Should organizations let customers know that they will be receiving a satisfaction survey? View as slide show Adapted from AdPrin.com

British Air Campaign British Airways advertising campaign invited people to try its business class. If not satisfied, they were told in the campaign that they would receive free coach tickets for another trip. Was that a good idea? ___ Yes___ No Explain. No, those who expected to evaluate the product would be expected to be less satisfied. Adapted from AdPrin.com2

Evidence People who expected satisfaction surveys were looking for reasons to be dissatisfied – and they found them (Ofir and Simonson 2001)Ofir and Simonson 2001 Also, the use of pre-announced satisfaction surveys is unlikely to reveal the resons for dissatisfaction. (Lane & Keaveney 2005)Lane & Keaveney 2005 The evidence is described in Persuasive Advertising p 135. For a short discussion, see “How to Improve Service Quality and Satisfaction”How to Improve Service Quality and Satisfaction

Alternative: Ask Customers About Good Service In its “be a dazzle detective” campaign, Comfort Suites hotel chain encouraged visitors to report on cases of staff members “doing something right” (Persuasive Advertising p 135) Many firms are now using “Above and Beyond Certificates.” They ask customers to “help us deliver excellent service by telling us when we get it right.” Such an approach is consistent with the research on consumer satisfaction.

Based on this exercise, write a small application step for yourself, and set a deadline, preferably within one week. If you are working with someone else, share your application plan and the results of your application. For example, reconsider whether you should use pre-announced satisfaction surveys in your organization. They cost money and get people upset. To date, we are not aware of a single experiment study that would support the use of such surveys. Alternative procedures, such as asking sales people to keep records of complaints, an occasional small sample surprise survey, or asking consumers to report on good experiences are preferable. Adapted from AdPrin.com