Tips as Satisfaction Metric

While customer satisfaction surveys are certainly the most accurate tools for measuring satisfaction and influencing decisions, they are certainly not the only method. Some customers speak up within the company, saying things like “wow, I’m really impressed with the service here” or “X employee was rude the entire time.” Another method that people show their appreciation is with tips. For places that take tips, like restaurants, coffee shops, etc., tips are an interesting way of judging customer satisfaction.

Cognitively, the more the tip (as a percentage of total purchase), the more satisfied the customer was with their experience. Yet there are a variety of factors that influence tips beyond satisfaction, such as: Credit Card/Cash – Depending on how the person pays, it may affect how much they tip. Employee Watching – Customers are probably more likely to tip out of guilt if the employee is watching them fill out the tip part of the form.

Attractive Employees – The more attractive the employee, the more likely someone is going to tip despite the level of service. Location – Affluence, upbringing, and race all have their own factors that may influence tip amounts. Where the company is located, then, may affect tip amounts.

This represents a small sample of the possible factors that influence tip amounts other than necessarily satisfaction (although it could be argued that attractive employees increases satisfaction). Still, while tips gives some indication of customer satisfaction, there are other factors involved that may indicate it’s not a perfect measurement system.

Although tips may not be a perfect way to judge satisfaction, what they do provide you with is a value that you can use to measure against customer satisfaction changes. If you employ certain things to try to increase tips, and tips go up, it may be a good indication that your strategies are working. This is the type of mindset that you need to take for all of your customer satisfaction efforts.

It’s not always a good idea to assume that any specific number matters at all. There are so many factors that play a role in satisfaction that it’s likely your company cannot change them all.

But even if you are not doing enough research to parcel out your data, you can still tell a great deal simply by comparing where your baseline is from one point to another. Whether it is with your customer satisfaction research or looking at tips as a way of figuring out your customer satisfaction level, there is always information there that you can use to find out where your customers and your service stand.