Phone Survey Limitations

Phone interviews and surveys have a variety of uses. Many researchers and pollsters use them to gauge things like political opinions and behavioral traits/tactics, since many people still don’t trust the Internet to bring them the reliable results they need. For some research this makes sense.

Phone surveys, like any other, provide data that can be used to formulate theories. Yet phone surveys are not without their weaknesses. Sample sizes tend to be smaller while cost tends to be larger.

There are issues with who is willing to participate in a phone survey and what affect that has on the data, etc. Yet phone surveys may have additional issues – particularly when it comes to something like customer satisfaction. Here are several possible problems that may occur when you perform a customer satisfaction survey on the phone.

“Being Nice” Answers For many, there is a clear difference between “very satisfied,” “satisfied,” and “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.” Most experiences in life should be in or near the center, since very few experiences with any business are so outstanding that they lean one towards being “very satisfied.” Yet on the phone, you are talking to a real person about a real business that you may frequent again in the future. It seems likely that many people default to “very satisfied” unless given a reason – like a negative experience – to give them any less. This will eventually lead to incorrect data. “Very Satisfied” Hurry Yet another reason that phone customer satisfaction surveys may lead to inaccurate “very satisfied” answers is the rush that people feel when they are on the phone with someone – especially a stranger or customer service representative.

Phone interviews may take place at awkward times, and even if they do not, the survey respondent is likely to want to interview to be done quickly. Unless they have a specific problem that they want to make sure is addressed during the survey, customers may be more likely to say “very satisfied” with the hopes that no one will ask them to clarify any further. Polarized Respondents With so many people texting, emailing, and spending their time online these days, talking on the phone has become a chore.

It seems likely that those that have nothing interesting to say about the company will refuse to take part in a phone survey at all. Instead, the company will receive only the two more polarized responses – those that had a good enough experience to share it, and those that had a terrible experience and want changes to be made.

All of this is speculation, but it does seem that, logically, a phone survey as a way of conducting a customer satisfaction survey seems as though it would be fundamentally flawed. Without true anonymity and the freedom to answer questions at their own pace without anyone waiting for an answer, it seems unlikely that phone interviewers are going to receive accurate answers – especially about a business that the customer plans on frequenting again.