Satisfaction control after complaint handling

If the customer does not contact the supplier after a complaint has been dealt with, the supplier assumes that everything is in the green. Often there is still a residue of dissatisfaction, the customer finds it too time-consuming to comment on this again, and the supplier is happy not to have to deal with the tiresome subject of complaints any further. If you do without feedback from the customer, you are not informed about the level of satisfaction. "Customers Voice", the voice of the customer, counts, not the presumption of the supplier.

The "free quality representative
Relevant data about customer opinion is not obtained by asking a closed and general question, "Are you satisfied now?" Feedback consists of open questions that refer to details of the complaint handling. B-to-B customers generally perceive satisfaction queries positively, as it shows them the supplier's perfect after-sales service.

When it comes to the satisfaction survey, you have to reckon with internal resistance from your own employees. They think that this is a control action behind their back. The customer also has the feeling that the supplier is controlling his team, especially in the case of low-value orders. If management convincingly explains the benefits of systematic satisfaction surveys to staff and includes them in the design of the questionnaire, resistance is reduced. Surveys avoid subjective self-assessment, mistakes become transparent and can be avoided. Even if the assessment is a snapshot, conclusions can be drawn about the supplier's performance and the customer's perception. A customer who makes critical comments is a "free quality representative" for the supplier.

Satisfaction surveys make sense for first-time orders or particularly important customers, not for smaller orders. The assessment by the customer should not refer to an employee, but to the department or the overall performance of the company.

Scepticism in customer surveys
However, skepticism is also warranted: Only a few customers complete the questionnaire, and the response rate is in the single digits. Customers are very sensitive about the misuse of their data. The mere suspicion that an external call center is behind the survey leads to mistrust that data will be passed on. The supplier fears that he will not always be able to meet the high demands of his clientele, especially since the upstream supplier or service provider is also the cause of a complaint and one has no influence over him. How should one react to critical customer reviews in this situation?

The terms and conditions as standards of the supplier deviate from customer expectations and cannot be adapted to individual opinions. In the case of customer fault and unjustified complaints, critical comments in the questionnaire cannot be implemented. The customer ticks spontaneously depending on his mood and gives little thought to the consequences of his evaluation.

On the other hand, customer surveys have more advantages than disadvantages: The customer appreciates that you value his opinion, he feels taken seriously. Those who take the initiative with their own survey prevent dissatisfied customers from pillorying the company online. The letter form with reply envelope is no longer up to date, queries are mostly carried out online, whereby anonymity is not possible. With important customers who do not return the mailed questionnaire, however, it seems intrusive to send a written reminder to return the questionnaire. A phone call seems less official.

The questionnaire
The questions should be formulated in a language appropriate to the target group. They must be unambiguous, i.e. each question may only identify one aspect (be careful with "and" or "or" links!). They should leave as little room for interpretation as possible and be formulated in concrete terms. For the scaling, the 5-level system has proven itself. The highest value is always on the far left. A variant are text statements "very good", "good", satisfactory", "sufficient " and "poor". But the degree of fulfilment in percentages is also possible: 100, 75, 50, 25, 0 percent. In the order of the questions, the easier questions should be asked first. If questions that are difficult to answer are already at the beginning, the customer will have to think, it will be too complicated for him and he will break off. You can install a weighting in the questionnaire. You ask the customer to mark the three most important topics in the questionnaire with an exclamation mark.

The questionnaire is emailed no later than 10 working days after the complaint has been settled. The customer's handwritten comments are to be given special attention, even if they are difficult to evaluate statistically.

Questionnaires that require a processing time of 20 minutes are not processed by the customer. Therefore, only a maximum of 10 questions that can be answered in about five minutes are ideal. Customers who do not return the questionnaire are called. However, there is a risk that the customer will give courtesy answers to sympathetic staff and poor survey results will be disposed of by the supplier. Therefore, external companies are hired for telephone surveys.

In the case of a negative response from the customer, one must not adopt a defensive attitude, seek justification or dispose of the questionnaire. A justified customer criticism is for the company a current assessment of the situation and a chance to improve something. If criticism leads to no improvement, you irritate the customers. Therefore, the satisfaction survey obliges to make changes.

Possible observation errors
Evaluating complaint handling is a process of perception for the customer and requires good judgement and the ability to compare with other suppliers. Various errors are typical: One speaks of the "overlighting effect" when the customer concludes from a conspicuous question in the form to the entire evaluation. An extreme evaluation outshines all other perceptions. The "recency effect" means that the last contact during the transaction excessively shapes the overall impression and influences the scores of all questions. "Likeability effect" means that likeable employees of the supplier lead to a positive evaluation, while higher expectations are placed on less likeable ones. When the position of the appraiser matches that of the appraisee, perceptions are glossed over and the rating tends to be better. This is called the "hierarchy effect". The lenient customer sometimes generously overlooks mistakes.