Hello everyone:
Have you gotten weary of surveys, like I have? If you go to the car dealership, the doctor, the bookstore, the grocery store, the . . . well, you get the idea. Go somewhere and you hear from them.
If I buy a soda or get a major overhaul personally or mechanically, someone wants to know my feelings based on a scale from 1-5. This is called a Likert Scale, for the record. Was my soda delicious, based on 1=pitiful all the way to 5=terrific?
A question I have for you is: Does anybody really read these surveys? Yes, I have found that they do. I once remarked that the service was less than perfect, and I heard from the company immediately. If I give them all 5 ratings, then I’m not as likely to hear from them, though I have gotten stock “thank you” emails from the poor schmuck unfortunate enough to have the “reply to survey” job.
Once my feedback was really supercharged was when I replied to an online rating survey. I ordered a book on Amazon; the book said it was in good condition, even though it was used. When I got it, the cover was falling off and every line in the book was highlighted, except for the ones that were underlined. It was awful.
When I got the review request, which is a glorified survey, I said what I thought of the book. I got a panicked email a few days later. The company I bought it from said that their business had fallen off 90% in a few days. People took my survey comments seriously. The company said that, if I removed my bad review and gave them a good one, they would refund every penny I paid and would send me a brand-new copy of the book. I could also keep the old book.
I said, “Send me the new book and I will change my review.” They over-nighted the new book. I changed my review to read, “When there was a problem, they took care of it immediately.” We were both happy. And I realized that surveys and reviews can make a difference.
Best,
Dr. Sheri