This article was based on the interview with Martha Brooke by Greg Kihlström, AI & Marketing keynote speaker for The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. Listen to the original episode here:
Surveys play a crucial role in understanding customer experiences and gathering feedback to improve products and services. However, the quality of the data collected through surveys like Net Promoter Score (NPS) is often questionable due to the lack of scientific standards in survey design. In the podcast transcript, the speakers discuss the ease of creating surveys, which may lead to poorly constructed surveys with biased or leading questions.
One of the key issues highlighted in the podcast is the lack of awareness of what constitutes good data and the importance of scientific rigor in survey design. The speakers suggest that some companies may view surveys as a task to be checked off rather than a valuable tool for customer listening. This company-centric approach may result in surveys being sent out without proper consideration for the quality of the data being collected.
Martha Brooke also touches upon the role of Customer Experience (CX) professionals in sending surveys and the need for education and awareness of scientific standards in survey design. Surveys are just one method in the discipline of CX, and there are other methods such as customer interviews and service evaluations that should also adhere to scientific standards.
The comparison to the evolution of medicine in absorbing scientific principles is an interesting point made in the podcast. Just as medicine took time to embrace scientific methods for understanding the human body, the discipline of customer experience may also need to catch up to the importance of scientific rigor in understanding customer experiences.
Surveys need to adhere to scientific standards to ensure the data collected is reliable, unbiased, and reflective of the customer experience. By designing surveys carefully, removing bias, and incorporating scientific methods, companies can gather valuable insights that can drive continuous improvement and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. AI may play a role in analyzing survey data, but it is essential that the data collected through surveys meets scientific standards to ensure its accuracy and usefulness in decision-making.