Timely Feedback Strategies

Here we're completing the list of the issues that PayPal introduced with their customer service to one of our very own employees. We'll end with the remaining problem that PayPal created itself with its feedback acquisition strategy and then end with a few concluding thoughts about what you should take away from this type of feedback and support system.

Sending out the survey was a good move on PayPal's part – better than we expected considering the delay and already poor answer to the customer service question. They also received an answer from the customer, which is useful for their data collection. Presumably PayPal takes this data and learns something from this.

But what about the customer? Remember that the customer asked a question, and PayPal responded with an answer completely unrelated to the question. Then PayPal send a survey asking whether or not the answer helped the customer.

Of course the answer was no, not even close. As an upset customer, they responded with all negative answers. Yet PayPal didn't respond back with a better answer, or take their feedback and use it to the advantage of the customer.

So this brings up the question: What incentive did the customer have to fill out the survey in the first place? PayPal is banking on essentially free data collection, with no benefit to the customer. While one could argue that perhaps PayPal will update its system in the future to provide a better response, there's no evidence that's the case, and certainly doesn't provide the user with any immediate value for their feedback.

So now PayPal has not only failed to answer the customer's question – they have also used the customer again to provide them with data that helps their company and not the customer. Overall, this treats the customer like a pawn, and the customer satisfaction of this customer drops.

With all of the issues in this article and the last, one wonders if it would have been better for PayPal to simply not send the survey in the first place. Data collection is extremely important, but PayPal missed out on numerous opportunities to provide better customer service throughout the process. Other businesses need to remember that opportunities to boost customer satisfaction and learn more about your business are everywhere, and it behooves your company to take advantage of them. Otherwise you may leave a customer feeling used and dissatisfied, without learning anything that will help your company thrive.