A common question I hear members ask is, “Given all of the channel options available, how do I select the right channel for my post-contact customer survey?” In this two-part post, I weigh the pros and cons of using different channels for surveying customers.
Here, I cover automated survey channels, including e-mail, Web, and IVR. Part two will address manual channels, like outbound phone and mail surveys. Taken together, this information can guide you toward the survey administration channel that is best suited for you and your customers.
Automated Survey Options
Many contact center executives I speak with have a preference for administering their surveys in an automated channel. There are, in fact, many benefits to going the automated route, including the low incremental cost per survey and the speed with which data can be collected and analyzed. I’ve elaborated a bit on each automated channel below.
The benefits of using an e-mail or Web-based survey are many:
Pros of e-mail/Web
- The results are immediately available and they can be easily tied to rep performance.
- There is a good amount of flexibility with the questionnaire design and programming, allowing questions to easily branch to others to gather more specific information.
- These survey methods allow for the ability to collect a large sample size in relatively little time.
However, e-mail and Web-based surveys also have a few drawbacks to consider:
Cons of e-mail/Web
- The sample is limited to those customers with e-mail and Internet access, which may not be completely representative of the overall customer base.
- Customers can easily ignore an e-mail inviting them to participate in a survey, or worse, mistake the invitation for spam. This could lead to lower response rates or more time to collect the desired sample size.
In general, e-mail and Web-based surveys are best used to gauge a customer experience that spans multiple channels, or to collect in-depth information with a longer-than-average questionnaire.
IVR-based surveys have some similar advantages to e-mail and Web-based surveys, plus some unique benefits:
Pros of IVR
- Similar to e-mail and Web-based surveys, IVR surveys have the advantage of speed, flexibility, and the ability to tie results to rep performance.
- Customers can also more accurately remember and assess their interaction because the survey and the service interaction have virtually no time lag,
- IVR surveys are particularly good for capturing verbatim comments that can be easily recorded and analyzed.
A few drawbacks to consider when thinking about an IVR survey are:
Cons of IVR
- Reps may be able to control who gets the survey, potentially skewing the sample.
- There is virtually no time lag between the service interaction and the survey, so customers may be unsure if their issue is resolved to their satisfaction.
- IVR surveys that require a large investment in systems and technology may also be a costly option.
Overall, I would recommend an IVR-based survey to assess the customer experience with the phone interaction or the rep. This option works especially well if the questionnaire is short – no longer than approximately four questions.
Next time, I will address the other side of the coin: manual survey channels. As you think about selecting the right channel for your customer survey, I’d love to hear your opinions about any other advantages or drawbacks to these channels, or any other automated channels you would add to the list.
Related posts:
on March 13, 2010
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What is the research behind the suggestion of no more than 4 questions on the IVR survey? I’m looking at trying to make recommendations for an IVR survey.
on March 15, 2010
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Hi Melissa,
interesting topic!
I like to mention two kinds of surveys that have not been listed yet:
1. IVR seems to be a bit one-dimensional: It seems that you describe the IVR hand over survey conducted after the conversation directly.
What about IVR Call Backs after a short period of time (e. g. 5 minutes after the conversation)?
2. SMS-based surveys are not listed. It would be a benefit to benchmark this kind of survey with the others you have listed.
Best regards from Europe,
Frank
on March 15, 2010
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Hi Amy and Frank,
Thanks very much for your comments!
Amy – This is a very good question. There is actually no hard research behind my suggestion of 4 questions to an IVR survey. This is based on my personal conversations with members about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to their customer surveys. In general, my experience has been that IVR surveys should be as short as possible in order to keep the response rates up. You might find CCC’s research on Building an Effective IVR useful. I’ve included a link to it below.
https://ccc.executiveboard.com/Members/DecisionSupportCenters/IVR/default/index.aspx
Frank – I really like your additional suggestions. If anyone out there has experience in conducting customer surveys via outbound IVR contacts or SMS, please weigh in with your experiences!
on March 23, 2010
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Amy–here’s another thought for your IVR survey proposal–are you measuring at all the customer experience with the IVR itself? We find that about 40% of companies never ask customers explicitly about their experience with the IVR, and they are consequently missing valuable feedback about the very first thing most customers encounter when calling customer support (and the thing that most people have vey strong feelings about!). While you need to keep you overall survey short (I agree with Melissa, four or five questions is an ideal length), it is important to gather IVR-related feedback as you go, even if it is only a few times a year. Click here for more information about measuring the IVR experience explicitly. https://ccc.executiveboard.com/Members/DecisionSupportCenters/IVR/Design/tab5_CEM.aspx
on April 26, 2010
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[...] a month ago, I weighed the pros and cons of different automated channels for surveying customer – including e-mail, Web, and IVR. To continue to help members select [...]
on February 17, 2011
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I have a question about bias by channel. Do companies that institute an email or IVR survey find that disgruntled customers have a greater tendency to reply to these survey channels? In other words, is an upset customer more likely to respond to an automated survey than a happy or neutral customer?
on February 21, 2011
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Jay: in general, customers are more likely to reply to e-mail/IVR surveys when they feel like they have something to say. This bias can theoretically skew toward both happy and upset customers–a customer could respond to a survey because their rep was exceptionally helpful and waived some fees, or because they didn’t get the level of service they feel they deserve. In practice, though, customers tend to be more effusive when they’re upset, so I’d imagine that there is a bias toward upset customers in e-mail/IVR surveys.
Have any companies out there gathered data to measure this bias?