This article is an excerpt from Jamie Walters’ forthcoming book — Big Vision, Small Business: The Four Keys to Finding Success & Satisfaction as a Lifestyle Entrepreneur.

Many companies, large and small, conduct periodic surveys with clients to ensure satisfaction. Surveys can be valuable, but the effectiveness depends largely on the quality of the questions and the listening skills of the interviewer. In some cases, as with written multiple-choice surveys, there is no opportunity for personal interaction or to ask clarifying and probing questions, reducing the value of the data gleaned. While quantitative surveys are certainly useful when statistical data is your goal, qualitative surveys are far more effective for a relationship-driven business intent upon truly guaranteeing client satisfaction and using the data gleaned to improve customer-interaction practices.

While writing this chapter, I received an electronic newsletter featuring a sample customer-satisfaction survey readers could use to "delight customers." The seven-question survey included measures such as "Rate the quality of our customer care" and "To what extent would you recommend our services." This particular survey was a good example of how such an effort can skim the surface by using vague language and yes-or-no questions, and miss excellent opportunities for deepening the relationship and gaining truly useful information. Why? The survey questions might yield an answer such as "Customer care is fair," but provides no specific details about what, specifically, your company is doing from the customer’s perspective to seem caring or uncaring, or to warrant a referral or not.

It’s easy to catch the Vapid Jargon Disease prevalent in corporate America because it’s so contagious, flowing in a torrent from seemingly wise management and leadership books. One example? The ubiquitous use of "delighting your customer" verbiage. Unless you know exactly what you mean by delighting your customer, and you have information regarding what, specifically, delights your customer — and if, in fact, your customer is delighted (or wants to be) — you won’t be delighting your customers consistently. Rather than talking a mean game about delighting your customers — while that’s certainly a nice thing to want to do — perhaps the more practical and enjoyable goal would be to commit to respectful interactions, consistency, good communication and follow-through, and delivery of the products and services you’ve promised in a manner that’s convenient and satisfying for the customer. A poor survey made up of such superficial questions not only gives you information you can’t act upon, but it wastes your customers’ time — hardly something most would find delightful.

Customer surveys, then, might be more valuable if they contain open-ended questions and an opportunity to delve more deeply into answers to allow you to define what’s most important to the customer and whether the interactions with your company are delivering just that. For example — instead of sending out a multiple-choice survey with questions such as "Did you find your recent experience with us delightful?" or "Was your experience with us fair, good or excellent?" — you might schedule fifteen-minute discussions with customers to find out what they value most about your products and services; what they wouldn’t want you to stop doing; and what’s most important to them when purchasing products and services such as yours. One good way to get constructive criticism that many people avoid is to ask, "If you absolutely had to select at least two things that would have made your experience with us better, what would they be?" That gives you more specific, actionable information than more general surveys.

Once you have that information, you can make whatever adjustments are necessary in your delivery or interaction practices to consistently make customer experiences positive — and be much more likely to "delight" your customers.

Want to assess your "Service Quotient" with your team? Check out our accompanying worksheet: What's Your "SQ" — an IvySea Service Brainstorming Worksheet

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Remember, this information is food-for-thought, not customized counsel. The most effective interpersonal and organizational communication program is one that's been tailored to meet the unique needs of your group. If you have questions, connect with a communication advisor or e-mail us for suggestions.