When we "B.S." ourselves...this is no way to manage!

I got my car serviced. All went fine. It runs nice.

I got this email (I have removed the company name and will call the author of the email "Bob.") from my car company:

Hello this is Bob from Vendor A.  I just wanted to touch base with you and make sure everything went okay with your service visit.  If you have any further questions or concerns that I did not get addressed please let me know so I can get them handled for you.

You will also be getting an email from Vendor A HQ with a link to a survey.  I would really appreciate it if you would take a minute out of your day and complete it for me.  This survey is my report card and I strive to earn a “10” or “yes” on every answer.  In fact anything below a “5” is a failing grade for me.  If there is anything I need to do to earn those “10” and “yes” grades from you please let me or my manager, Sally,  know so we can get everything resolved to make you comfortable in giving me those “10” and “yes” answers.

Thank you again for your time,

I know this approach is not unique. A lot of big companies are "asking" for perfect survey scores. It is a common practice. So why am I writing about it????

Because as common as it is...it is BS!!!!! BS!!!!!

Do you want real feedback? Do you want to know what you do well and where fixes are in order? Do you want your employees to be engaged for service's sake (versus to avoid punishment)? If you care one iota about any of these things, you would not take this approach.

The bottom line is that I was satisfied with my service but there were a couple of things I think could have been done differently. Do you think I am going to share this feedback now - knowing that Bob might be harmed? His 25 cents/hour raise in jeopardy? No, I won't.

It's time to get real. Fuzzy math and survey plumping is like kryptonite to Superman - it takes away your power to actually manage, improve, and build loyalty.

Managers unite! Call these practices out for what they are. Be the brave one to say, "what are we really getting when we do this?" Are you with me?

Be real, corporate America! Step outside your doctored Excel spreadsheets and take an honest interest in improving your business.

BTW - Bob is not the problem, here. Bob did a great job and he is just a pawn in this charade.

BTW#2 - The charade is really expensive. Nice investment? Not!

Comments

[home rental management company]

Great Post! It's very nice to read this info from someone that actually knows what they are talking about.

[Sara Rickover]

I took a survey for a car dealer's service department one time, and was honest in the feedback I gave -- they hadn't fixed the problem I took the car in for; they said they couldn't find the problem. Three riders in the car had noticed the issue. The service manager called me back to complain I hadn't given the service I got a 10. No kidding.

[Julie Robert]

Feedback is very important not only for the seller but for the buyer as well. Because, this is the thing which inform sellers about his products and services that how buyer perceive these. Buyers should give original feedback to sellers so they give excellent services to them.

[Rich Stone]

I had blogged about a similar experience last year. You are 100% correct. The worst thing, is that they are wasting their own customer's time to bias their valuable feedback.

http://political-capital.posterous.com/hear-me-out-or-shut-them-up

From a management perspective, it is a CWT (complete waste of time), for all involved. What is worse, it could be fixed easily.