18.12.2007

Novel survey

Certex UK has participated in an unusual ‘game-style’ customer survey, which has achieved an unusually high response rate. The survey, conducted by InfoQuest on behalf of Certex, generated a response rate of 68 percent, as opposed to the more typical 5-10 percent response of more conventional questionnaires.

Charles Gillespie, sales and marketing director at Certex, said: “We all know that surveys relying on paper questionnaires or telephone interviews tend to be largely ignored by the intended recipients. They can also be seen as an intrusion on busy schedules and the dilemma is how to open up lines of communication and obtain vital commercial knowledge without annoying the customer and undermining the business relationship.”

To try and overcome this ‘data fatigue’ and make the process as fun and interactive as possible, a select number of Certex customers received a survey box and deck of 36 cards – each carrying a different question or statement. The customer then had to place the cards in one of the answer compartments labelled from ‘totally satisfied’ to ‘totally dissatisfied’ or ‘totally agree’ to ‘totally disagree’, and mail the box back to Infoquest.

Opinions were sought on a range of subjects but overall 58 percent of customers were ‘totally satisfied’ with the company and its services, with particularly high scores in product quality, ease of doing business, pricing, business practices, service technicians, training courses and the responsiveness of staff.

Richard Startin, service manager at HTC Plant in Sheffield, was one of the customers totally satisfied with the company’s performance. “The survey was a refreshing, simple and effective way of providing accurate and honest feedback. It made a very welcome change,” he said.
Please register to see all images

Nigel Edwards, (L) sales manager- Certex with Richard Startin of HTC Plant and one of the survey boxes

John Coldwell, UK managing director at InfoQuest said: “Anything above 60 percent total satisfaction is rarely achieved and most successful companies aspire to a level of 45-60 percent. Obviously Certex is at the top of this range.

Certex has been organising a series of staff workshops to review the data, identify where improvements can be made and develop action plans to implement customer feedback.