Though designed to enhance customer experiences, post-service customer surveys might actually harm a business’s relationships with consumers, reports Futurity.org.
Companies that use immediate follow-up customer surveys or multiple follow-up surveys may open themselves to negative consequences, a new study finds.
Customers who were satisfied with the specific service they received may jump to the conclusion that the service was comprehensive so they don’t need to return in the near future for other services.
The findings are important to service-oriented businesses, because the industry typically uses a significant amount of their marketing-research budget on customer-satisfaction surveys, that collect data on customers, such as types of service used, name, e-mail, phone, address, and customer history.
To combat the delay of repeat business that surveys create, Dholakia says, companies should consider offering their customers an attractive coupon redeemable only within a certain period, or free services on the next post-survey visit, to stimulate customers to come back sooner.
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