Are you suffering from consumer survey fatigue?
Well, you’re not alone. I certainly am. Virtually every large corporation or small business wants to know how am I am doing? It’s called feedback and they don’t with a simple “yes or no” answer.
It will only take a couple of minutes to fill out respond, you’re told. After ten minutes, you wonder if the satisfaction survey will ever end. It should be called dissatisfaction survey.
Some companies will dangle a carrot to get you to bite. For example, McDonald’s offers an incentive of sorts. Answer their questionnaire and you can get a free Quarter Pounder. But, that’s if you buy one first.
Even the United States government is getting into the act.
After completing a transaction, the clerk will hand you a receipt and then circle a phone number to call or scan a code on your mobile device. “Your opinion counts” states the receipt.
I really want wonder if the surveys have any real impact at all. We’ll never know. It’s estimated that 175,000 surveys are besieging consumers everyday or more than 60 million annually.
At UNC, Duke, and Wake Med hospitals a visit to any of their doctor’s offices, clinics, and labs inevitably will trigger an email survey request. If you have to make a lot of doctor visits, that will most assuredly result in a barrage of consumer surveys.
I hate to give bad reviews. I don’t want to get anyone fired. If I have to wait 15 to 30 minutes in a reception room, I overlook it. But, if the wait lasts an hour or more, well that’s another matter. I figured it out, finally. If I were to answer every request for a consumer survey, I could be on my computer for hours on end. Don’t they realize that time is money?
Let me make a promise. If you do a good job, or sell me a good product, I pledge to be your loyal customer forever. You don’t need a survey for that.
— Walt Mack
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