The Third-Party Survey

by Graham Denton

How do you find out how well you're doing with your customers? No rocket science here: You ask. And one of the simplest ways to ask is to conduct a customer survey.

The most obvious benefit of customer surveys is that they give you a sense of where you need to improve in order to keep your customers and attract new ones. But surveys also send those customers an important message: You care about what they think, and are trying to respond. You also can use survey results in your marketing material. "In a recent survey, 92 percent of our customers rated our quality as Very Good or Excellent." That's instant credibility. You don't have to use them, of course, if the results are bad -- and even in that case, they help you learn from your mistakes.

Last but not least, survey results can help you fine-tune your overall mission. In the words of Harry Beckwith, author of Selling the Invisible, properly conducted surveys "keep you from coasting. They keep you from wondering what you're doing wrong. They tell you what business you're in and what people really are buying."

Because that kind of insight is so important, you should hope that surveys bring you bad news along with the good. Well, not too much bad news -- but enough to make you confident that you're getting a true picture. Because if all you hear is good news, either (a) you're perfect or (b) somebody's not giving you the full story. And if you plan around less than the full story, you're planning blind.

How do you get the full story? How, in other words, do you get reliable information about how you're doing? Beckwith has a canny solution. Don't conduct surveys yourself. Get an outside third party to do them for you. The reason is that, unless they're thoroughly disgusted with your performance, many customers will be reluctant to point out your shortcomings. They will, however, talk behind your back. And because this kind of talk is likely to be both paradoxically more honest and more revealing, "make it so your clients can talk behind your back." That's the way to get the data that you need to improve.

Michael LeBoeuf, in his book How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life, passes on a great old anecdote that perfectly illustrates the value of the "external" survey. In this case, the businessperson is a young boy named Johnny. He goes into a drugstore phone booth and the pharmacist overhears the following snippets of conversation:

"Hello, is this the Smith residence?_I'd like to apply for the opening that you have for a gardener_.Oh, you already have a gardener?_Well, is he a good gardener?_Are you perfectly satisfied with his work?_Do you plan on keeping him?_I see_Well, I'm glad you're getting such excellent service. Thanks anyway. Bye."

As the boy leaves the booth, the pharmacist says, "Johnny, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. I know it's none of my business, but aren't you the Smiths' gardener?" "Yeah," says Johnny. "I just wanted to find out how I'm doing."

Now, there's a kid with a future in customer satisfaction.