In this article you’ll learn the following:

• Companies measure customer satisfaction to stroke their own egos
• Fishing for compliments = fooling yourself
• The two big pitfalls of customer research
• Why asking after a Net Promotor Score is a bad question
• Tips for good questions in customer research
• Why you should research customer dissatisfaction. And how.

Companies measure customer satisfaction to stroke their own egos

A lot of companies collect customer feedback.

That should make me happy.
Because the basis of everything that AGConsult does, is user research.

But I’m not happy.
Because the last few years, something has gone horribly wrong.

Most companies focus way too much on getting high marks when they’re measuring customer satisfaction.
And in doing so they’re subconsciously making some big mistakes.

Just like you, probably.

Of course, it’s nice to get a pad on the shoulder. To pat yourself on the back because you’ve gotten a high Net Promotor Score (NPS) .

Such an excellent customer satisfaction score fits right into the Good News Show a lot of companies like to present.

But do you know what?

Fishing for compliments = fooling yourself

By fishing for compliments, you’re not learning anything.

But what’s worse, and more dangerous: you will receive results that don’t reflect reality.

The way that companies measure customer satisfaction is wrong. And it’s a big threat to their future growth. Because they’re fooling themselves.

That’s why companies thing that their customers are satisfied. While in reality, they’re not.

This also explains the remarkable numbers we keep bringing up. And that you, as a loyal reader, are probably really sick of. ?

• 80% of customers claims that they’re customer centric and customer friendly.
• Only 8% of their customers agree.

Whoops.

Of course, that’s a dangerous situation. Because when a company no longer sees its customers’ frustrations, the odds are that a lot of the marketshare is suddenly taken in with a new player.

Yup, a good news atmosphere like that has a negative impact on your company’s growth. Shame some CEO’s and managers fail to realize that.

The two big pitfalls of customer research

Most companies steer their customers, consciously or not, in the direction of a positive result.

These are the two most prevalent pitfalls when measuring customer satisfaction.

Pitfall 1: Pushing customers towards a high rating

I’m encountering this phenomenon more and more.

Employees that push customers towards a high rating. Which of course makes the whole study fake as can be.

2 examples that I’ve encountered myself in the last few weeks:

• When picking up my car from the shop after its yearly maintenance, I was asked “to give a 10/10 score when I receive my mail or text survey.”
• After a less-than-positive score during a live chat with a company, I was suddenly given a phone number to call. And after that conversation, asked if I don’t want to change my rating.

Pure manipulation. Everything to get that high score.

But what does that teach you?

Absolutely nothing!

Yes, you’ll have a nice grade to present to the board of directors.

And after fiddling around in PowerPoint or Keynote you’ve got a graph that’s even more impressive.

Congrats. Seriously.

But how is this helping you and your company to improve your products and services?

How does it help you make your customers happier? 

It doesn’t!

Pitfall 2: Asking the wrong question

Most surveys paint a more positive picture of customer satisfaction than is true in reality.

That’s often because the questions in those surveys are anything but neutral.

An example, also from this week: “How satisfied are you about our technician’s visit?”

See the problem?

Exactly.

You’re already providing the expected answer. What you’re really saying, is that the customer should be happy. You only want to know “how happy” they are.

Much better is the question: “How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with our technician’s visit?”

Your score might be lower, but it’ll be more accurate.

Why asking after a Net Promotor Score is a bad question

In the last fifteen years, so many companies have been obsessed with the Net Promotor Score. Despite the fact that NPS has been deemed unrealiable in many scientific studies.

From our user research perspective, we’ve also got our reservations about it.

Let’s take a look at the official NPS-question: “How probable is it that you would recommend X to friends or colleagues?”

It. Drives. Me. Nuts.

That question makes a mockery of several fundamental principles of customer research.

For three reasons:

1. It’s a suggestive question
   Why not ask: “You would recommend us to someone, right?”
   That ‘probable’ is much too suggestive. And it pushes people towards a positive answer.
   
   
2. You’re putting me on the spot
   Personally, I don’t consider words like friends and colleagues to be really neutral. They invoke positive vibes.
   
   But there’s another, bigger problem. What if I would recommend this product to my nerdy colleague, but not to my best friend?
   
   Take Netflix, for example. I would recommend Netflix to a lot of people. But will I also advise against it to people who rarely watch series.
   
   And that nuance cannot be indicated in the official NPS question
   
   
3. No one can predict the future
   When was the last time you visited a fortune teller about the future of your company?
   
   Probably never.
   
   Because you know no one can predict the future.
   

So, why is the question that you’re using to measure customer satisfaction, a question about the future?

Do you really believe that your customers can predict the future?

Tips for good questions in customer research

Do you really need to dump the whole thing in the trash right now?

No.

But, it is time to ask the questions that will make your customer satisfaction research better.  

1. Ask a neutral question
   Gone are questions like “How satisfied…”, “How good…” and “How fast…”
   
   Say hello to questions like “How satisfied or dissatisfied are you…” or “How did you feel about…”
   
   
2. Ask about the past. Not about the future.
   Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. We all know that.
   
   And at Netflix, they’ve researched that. Instead of asking the official NPS-question, they asked a similar question. “Have you recommended Netflix to your family or friends in the last six weeks?”

This is not a question about the future. But one about the not-so-distant past.

The result? Netflix saw a direct correlation between the number of ‘yes’ answers and their growth curve.

And we see that in general. Questions about the past give much better insights, even into future behavior and the growth of your organization.

No questions about ‘what you might do,’ but rather ‘what you actually did.’ That is a huge difference.

And do you remember that nuance? I might recommend it to one person but not to another?

That dilemma also disappears here. Did you recommend us? It doesn’t matter to whom. Yes or no. And not on an absurd scale of 1 to 10.

Don’t focus on the score itself, but on what can be improved.

Changing your main question is a good start.

A score alone doesn’t tell you much.

That’s why you should always ask a follow-up question and use those responses to enhance your products and services.

For example, if you ask ‘How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with our technician?’, you could follow up with:

For a score of 10: What is the main reason you gave us a 10?
For a score of 9: What’s the one thing we could improve to get a 10 next time?
For scores between 6 and 8: What are the two main things we need to improve or change?
And so on.

Why you should focus on customer dissatisfaction and how to do it

If you truly want to become customer-centric, you need to take it a step further.

Stop measuring customer satisfaction. Instead, look for what causes dissatisfaction. Identify the major and minor annoyances and frustrations of your customers and prospects.

Only by doing this can you address those issues effectively

What do you need to do for this?

The opposite of what you’ve been doing so far. Instead of steering your customers toward the positive, guide them towards the negative. That means using slightly more negative language.

By doing this, they’ll think harder about what can be improved. And they’ll give you much more valuable feedback on your follow-up question.

We find that we get the best results with questions that start with “How difficult was it to…”

• How difficult was it to make an appointment?
• How hard was it to complete your purchase??
• How complicated was it to request a quote?

This is gold. Especially if you ask the question right after the action, such as on the thank you or confirmation page.

And it goes without saying that you should always follow up with another question.

Questions like:

• What did you find the most difficult?
• What annoyed you the most?

Not sure how to to approach measuring customer dissatisfaction to increase customer happiness?
We’re happy to help. Get in touch for a chat.