A popular topic on this blog over the past year has been customer satisfaction surveys and their accompanying issues. Among these is the issue of employee involvement, when workers inform a customer about a survey. Whether it’s a cashier reminding the customer that the company “strives for fives” or a car salesman stating that his bonus depends on top-box scores, the integrity of the survey risks being compromised if there is even the slightest prodding or coaching.
It’s a much-discussed subject and it seems that researchers – and their clients – have taken note.
I recently filled out an online customer satisfaction survey for a national retailer to receive a discount on my next purchase. Near the end of the survey, after asking if a sales associate had alerted me to the survey (one had), the next question was this:
Did an associate ask you to respond to this survey in a specific way?
Color me shocked! It was the first time I’d seen a question like this. After speaking with a few of my colleagues, I learned that other companies have also recently hopped on the protecting-data-quality bandwagon.
I have to say, it’s a delight to know that, through whatever means, the concerns of researchers and survey-takers are being heard and acted upon. After all, it’s all in the name of better data and happier respondents.
Have you seen similar questions in recent surveys? What other questions and safeguards could be put in place to help the cause?