Survey says! “Extend your brand loyalty by asking the question ‘How are we doing?’”

I have just finished a 45 day trip throughout Spain with my family! We stayed in a multitude of accommodations along the way that included  lower priced apartments rentals from independent agencies, to very high end hotels like the Westin Palace in Madrid. The one thing that they all got right, regardless of service or price, was the follow up surveys on the experience that we had at the establishments. The surveys were as basic as a one sheet left on the kitchen table at the apartment rentals to very sophisticated online web forms for the likes of Best Western and the Westin.

Now most of the accommodations we had on the trip where top notch, regardless of price, and I responded accordingly with good to great reviews. The one that got negative feedback actually followed up on the bad review with a request for greater detail on what I did not like about the experience. Already my opinion on the rental unit had changed as they showed interest in making the experience better.

My question is this? Why are these types of customer satisfaction surveys so prevalent in the hospitality industry? I know banks do it and Apple for that matter always follow up within hours of any type direct contact with their service reps. I am just puzzled why others do not follow suit? There are plenty of reasons for a telco to do it and how about the local grocery store chain? They could ask me if I am satisfied with the quality of the produce or weather or not there is a big enough selection of organic goods carried in the store. As the economy takes a nose dive, and trust me it already has, how are these companies going get an idea of what they are doing right and more importantly what they are doing wrong. Telco’s and energy suppliers are going to be hit the hardest by my estimates. The current research indicates that families are being forced to choose between; food and fuel first. Things like upgrades to an iPhone and digital TV will be put on the back burner for sure. Yet I do not here my local telco or hydro company asking me if I am happy. Lord knows I have plenty of choice now a days and switching has never been easier.

Just the fact that the company cares enough to ask “What are we doing right and what could we do better?” may be enough to extend one’s brand loyalty long enough to stop them from jumping ship to the competitor through this bad batch of economy that lies ahead. One might think twice when that DM piece slide under the door with a better deal on a high speed connection.

Come on folks start asking more questions. Your brand deserves it.