Church of the Customer Blog
« The road to a recommendation | Main | The 5th P is Participation »
September 28, 2007
The road to a recommendation
It's been nearly three months since Jackie and I relocated the pews to funky Austin, Texas.
To complete our move, we've purchased goods and services from at least a dozen vendors with local and national roots. We've bought all types of office furniture, equipment and services. We've had things installed and had things hauled away. The investment has surpassed the GDP of Ecquador. Or so it seems.
The only vendor -- the only from more than 12! -- that asked for our opinion afterward was Best Buy.
Best Buy has made deliveries here twice; the first time, it didn't go too well, but the company was extremely apologetic and worked hard afterward to make amends. For the second delivery, the service was flawless.
One big reason why: after each delivery, the driver asked us to rate his work by handing us a bright yellow form that pointed us to a feedback website. One company out of 12.
The road to a hearty recommendation -- and Best Buy easily falls into that category -- begins, ends and begins again with asking for customer feedback.
Other blogs that reference The road to a recommendation:
I would like to able to quote this post on my website testifying to Best Buys concern for customer satisfaction.
It would serve as a testimonial for home business owners who want to know where to buy their computers and home business equipment. I go to Best Buy all the time and advise people
who are new to computers to rely on their services. So this
info. backs up my own observations.
William -- I checked with my sales manager; she said to feel free to quote away. :)
It's hard to believe that this is still happening in today's business world a quarter century after In Search of Excellence was written. I'd expect many more business to be in pursuit of flawless service.
I've blogged about the same issue myself today. It still amazes me that despite it being well known that it's cheaper to get new business from an existing customer than a new customer and that customers who have their issues resolved will be more likely to recommend you, businesses are still not chasing feedback as a matter of course.
Here's a recommendation for you.
The Beauty Bar on 7th. My cousin and his wife own it. Tell them I sent you.
More related, perhaps Best Buy was starting to realize all the backlash from years of bad customer service and are finally doing something about it. I don't go in there much anymore because I find everything I need online these days, but it's good to see someone is getting quality service out of them.
Thanks for the tip, Dave. It so happens that several people have already told Jackie about the Beauty Bar, so the place has some definite buzz.
Lacks Furniture Centers invites you to come shopping! "We'll Take Better Care of You" and we will give you a survey, at the end of your shopping experience, to allow you both to comment on your transaction and give us the benefit of your advice. We have a store full of wonderful things to make your Austin home complete. Whether you need furniture, new mattresses, appliances or just another big plasma TV, Lacks has it all! When you're done -- fill out that survey so we can know that we served you well.
Janey Lack, V.P Lacks Stores
Ben: how many questions did you have to go through on this survey? I'm in the process of designing a feedback survey and am interested in how long people are willing to spend filling out a survey. From my experience, I feel that people are more likely to answer surveys these days because they feel that the company value them as a customer and are genuinely interested in hearing about their experience. What are your take on providing incentives for answering surveys such as prizes. Personally I become a little skeptical when incentives are offered where I'm happy to fill out genuine customer feedback surveys. Very interesting observation, nevertheless....glad you wrote the entry.
Rune -- I don't remember the number but unfortunately it was, like most surveys, too long.
My take on surveys is that they shouldn't be longer than about 3-5 questions.
Simplicity rocks.
I totally agree with you, Ben. I think that you need to know the overall satisfaction with the service or product provided, possibly the likelihood to recommend the product and service to others and an open ended rant where the survey taker can point out specifics about their experience. Too many surveys I've taken starts asking you to rate them on all the various areas of the experience. Please blog about it if you receive any good or bad customer feedback surveys! I find it really interesting. Keep up the good work with this blog!
Our Delivery Satisfaction Survey has just three questions. Our form does provide a comment area to permit added notes. Customers either fill out our survey on line using their invoice # or complete a paper form of the survey provided to them in the store at the time of purchase. We study all survey returns and consider them an important resource in serving our customers well. We also respond promptly to customer emails received through our web site.
Janey Lack
V.P. Lacks Stores
