experience has been that my response seems to disappear into cyberspace (even if I’ve given a low score for something).  

Making sure we’re meeting (and exceeding) our customer’s needs is key to surviving in a world that’s growing ever more competitive.  Knowing how our customers think and what they really  want is the key to success.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 12:01