I'm one of those people that almost always completes those satisfaction surveys after making a purchase, taking a flight, or staying at a hotel. Customer feedback is an important link in the customer experience chain, so if I don't give it, I probably shouldn't expect to get it (the improved experience, that is).
About ten days ago, I stayed one night at the Hilton Garden Inn Denver South/Meridian in Colorado. Two days after checking out, I received an email from the hotel, asking me to complete a brief satisfaction survey. I finally got around to completing and submitting the survey yesterday.
Today, I recieved an email from the General Manager at that hotel thanking me for staying there, and for taking the time to share my feedback. And then he asked me a question about one of my responses.
Here's why I felt this was an event worthy of a blog post - of all the surveys that I complete, surprisingly few companies acknowledge them, and those who do usually do it through an impersonal, automated email.
It's rare that a company actually follows up personally to close the loop on a customer's survey resposne. But those who do, are very often the leaders in their industries, with the highest levels of customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.
Is that a coincidence??!
If you ask a customer a question, and the customer answers your question, would you ignore them, or respond in kind? Why should a survey be any handled any differently?
