After I bought my new car, I was contacted four separate times from different people at the dealership to “make sure everything was satisfactory” and to remind how important it was that I fill out their customer satisfaction survey and rate them all 5 stars.
The sales rep asked me. His manager asked me. The sales VP asked me. The customer service girl asked me.
At other businesses, if there’s going to be a survey, how often do you think I am reminded in advance to give them the highest ratings on a follow up survey?
If you answered 100% of the time, you’d be correct.
I understand. It’s all about the money.
The asker has told me that if they do not receive all 5 stars, they will be paid less. Some say they will be demoted or fired.
The rated person might be a car salesman, the cable TV install contractor, an Uber driver, a veterinary tech, or a customer service rep.
Most of the time, I’ll give all 5 stars regardless of the service. I don’t want to be the bad guy who legitimately rates the service lower for long hold times, unfriendly policies, or crappy quality that the individual who is being rated has no control over. Why should I punish the rep?
So these surveys do not accurately reflect the customer’s perception of service. Rather they reflect a customer’s empathy for a person who is in a crappy position where they are rewarded or penalized based on ratings.
- The reps know they are gaming the system.
- The customer know they are gaming the system.
- The managers know they are gaming the system.
I am sure the owners know they are gaming the system too.
So why is everyone doing it?
The system is broken. If we incentivize people to get 5 stars, they will work on getting 5 stars. We should instead pay them for doing a good job. Of course, that’s not as easy to do.
Starting today, I am opting out of this farce.
I will either not fill out any surveys or I’ll tell the truth.
If we all did this, perhaps we could all admit the obvious – that the Emperor Has No Clothes.
Then perhaps the system can reset and the better companies can get back to incentivizing their people to do good work for decent pay instead of paying them the least amount possible and using make believe surveys as punishment tools .
Then again, probably not