TABLE OF CONTENTS The remaining decisions to be taken about the survey concern timing and frequency. Of these, frequency should be considered first.
Customer satisfaction surveys can be periodic or continuous. Surveys are more likely to be continuous when the customer supplier relationship revolves around a specific event or transaction, such as taking out a mortgage, buying a computer, calling a helpline or going on vacation. In these circumstances it is very important that customers are surveyed very soon after the event before their memory fades. Surveying customers weeks after an uneventful stay in a hotel or a brief conversation with a telephone help desk are completely wasteful, but they often happen. Unless the event was very important, e.g. the purchase of a new car or a piece of capital equipment, customers should be surveyed no longer than one week after the event. Results from continuous tracking surveys are usually rolled up and reported periodically as sample size permits. Where customers are happy to be named, comments should be continuously monitored and an efficient hot alert system developed.
Event-driven surveys tend to be tactical in nature and operational in focus. They often feed quickly into action, are less likely to be confidential and more likely to be volatile. The closer to the event, the more volatile they will be. If customers are surveyed as they check out of a hotel, their responses will be very heavily influenced by their recent experience. A disappointing breakfast...
