One thing that impressed me about my recent trip to Disney World (for Versta Research’s presentation on infographics at LIMRA’s annual market research conference) was this: It felt nice not to be badgered at every “touch point” for survey feedback about how they were doing. Indeed, Disney World is known for taking customer experience to…
Is it true that a survey respondent can race through a survey, giving identical high or low ratings on all questions, and still provide valid data? Absolutely, which is why we argue against coaching respondents to give “more thoughtful” and varied answers when filling out surveys. In fact, our post last week (Don’t Stop Your…
There are plenty of good reasons to use Net Promoter Scores (NPS). They are based on sound measurement, are simple to use, are conceptually compelling, and are widely known by business executives outside of market research. But you know something is amiss when your bank starts asking how likely you are to recommend the online…
Just last week a client proposed having their salespeople recruit customers to take the loyalty and satisfaction survey we had launched for them. It’s a terrible idea, for exactly the reasons that Dagwood realizes with his baffled look in this cartoon. If you want honest feedback that your business unit can honestly use to improve,…
The next time you analyze the results of your customer satisfaction or brand loyalty tracking study, and you notice an upward or downward shift, ask yourself this: Is it reasonable to think that certain customers—either the happy ones or the unhappy ones—were more willing to give you their opinions than the other group? If so,…
I used to get more worked up about survey answer scales than I do nowadays. I didn’t like even-numbered scales, including 1 to 10 scales (no midpoint!) or five point scales (too blunt!) or seven or nine point scales (not intuitive!). I liked zero to ten scales—and still do—because they offer good opportunity for respondent…
Don’t waste money delighting your customers. That’s the message from an intriguing new study and report just issued by the Corporate Executive Board. Why not delight your customers? Because meeting expectations is enough to keep them loyal. Going beyond those expectations and “delighting” them has no measurable impact on loyalty. Quoting from the report: Most…
Over the last decade satisfaction research has shifted strongly towards loyalty research. This shift has been driven, in part, by widespread interest in Net Promoter Scores (NPS) as a way to benchmark against other companies and link the customer experience more directly to financial outcomes. But it turns out that focusing so much on loyalty…