Business Customer Dissatisfaction Survey Interesting

[Paula]

For those of us who have businesses in SoWal (rentals, restaurants, etc.), here's some interesting research from ad age daily.

March 20, 2006
QwikFIND ID: AAR49N
By Ken Wheaton
Word of (bad) mouth
While word-of-mouth marketing is lauded as one of the next big things, The Verde Group and Wharton have teamed up to point out the bleeding obvious. Word of mouth can cut both ways:

"Results of The Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study 2006 -- conducted by The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton and The Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, in the weeks before and after Christmas 2005 -- show that only 6% of shoppers who experienced a problem with a retailer contacted the company, but 31% went on to tell friends, family or colleagues what happened. Of those, 8% told one person, another 8% told two people, but 6% told six or more people. 'Even though these shoppers don't share their pain with the store, they do share their pain with other people, apparently quite a few other people,' says [marketing professor Stephen J.]
Hoch."

Here's a summary of the study with more information.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/10/c0764.html

And, of course, to support our businesses we can spread good word of mouth when we have a great experience in SoWal; give businesses a second chance (every business has a bad moment sometimes); tell the business owner/service provider about the experience directly so they have a chance to fix the problem and thank you for your concern about their business. I had a boss once who used to say that all feedback -- even negative feedback -- is a gift (within reason, of course) when given tactfully and with good intentions.

And it's great for local businesses to be on SoWal.com so they can hear the buzz about what's going on in the neighborhood!

 

[Smiling JOe]

And, of course, to support our businesses we can spread good word of mouth when we have a great experience in SoWal; give businesses a second chance (every business has a bad moment sometimes); tell the business owner/service provider about the experience directly so they have a chance to fix the problem and thank you for your concern about their business...

Most important! If you don't have the guts to tell the manager, or the owner if the manager is of no help, don't go telling all of your friends and strangers of your bad experience -- you have not earned the priviledge to do so. ;-)

 

[Paula]

Usually, it's not really that people don't have the guts to tell the manager/service provider/owner directly. In most cases, it's a politeness norm and we're taught not to complain. Recently, I went to a new restaurant in our home town and the food was definitely mediocre and the service wasn't great. I think the restaurant is having growing pains and I wish it all the best. The owner came up and asked us how it was and I instinctively said it was very good (in part because he seemed like he wanted to hear this so much). Afterwards, I regretted not telling him the food was mediocre (I didn't have the guts, I guess). It's really hard to over-ride our "politeness norm" even when doing so would help the business.

So, that's why it's good to encourage customers to leave written comments on customer satisfaction forms. The business owners who really care a lot will read these carefully and adapt.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Politeness or lack of guts, either way, if you don't pull aside the mgr or owner and share, in private, the real truth, don't expect them to change. If everyone is polite and tells the mgr how great it was, can you imagine his confusion when no one longer shows up for dining? "But everyone says how wonderful it is, why aren't they eating here?"

By being polite, we are doing ourselves a disjustice. I can tell you from working in the food service industry for many years that I appreciate the honest truth being shared, good or bad, and I encourage more of the bad to be shared so that I know where to focus my attention as a mgr. However, don't give me the constructive criticism in the middle of the dining hour with 10 people at your table. Save it for a private moment, unless it is something that demands immediate attention and I can solve while you are still in the restaurant, ie- someone at your table receiving the wrong food, over/undercooked food, etc. Those are things which can give me the opportunity to correct, and leave you with a wonderful experience.

My Dad is notorius for telling everyone, except the person who can do something about his dining experience. If I am eating with him, why should he tell me that his steak is undercooked, knowing that only the server and cook can help him. Instead, he is polite to the server and rude to me, and has a miserable experience himself. As my dear friend would say, "That ain't right!"

 

[Paula]

I think if we understand where our hesitation to give negative feedback comes from (e.g., politeness norm), then we're better able to overcome it and find a way to be helpful.

And, as a business owner, if you understand the power of the politeness norm then you will work harder to find a way to get honest feedback knowing that just asking may not be enough.

I think the politeness norm is a great thing overall -- rude people drive me crazy and certainly don't bring out the best in anyone. But, the politeness norm needs to be managed so that we can actually help each other out as necessary. Not giving feedback when it's useful is like not telling someone they have spinach caught between their teeth before they are about to go on a date or meet with a potential client or give a speech.