Timing of Satisfaction Surveys
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Wed, Jul 07, 2010
The appropriate time to invite customers to take a satisfaction study depends on the nature of the product and service and runs up against human limitations of memory, perception and emotional wellbeing.
For a consumable product or a one-time service, especially for a minor service such as a customer support call or website interaction, it is important to conduct the interview as soon after the experience as possible. Otherwise the respondent will not be able to recall many details about the experience.
For a durable product or an ongoing service, conducting a satisfaction study immediately after purchase will inflate ratings: the survey occurs during the "honeymoon period" when people are most likely to be delighted by their purchase. Over time, satisfaction regresses to the mean (so-calledhedonic adaptation) as people forget what it was like before they purchased the product or service and as they encounter issues or shortcomings with the product. Automobile manufacturers will often tackle this by having the initial satisfaction survey be about the acquisition process itself, with product satisfaction studies being conducted after the first three months and then annually. When measuring satisfaction over time, it is normal to see satisfaction drop initially but then stabilize.
If you're conducting a study annually, make sure to crosstabulate overall satisfaction by the time elapsed since date of purchase or date of renewal, to see how the satisfaction of your customers changes over the product lifecycle.
In surveys, as in life, timing is everything.