Customer feedback - when's the wrong time to ask?
This is a story of gaining customer feedback and when might be wrong time and place to do it.
On Saturday, I was giving a talk as part of a Masterclass to the new cohort of Achievers on the Young Enterprise programme in Croydon about simple and straightforward marketing. I volunteer on the programme and afterwards a few of us went for a quick drink at a local bar for a chat and to catch up as some of us had not seen each for a while.
Entering and approaching the bar we were greeted with the above sign. It was the first thing that we saw.
What’s wrong with this image?
Well, to me apart from the message not being that clear as to what they wanted me to do (apparently, I could win a case of champagne), it just seemed like an odd place to put a sign that was asking for feedback on our bar visit when we had just arrived.
It’s a bit like going to a friends house for dinner and being greeted at the front door with the question ‘You must let us know how dinner goes tonight’ when all you really want to do is go in, hang out with your friends, enjoy dinner and have fun. Not the right question at the right time.
Whilst I applaud the intent of the bar to gather feedback from their customers I think the lesson here is to understand when is the right time to ask such questions to make sure that we don’t confuse our customers and maximise our chances of engaging them and gaining their feedback.
The bar might have been better placed to think about the words that it used on its sign to make its message clearer, it’s placement (maybe near the door so can be seen on the way out) or to have the bartenders to hand out the cards and explain the process to customers whilst they are paying for their drinks and food.
When designing a feedback process, I would suggest spending a bit of time thinking about when would be the best time and place to ask for feedback.