The old traditional Customer Surveys, for the most part, are dead.
No one has the time to answer them and they usually don’t get to the heart of the matter of what is really going on with a business or their customer experience. There might be an easier way to get some awesome information…just ask one key question!
I am actually stealing this (or borrowing with attribution) this question from Beth Comstock, the first Chairwoman in GE’s history. I first saw this in an article in Business Insider, “A senior GE executive started asking this one question in meetings after realizing an important lesson about leadership.” In this article they talked about the one question she asks her team to respond to that is quite thought provoking and can create some lively (and informative) conversation.
While the article was written with the intent that leadership might want to consider this as a way to get to the heart of what is going on in their organization, I feel it is incredibly adaptable for using with CUSTOMERS. Why? Because of the same reasons Beth was using it for with her leadership team…to get an answer that actually means something and that you can do something with to improve the organization.
After spending the past 20+ years helping organizations gather data about their customers, I have realized most methods and questions are worthless. They don’t collect really great information from the customer…they get “company pleasing” information you wouldn’t want to use in making significant changes inside your business. Often time’s surveys collect information we already know. They are simply used to confirm something. They are also used in ways so as not to “upset the apple cart” too much and create any issues. They have become passive.
I can’t tell you how many surveys I have seen administered that aren’t worth the time it took to develop them or weren’t worth the time to evaluate their results. They aren’t ask the right kind of questions to the right audience to get truly valuable input. And yet companies make decisions worth tens of thousands or millions of dollars based on this feedback. There are better ways to get better information.
I’ve always believed that simpler is better. I would rather have some great input and answers to just one question than mediocre or meaningless information from 10 questions. And the customer would rather answer just one question…especially if it was a really great question that allowed them to share some key insights on their experience with your company and something that meant a lot to them.
So what’s the one question Beth asked her leadership team?
The question she asked was…“Tell me one thing I don’t want to hear. It’s O.K. to give me some bad news. In fact, I want it.”
Think about the information you could get from your customers by asking such a powerful question. While some customers might “sugar coat” the answer (you can identify these and not worry about acting on this information), the majority would probably welcome the question with lots of great and insightful feedback. For the ones who really take this seriously and want to give you a credible and thoughtful answer, the information could be invaluable.
I can almost guarantee competitors aren’t asking this question. Those that choose to ask this type of serious, deep, thought provoking question will be the ones leading in your industry…because they will get information no one else will get. If you aren’t asking this type of question, now you can and you will know something your competitors will never hear.
CAUTION: If you are going to ask this type of deep, thought provoking question, it is imperative that you have a process for how you will use this information going forward. What changes are you going to be making (or starting to make) that will tell your customers you not only took their answer seriously but you are willing to put the effort (and resources) to making the changes? If you don’t make the changes you are essentially telling your customer their input doesn’t really matter.
So before you ask your customers this powerful question, there is work to be done. Understanding your actual CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE will be very important so you can see the specifics of your customer’s answers. Understanding what you are delivering will help guide you in seeing what they view as an area of weakness you can improve on to become differentiated. Many of the answers will stem from a less than awesome customer experience…that’s OK. Even if you haven’t gone through a Customer Experience Mapping process as part of the Customer Journey you will learn a lot from this feedback. However, without knowing your Customer Experience and Journey, it will be very difficult to put a strategy around your customer’s feedback. Without this knowledge, it’s virtually impossible to incorporate this feedback into these processes.
While this is an awesome question, it’s also a bit like handling Nitroglycerin…it can be incredibly valuable and helpful or it can blow up in your face. We know which one we want to have happen…so planning for this in advance of asking the question is critically important.
A big THANK YOU to Beth for such an awesome question…I’m sure she has gotten great feedback from it in her role(s). If you want to talk further about how you might want to prepare your organization so you can ask such a powerful question, give me a shout and we’ll talk further before you jump in and start your most valuable asset…your customers. Being prepared for the answers and what to do with them is not only a smart way to lead your business but is incredibly respectful to your customers. Let’s talk…and then ask this amazing question. I’m dying to hear their responses…as I’m sure you are as well!
