What are the characteristics of customer satisfaction survey questions?

  • Thread starter the son of quality
  • Start date
T

the son of quality

#1
Hi all,
What are the characteristics of customer satisfaction survey questions? Does anybody know any sources about that?
 
Elsmar Forum Sponsor

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#2
Welcome to the Cove!

You've chosen a hot topic - lots of folks have different views about customer surveys.

IMO, you are most likely to get meaningful data response if you avoid the efforts to make the metrics easy by offering the customer a number range to choose for satisfaction. That is, DO NOT ask a question in this format:
(Please enter a number between 0 and 10 to indicate your satisfaction with the following services from our company - 0 is "completely unhappy; 10 is completely happy")
_____ordertaking
_____pricing
_____lead time required
_____packaging
_____delivery
_____quality of product
_____communication with company personnel
Instead, try to get customer to write his own sentence or paragraph about the following kinds of questions:
Why did you choose our company to place your order?
What did you like best about dealing with us?
What would you MOST like to see us improve to serve your needs better?
Will you do business with us again?

Don't give "hints" or possible solutions. The responses you DO receive may represent a lower ratio of your customers, but they'll be more meaningful because the customer was motivated enough to create his own answer instead of punching numbers on a Bingo Card.
 
Last edited:

Steve Prevette

Deming Disciple
Staff member
Super Moderator
#3
Surveys are certainly a used and abused topic. I have a writeup on survey analysis on the internet at http ://www. hanford. gov/safety/vpp/survey.htm - OLD DEAD 404 LINK UNLINKED.

There is an Excel file I set up with a few others with suggestions on survey construction that I could post on Monday once I get back to work.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
R

Rob Nix

#4
Leave it to "a passionate statistician" to make, "what do you like or dislike about our company" into a complicated mathematical calculation. :biglaugh:

Wes makes some good points. Our current survey is based on a Likert scale for 12 different categories. But the most useful information is always the comments section at the bottom.
 
B

Bill Pflanz

#5
One way to make the customer survey more useful is to not only asked about their satisfaction with various areas of performance but how important it is to the them. Being really good in something that the customer does not care about is not as useful information as knowing that you are really good at something they thing is important.

It would also be helpful to obtain information on how they feel your performance is compared to other suppliers since you may be good but your competitor may be great. The positive side of surveys is that they can be used as a benchmark of where you are and where you need to go.

But customer surveys have the disadvantage that they can be expensive to do and are done infrequently. The results are for one point in time for that sample group. By the time you do the next survey, any improvements you made may never show up in the next sample results and you cannot determine trends. There is also the tendency to ask questions about current products and services but it tells you nothing about new product or service that they would take if offered.

I also found that the most used part of customer surveys is the written comments. Listening to your customer on a regular basis can provide similar information as the expensive survey. Depending on the survey design, they can be useful or a total waste.

Bill Pflanz
 
T

the son of quality

#6
Thnks guys,

I've found my answer in “The Management and Control of Quality “sixth edition .But before that let me mention the downside of that kind of survey that Wes and Rob suggested. Customer doesn’t want to spend too much time in a survey, so most of the time he/she avoids answering these questions which need to be written. Therefore, designer of surveys have to come up with multiple choice questions.

With regard to questions quality, they don’t have to be compound and ambiguous questions. They ought to lead the company to achieve actionable results.
 
N

nutzz

#7
the son of quality said:
Thnks guys,

Customer doesn’t want to spend too much time in a survey, so most of the time he/she avoids answering these questions which need to be written. Therefore, designer of surveys have to come up with multiple choice questions.



:bigwave:

I absolutely agree!! We tried a long, winded survey and received very few responses back. So we developed our current survey which I have attached and the number of responses has dramatically increased. KISS definitely applies here.
 

Attachments

R

Rob Nix

#8
The categories on our survey, attached below, were chosen by our customers from previous interviews asking them what was most important to them. So our customers helped us create this survey.

Here is the paradox: a simple survey may get more responses, but will lack depth. A more complex survey with essays is deep, but may lack responses.

So, the more important question is, how will the surveys get the greatest impact? Related to this, then, I will submit to all of you readers: How do you use the returned surveys, in whatever form, to make further improvements?
 

Attachments

Last edited by a moderator:
J

Jim Howe

#9
rewards or bribes

A few years back, as a QA manager, I would receive said surveys. They were a bore, of course and i really don't place to much reliance on them. Sometimes though the survey was accompanied with an attached reward, $$$, was this a bribe or just trying to increase the response? :)
 
N

nutzz

#10
So, the more important question is, how will the surveys get the greatest impact? Related to this, then, I will submit to all of you readers: How do you use the returned surveys, in whatever form, to make further improvements?[/QUOTE]


:bigwave:

Our "simple" surveys have led us to better training of our customer service reps, decreased response time to quotes or general inquiries, and sometimes even informed of us a requirement we were not aware of prior to the survey.

And that's just a few examples :mg:

Dawn
 
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
B FCA US Customer Specific IATF 16949- Critical Characteristics 8.6.2 Customer and Company Specific Requirements 0
E IATF 16949 Cl. 8.2.3.1.2 - Customer-designated special characteristics IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 1
D Customer-Designated Special Characteristics vs. Special Characteristics IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 2
Q TS 16949 Clause 7.2.1.1 Customer Designated Special Characteristics IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 6
Q TS 16949 Clause 7.3.2.3 when the Customer has no Special Characteristics IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 25
L Special Characteristics - What if the customer does not identify any SCs? FMEA and Control Plans 5
A SPC, Customer Specific Requirements and Characteristics on Profiles? Statistical Analysis Tools, Techniques and SPC 3
J Definition of Special Characteristics Delta C and Delta S - Need for Customer Audit Capability, Accuracy and Stability - Processes, Machines, etc. 2
M Customer Designated Special Characteristics - TS16949 Clause 7.2.1.1 Design and Development of Products and Processes 14
Techilady Ford Special Characteristics Communication and Agreement Form (SCCAF) provides production requirements? FMEA and Control Plans 4
R Critical Characteristics & Special Characteristics FMEA and Control Plans 2
S What should i choose for "testing procedure" characteristics? (N95) General Information Resources 0
M Critical Characteristics APQP and PPAP 1
C AIAG-VDA PFMEA - 1st special Characteristics? [5step vs. 6step] FMEA and Control Plans 3
J 1.11 Preliminary Identification of Special Product and Process Characteristics APQP and PPAP 4
silentmonkey How to decide what characteristics need to be verified during incoming inspection? ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 5
earl62 What is the best way to control special characteristics in Control plan? Is it Mandatory to have SPC for IATF 16949? IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 12
K PSA Special characteristics Customer and Company Specific Requirements 0
A Demonstration of Equivalence - Need for comparing biological characteristics for an SamD EU Medical Device Regulations 1
K EU MDR Annex 1 Chapter III: Information in the Instructions for Use-23.4 (e) the performance characteristics of the device; EU Medical Device Regulations 1
A AS9102B - 3.6 Design Characteristics and form 3 AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 3
R What is meant by Use of COMPONENTS WITH HIGH-INTEGRITY CHARACTERISTICS in ME EQUIPMENT (clause no 4.9) IEC 60601 - Medical Electrical Equipment Safety Standards Series 3
H SPC for special characteristics - CSR - Control of SC and CC Statistical Analysis Tools, Techniques and SPC 1
Prashant G AS9100 Requirement - Verification of characteristics results with drawing requirements AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 13
F Assignment of Special Characteristics to government regulations IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 5
C AS9100 8.3.5.e Design and Development Outputs - Key Characteristics / Critical Items AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 2
N PQC (Product Quality Characteristics) and PFMEA FMEA and Control Plans 3
P Sanctioned Interpretations - IATF 16949 Cl. 8.3.3.3 Special characteristics IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 3
J Are Capability Requirement(s) Valid for All Characteristics? Capability, Accuracy and Stability - Processes, Machines, etc. 6
S IATF 16949 Clause 8.3.3.3 - Documentation of all Special Characteristics in Drawings IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 2
S What should the FMEA Severity for SC & CC Characteristics be? FMEA and Control Plans 4
A Not all characteristics follow a Normal Distribution - How do you do SPC Chart Capability, Accuracy and Stability - Processes, Machines, etc. 5
Y Process Characteristics for Inspection and Storage FMEA and Control Plans 4
S FMEA's - Severity and Classification of Print Characteristics FMEA and Control Plans 1
C Special Characteristics - ISO/TS 16949 Clause 7.3.2.3 IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 8
N VDA 1 Critical Characteristics Requirements Help needed VDA Standards - Germany's Automotive Standards 6
Q Choosing In-Process Inspection Characteristics Inspection, Prints (Drawings), Testing, Sampling and Related Topics 7
B Is SPC data For Special Characteristics always required? TS 16949 clause 8.1 ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 2
Douglas E. Purdy C=0 Sampling for Variable Characteristics Quality Manager and Management Related Issues 14
V Ford Dimensional Tag Characteristics requirements APQP and PPAP 2
R New draft guidelines for 510 (K) with Different Technological Characteristics. 21 CFR Part 820 - US FDA Quality System Regulations (QSR) 1
U SC (Special Characteristics) in CP (Control Plan) not on all Prints IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 1
Ron Rompen Seeking Test Lab which can do 1440 Hour Accelerated Weathering Characteristics Misc. Quality Assurance and Business Systems Related Topics 1
Z Pass-Though Characteristics in PFMEA (Process FMEA) FMEA and Control Plans 2
G How to manage/control critical items and key characteristics? AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 1
A MSA (Measurement System Analysis) for Characteristics with One Tolerance Limit Capability, Accuracy and Stability - Processes, Machines, etc. 10
J Special characteristics in TS 16949 7.3.2.1 - Why 7.3.2.3 not 7.2.1.1 IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 4
G How to identify Key Characteristics (KC) in a Design FMEA (DFMEA) FMEA and Control Plans 2
Q Identifying Critical Items and Key Characteristics - Product Realization Process AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 8
A Special Characteristics revisited IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 4

Similar threads

Top Bottom