A visit to Columbus, Ohio, means enjoying the good company of old friends and a visit to one of my favorite restaurants in North America: Cap City Fine Diner (yes, our table ordered The Cup of Chocolate – with peanut butter – but I abstained).
We had, as always, a great experience, but when I went to pay the bill, I noticed their satisfaction survey.
Sheesh. I bet they don’t get many returned – which is a shame because even good companies can benefit from constructive feedback.
Here’s how they – and you – can immediately increase the quality and quantity of your customer satisfaction survey responses.
1) Put questions about the experience at the top – hit them with the most important question first. The most important question isn’t her name, it’s her opinion of her service.
2) Trim away all but the essential. We recommend the Net Promoter Score system which is, at its core, a simple three-question, 30-second survey:
On a scale of 1 (least likely) to 10 (most likely), how likely would you be to recommend us to your friends after your experience tonight?
What’s the main reason for your answer to the first question?
If your answer to question one wasn’t a 10, what would we have to do to make it a 10?
These two questions give you everything you need to know – a scale we’ve all known since childhood, but more importantly valuable feedback from customers in the moment.
3) Why so much personal data? Cap City Fine Diner seems to ask for everything but a DNA swab. It’s totally unnecessary. If you want to add them to your email list, fine. Just ask permission and get only their first name and their email address. That’s all you need.
I do like how Cap City includes an opt-in for email, and then they reassure me they value my privacy and won’t sell, lease, trade, barter, hock, fence, or otherwise parlay my valuable email address to anyone else no matter how hard they beg and plead.
I also like how Cap City used a thick card stock and had them nicely and professionally printed. It adds a level of class that echoes the restaurant’s brand.
A major airline recently asked me to complete a survey that would only take 22-27 minutes. In the history of the earth, do you think anyone has ever filled out that survey? Maybe the survey author’s mom. Maybe.
When we look at surveys like Cap City’s we tend to feel the exact same way. Who has the time or energy – especially after finishing off The Cup of Chocolate (with the off-the-menu warm peanut butter added)?
But, by shortening your satisfaction survey and by eliminating all the but essential personal data and reassuring me you value my privacy, you will quickly see more people fill out more surveys more often.
Just desserts, indeed.
Oh, and PS – if anyone from Cap City is reading this, please turn off the autoplay music that starts when I arrive at your website. No one likes that. Not even your mom. She’s just too polite to tell you.
Oh. Autoplay music. I just encountered that tonight at http://www.pappyssmokehouse.com when I went to check them out for our upcoming trip to St. Louis. Do. Not. Want.
I also do not have time for long surveys. The Arkansas-based major importer of products from China that has ties to Columbia, MO, asked me to do a horrendous survey. Even though my experience at the store was less than satisfying, their survey was moreso.