After registering at a hotel, a well-trained front desk host notices the guest’s iPhone. Alertly, the host invites the guest to grab the hotel’s customer satisfaction survey app and to fill it out at his convenience. The guest immediately breaks away from his activity on the iphone, grabs the app, and looks over the survey form.
Not bad, so far.
The guest clicks and scrolls, without too much knowledge of the experience he his having, other than the alert front desk host. The survey is complete. The feedback system is in place to properly track the incoming survey information. Perhaps there is a real-time email delivery message sent back to the sending hotel. Perhaps there has been training and the on-duty hotel manager is not only able to acknowledge the information, but has been empowered and instructed on what to do if action items need to be taken.
Really good.
Back-up and fast-forward feedback management one step. Why is the customer filling out a customer satisfaction survey form? It’s true that it is the correct mechanism to trigger all of the above events. But is it the best mechanism?
What if the host informs the guest that the hotel offers a service called the “alert us at any time you are having difficulties with your stay” app? “Please take a moment and jot down this 800 number or download this app…” What the customer now has is a feedback mechanism that is not a customer satisfaction survey, but a properly laid means to communicate, “I just called for room service, and the phone wasn’t answered”.
If the proper mechanisms are in place, and the training has been properly conducted, within a few minutes the guest’s room phone will ring, and he will hear, “room service, sorry for not picking up when you called”.
It’s the enterprise equivalent of the sign on the back of the truck that says, “1-800 how’s my driving?”