The Customer Satisfaction Survey Snag

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Perils of Coaching

There are hidden costs to such coaching. Take, for example, the recent experience of a friend who works at a large bank. She had assisted a customer in opening a new account but did not coach him on how to respond to the survey. The surveyor used a seven-point Likert scale (agree, strongly agree, etc.), and she received a score of 6.5. As a result of getting a less than perfect store, she was required to attend additional training.

Did she provide sub-perfect service? Perhaps. Should companies strive for perfection? Absolutely. However, how do you figure that a 6.5 out of 7 justifies the cost of additional training? Unless the bank is training the entire staff at all times (and we know it isn't), it must be getting perfect scores (in this case, 7's) for more than 95% of its staff. As customers of that bank, we feel pretty confident that its actual service level is only a bit better than average. But the executives don't know that. They believe the feedback that is inflated by coaching.

Many executives fail to understand that their subordinates have erected barriers to avoid negative feedback. Employees of some companies can actually block certain customers—ones they believe would give them negative feedback—from getting survey calls. In addition, some companies make it almost impossible to give unsolicited feedback. After a recent terrible car-repair experience, we were not called (surprise!), so we tried to contact the dealership's survey function. It was nearly impossible.

Being on top of your negative feedback is more important than ever because of the transparency created by the Internet. If customers can't tell you, they will tell someone. Instead of only telling a few friends, your customers can participate in forums that allow them to share their feedback, positive or negative, with anyone and everyone who might go looking for it. Every product failing is meticulously detailed on any one of dozens of Web sites that include customer experience message boards. Remember that the tech-savvy are wont to seek input from such forums before any major purchasing decision.

In this economic climate, no company wants to waste money. You save money by eliminating misleading loyalty studies—and bad business practices. Focus on changing the ways you gather feedback, and you'll get a reading on your customers' true level of satisfaction.

Kevin P. Coyne is senior teaching professor at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University and a co-founder of The Coyne Partnership. With Patricia K. Coyne

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