Hi Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone had implemented a customer experience survey currently being used and if so how effective it has been to providing customer feedback and gauging the effectiveness of customer service. Any input or suggestions would be extremely helpful, thanks!
Chantel Barger
Guest Services Manager -Midland Center for the Arts
Hi Chantel,
We've had mixed results sending out post-program survey emails for our birthday parties and education workshops at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Our summer camps and weekend workshops for kids get very low response rates (something like 3% or less), but our birthday email surveys get much higher (30% or more). We use http://www.surveygizmo.com/ to design the surveys and send out the links.
We ask questions like "Why did you select a program at the Science Museum instead of another location?", "How helpful was the information in the confirmation materials?" and "Do you have any comments about the staff?" and so on.
Try tinkering with subject lines. I did some A/B testing and I've had good results with the subject "How was your birthday party at the Science Museum?"
There was a discussion session on this at the 2011 conference. As I recall, there were perhaps a few organizations linking survey data back into Tessitura records, but most were not.
If you'd like more specific info about practices here at the Science Museum, just let me know.
-Michael
We have had a lot of success with customer experience surveys. In the past, we have used our automated "Thank You for Attending" e-mail that goes out after each performance to send the link to the survey. We get a pretty good response rate (average 30%). We ask them to rate the service they received on the night of the performance from parking, bar/refreshments (pre-show and intermission separately), will call, usher assistance and over all staff friendliness, knowledge and helpfulness. Each area also has a free form text box that they can provide specific feedback if they desire on each area. Additionally, we end the survey with an open ended "Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your experience?"
The ratings don't tell us as much as the comments. We have been making adjustment to the way we provide service based on the feedback and we are able to see a reduction in specific types of issues. However, it also points out issues that are much more difficult to deal with such the lack of enough restrooms.
We use survey monkey and at the end of the survey period we download the results into a spreadsheet and distribute to department heads. Our operations people love it, because many times they find out about sound and temperature issues going on in the house and can make adjustments. The most significant area of improvement is our ticket sellers. They are able to see the full cycle of engagement and how the service they provide makes a lasting impression (good or bad) on the patrons. We share the patron comments with the staff in our department meetings.
We also personally contact anyone that submits a significant issue if they have provided contact information (which is optional in the survey).
We stopped doing them for awhile, but are about to start sending them out again.