Almost Half of Consumers Report Having Abandoned A Customer Feedback Survey. Why?

November 9, 2018

This article is included in these additional categories:

Customer Experience | Customer Service | Customer Service & Experience | Customer-Centric | Digital | Industries | Market Research

Some 44% of consumers across the US, UK and Australia say they’ve abandoned a customer feedback survey without completing it, according to a recent study from Medallia [download page]. The report suggests that survey design – and the channels through which feedback can be transmitted – are areas of potential improvement.

Easily the most common complaint among the Medallia survey respondents concerned the length of the survey. More than half (57%) of those who had abandoned a customer feedback survey without completing it did so because the survey was too long. As such, brands should strive to keep customer feedback surveys as concise as possible; other research likewise has found that shortening the time commitment is the top change desired by market research participants.

Beyond survey length, some respondents also pointed to other reasons for having not completed a survey, including a perception that the feedback would not be acted upon and uncertainty regarding the purpose of the survey.

Separate results included in the report indicate that making the survey design more conversational and visual could help improve response rates. When offering their feedback to companies, two-thirds of consumers would like to include photos, and sizable proportions would also like to include screenshots (42%), voice messages (28%) and videos (19%).

Consumers Want Real-Time Messaging Capabilities

More than three-quarters of the consumers surveyed expect the ability to contact a customer representative immediately when they need help, per the report. This expectation holds true across several digital channels, as at least half expect immediate responses from an online chat (67%), a video/voice chat (57%) and from an online chat with a bot (51%).

Not surprisingly, then, one of the most important perceived benefits of giving real-time product or service feedback to companies through digital channels is the speed and instant response. Consumers also value the real-time resolution of complaints, the 24-hour service and the convenience of being able to do so at their own time and pace.

Interestingly enough, for some consumers it’s not even enough to be able to provide feedback immediately after the transaction: one-fifth would like to do so during the transaction itself!

As the analysts note, “to improve customer experiences, brands need to minimize consumer effort and friction.” That involves the capability of receiving feedback on the consumer’s preferred channel, as two-thirds of respondents expect to be able to provide feedback on the channel they’re currently using.

Finally, a couple of highlighted data points offer more evidence that real-time feedback is appreciated:

  • 52% said that a negative experience they had in the past year could have been improved had they had the opportunity to give real-time feedback for the company to take immediate action on; and
  • 49% would like companies they interact with to offer to help (via chat, messaging, etc.) before they’ve asked for it themselves.

About the Data: Medallia commissioned a panel survey of 3,000 consumers from three countries—the U.S. (1,000), the U.K. (1,000), and Australia (1,000). The collected sample was matched to the census of each country on age and gender.

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