Face-to-Face Survey Bias

My wife and I decided to have a nice evening out. We went to a fancy restaurant and ordered from the menu. She had a large Caesar salad.

I decided to enjoy a prime rib. The waiter came with our food and left us to enjoy our meal. It was bad! It wasn’t the worst meal I’ve ever tasted and certainly they put effort into cooking it, but the overall flavor was something I could have made myself at home for little effort with no culinary skills.

The restaurant did not make any mistakes, so I had no intention of returning the meal and demanding a new one, but my wife and I made a mental note that under no circumstances would we be returning to this restaurant. The manager came by and asked us how our meal was. Our response was “Great, thanks.” We have no issues with the idea of telling others about the lousy meal, but the manager is now going to be under the impression that the meal was delicious, even though they have lost a customer for life.

This situation is a perfect example of the problems with Face to Face customer satisfaction surveys. Without anonymity, the feedback the business receives is unlikely to be as honest and forthright as it would be in an anonymous setting. This is a serious issue in the service industry, where the provider of the service is in direct contact with the customer, and obtains feedback immediately after providing the service.

Most customers are going to avoid confrontation – especially if they have no intention of coming back. Face to face bias is one of the worst mistakes you can make when you are attempting to receive feedback from your customers.

The best way to avoid face to face bias is to use a survey. Surveys allow people to speak their mind in a less direct way, so that the actual impression of the food (or service, or products, etc.) is not colored by who is in front of you, asking your opinion. The responses you receive will be even more helpful if you send an anonymous survey, which can easily be completed through the use of a third party.

The less your customers feel pressured into providing positive feedback, even when they have had a negative experience, the more useful your data will be. So if you’re collecting customer feedback while staring at your customer and asking them to provide feedback on the services that you just provided them with, think again, because you just might hear “Great, thanks.”