All in a day’s work
Shopping in today’s world is a little different. Gone are the days of simply going to a store and picking up the items you want. There are still some places like that, but once you move beyond daily needs, there are quite a few more steps to take. Make certain that the store is open; understand the distancing protocols that are in place and any other considerations prior to going. Based on experience last week, the information out there can send mixed signals as well – mapping the distance to a specialty store (my default approach to determine if I have time to go there), shows store hours that were updated only four hours earlier, and that the location was open.
I decided I had better check the company website just in case, and received information that the location was temporarily closed. Next step, call the store to confirm…only I never made it to that next step. Why? Because of a survey. When I got to the website, a pop-up appeared asking me to take a survey when I left the website. I pressed, “No, thanks,” assuming I’d be able to move forward with the task at hand. Not quite, as I hovered over the menu bar to find my desired option, the invitation popped up again – I pressed “No, thanks” again. As I set my sights for the third time in accomplishing the task at hand, the pop-up appeared again. Vanquished in my pursuit to accomplish my intended goal, I finally agreed to complete the “2-minute exit survey”.
Upon clicking yes, I was immediately “exited” from the website to conduct the survey. Hoping that perhaps completing the survey would allow me to return to my original mission. I answered a couple of questions, then came page 3 of the survey – a battery of at least fifteen questions – I surrendered, accepting the last information that I came across that the store was closed – even if it wasn’t, I would not make that journey at this point. That survey scenario will not cause me to stop shopping at that physical location, but I know I won’t be ordering only any time soon.
Building a Better Survey
Recently, as I was doing some research on the history of survey research, I got sidetracked and entered the search term “Building a Better Survey.” The term “rabbit hole” probably applies more closely than my original search term. The search results provided a variety of viewpoints: “12 best practices for creating better surveys”, “11 Tips for building effective surveys”, “10 tips to improve your online,” and “How to create a better survey in 7 steps”. Perhaps if they had a 5-step approach or even a 3-step version.
As I looked at the recommendations from various survey providers, there were a few common themes and even a few ideas that surprised me. For example, I was caught off guard by the company that said to “avoid matrix/grid questions,” particularly since it was from the same survey company from the example I mentioned above. Even more peculiar, they advertised their “improved matrix question” on their website.
I’m familiar with most of the survey technologies, tools, and providers in the survey industry today, and this double-talk does not really surprise me. Ultimately, most of us must meet the demands of the market – even if it means compromising on an approach that we feel strongly about.
Can we dance the two-step?
While I am certain that someone can probably bring it down to one rule, I want to convey that there are two things to remember when building a better survey:
- Be Concise
- Remember the Goal
Simply two steps and five words, if only all surveys were this simple. While this may be seen as oversimplifying, it really encompasses quite a bit of advice in those couple of steps. However, if you remember what is important when developing a CX Strategy, you’ll recognize that there are multiple opportunities to get feedback from the customer during the journey and that the survey experience is also part of that. It is a reason that the Net Promoter Score gained in popularity, even if not used as originally intended – simplicity and understanding. Bringing NPS back to its roots is the vision of our new NPS+. Get a comparable metric, understand churn risk, define root causes, and let customers help you to innovate – all with NPS + 2-steps. Perhaps bringing a little more concise action to the survey process again while meeting the goals.
We want you to innovate your CX program. I recently had the opportunity to speak with HorizonCX CEO Karl Sharicz and talk about how companies can innovate their CX program and bring innovation from their CX program to their customers. You can replay that discussion here.
