Do you like to travel? Some people love it and others hate it. I happen to be in the former category—if I get to fly to my destination. Although traveling in general, and flying in particular, can be a hassle, I enjoy it. Sometimes I have not yet left for one trip before I’m planning the next. Air travel gives you an excellent opportunity to people watch, something that social scientists and lay persons alike find entertaining. One of the things I’ve noticed in my observations during air travel are all the preparations made for takeoff. First, I look out the window and notice the airport personnel scurrying about, hurriedly getting carts loaded with baggage to the airplanes. On board, airline employees are also making preparations. For example, the flight attendants close the overhead bins and check passengers to make sure seat belts are fastened. The passengers are also making preparations—some are trying to stuff bags under seats or into bins, others are getting ready for naps by adjusting travel pillows and covering up with blankets, and many are preparing to entertain themselves by getting out books, magazines, MP3 players, etc.

Finally, after all preparations have been made we begin to slowly move away from the gate and head for a runway where we wait our turn for takeoff. Once our turn comes and the pilots receive clearance from the tower, it is only a matter of seconds before we lift off and find ourselves in the air, looking down at the shrinking people, buildings, and vehicles below. It can be an exhilarating feeling. It reminds me of the exhilaration felt by business owners and executives when their businesses really takeoff; when sales soar and profits increase it is a wonderful feeling. But, just as an airplane does not leave the tarmac without a lot of preparation, a business cannot takeoff without preparation and hard work.

Have you ever witnessed someone having difficulty determining the answer to a puzzle? There are a number of different types of puzzles that people use to challenge and entertain themselves—jigsaw puzzles, crossword, and Sudoku puzzles, to name a few. People approach puzzles differently. With jigsaw puzzles, some people begin by sorting the pieces into two piles—pieces that go on the perimeter and those that go on the inside. Once this task is accomplished the person may try to get all of the perimeter pieces in place before filling in the rest of the puzzle. Other people may begin by trying to locate and connect pieces for a focal object in the picture. Individuals also take different approaches to solving crossword puzzles. Do you begin with the items going down or across? Do you take each hint in order, refusing to move on to the next until you’ve solved it, or do you skip over the challenging ones and go back to them at the end? There is no right or wrong way to proceed as long as you ultimately reach your objective—solving the puzzle.

Human behavior can also be a puzzle of sorts and a very fascinating one at that. Everyone plays amateur psychologist from time-to-time, trying to figure out why people behave the way they do, especially when they behave in ways that we do not expect. Social scientists spend their entire careers trying to better understand behavior. Like other types of puzzles, it can be challenging to try to solve the puzzle of human behavior and also very rewarding. In business, human beings (both customers and employees) are crucial to our success and solving the human factor puzzle can have a positive impact on our bottom line—profits.

Q: But how do you go about solving the human factor puzzle to increase profits?

A: The answer is simple—scientific surveys.

In Irving, Texas on April 7, 2010, Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys for 38 seasons, was destroyed. Over 20,000 people came to watch the implosion that demolished the stadium. Many more watched on television and online. The Cowboys moved to their new state-of-the-art facility in Arlington, Texas after the 2008 season. After their move, Irving officials decided that the land the stadium sat on was more valuable than the stadium itself and the decision was made to tear Texas Stadium down. While many fans were saddened by its demise, the fact was that the stadium no longer met the needs of consumers so it was destroyed and the fans, like the players, have moved on.
 
Moving on is a part of life. Every day people discard and destroy objects that are no longer meeting their needs; things that have outlived their usefulness. Our possessions are not the only things vulnerable to being discarded or destroyed; businesses are at risk as well. If enough of our customers perceive that the products or services we provide are not meeting their needs, they will turn elsewhere and we can find ourselves in an inescapable position. Of course, this is something we all want to avoid and the good news is that it is not difficult to determine whether our customers believe we are adequately meeting their needs. Through customer surveys, we can gain information about what our customers want and also discover the key drivers of their behavior.

Most of us like to be liked. We tend to present ourselves in a favorable light; we do not like to appear ill-informed or ill-prepared. So, when we are asked to participate in an online questionnaire, we are eager to please, to provide useful information.

On the other hand, others of us may not trust those gathering the information. We want to know how the information we provide will be used, where and to whom it will be disseminated. We need to trust that our answers will not be attached to us or adversely affect us in any way before sharing things about our personal behaviors, opinions or attitudes.

In survey research, social desirability is the tendency of some people to respond in a way that is socially acceptable, a response different than their non-socially acceptable answer would be. They may report attending church more often than they actually do, smoking less, and exercising more. They stretch the truth to make themselves look good in the eyes of those asking the questions.

When designing questionnaires, the order of items on the questionnaire creates a context, or meaning, for the entire questionnaire. Items placed early on in the questionnaire effect the way in which people respond to later questions.

“Each item will be interpreted by respondents within the context of the questionnaire, previous questions and the wording of each item,” notes Gregory G. Holyk, University of Illinois at Chicago, in the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods.

To ensure positive use of context in questionnaires, it is important that you clearly define the purpose of the questionnaire. Start writing drafts of items to be included on the questionnaire – items that directly relate to the purpose of the questionnaire. The next step is to put items into a meaningful format (e.g. open-ended, multiple choice, etc.) and order. The order in which items appear can bias people’s thinking and, thus, their responses to your questions.

A questionnaire is the mainstay of survey research, used most often to gather information from large numbers of individuals. The questionnaire contains questions (or items) administered online or through the mail that have been standardized to mean the same thing to everyone so that responses can be compared to one another.

It’s always best, of course, to generate a plan to direct questionnaire design and implementation. Points to include in the plan include available resources, outcomes, indicators demonstrating outcome success, sources of information, methods used to gather information, and points at which the information will be gathered. Plans to pilot test the questionnaire should also be an integral part of the plan.

Two types of information are often collected. Quantitative information is best gathered using questionnaires, yielding the summary of large amounts of data and generalizations based on statistical projections.

Qualitative information is gathered from a thorough investigation of issues, using multiple methods, including observations, interviews, focus groups, key informants and journals to ultimately tell a story.

Developing a questionnaire seems easy, right? Decide what you need to know, write a bunch of questions and get people to answer them. What you need to know, is that the responses people give are affected by the way you word each item or question. Many problems arise and much information is rendered useless because of inattention to the way items are worded during questionnaire design.

Item writing is affected by item wording (the term item is used because not all items on a questionnaire are questions). Questionnaire designers must consider the following: Does the item elicit information related to the topic of interest? Is wording clear and unambiguous? Will the item mean the same thing to everyone?

Does the item demand knowledge and information the respondent has (or not)? Does the item contain personal or potentially threatening issues the respondent might resist? Are items loaded with social (un)desirability? Often the approach to items and questions will differ depending on how the survey is administered.

Colleagues in the exhibition department at a local museum met to review the list of traveling exhibitions available for rent in the next three years. After a rousing discussion, they decided to seek input from museum members, finding out what traveling exhibition topics were of interest to them. Staff put together a short checklist of known exhibitions, asking members to identify those they would pay a separate admission fee to come see, and added two open-ended questions. Once complete, the exhibits director gave the questionnaire to the membership department for distribution to members in an upcoming member survey.

As the membership coordinator looked at the questions, she thought, as long as we’re asking for member feedback, let me add several questions on issues of interest to the membership. She printed a draft and left for a meeting. As a manager of education was making copies of a program handout, he noticed the questionnaire in the copier. What a great opportunity to get member input on educational program planning, he thought! So, he generated seven questions and added them to the questionnaire.

Needless to say, when member feedback was collated and reviewed, the exhibits director was not only surprised by the inclusion of information related to membership and education, but disappointed by the lackluster responses to the questionnaire; few meaningful responses were obtained to any of the questions.

A friend’s elderly mother purchased a new car. She opened the owner’s manual to figure out how to set her favorite radio stations before driving home. Imagine her surprise to find that the sales person had already programmed the radio stations in the new car from her old one! A friend stopped on her way home from a manicure, saying she just had to tell someone about the experience she had with her manicurist, who not only walked her to her car and opened the door but put the key in the ignition and started the car so my friend wouldn’t muss up her nail polish.

Did my friends talk about the new car and the fabulous manicure or the value added service they received? Certainly both, but the value added services led the conversation in every telling!

We feel satisfied when we get something that we need or want because our desires are fulfilled. We know that a customer can be anyone who receives something they perceive to be of value, a product or a service, from an individual or organization. Customers are both internal and external to the organization, each with his or her needs, wants and desires.

Customer service standards are on the rise. When customers deal with you, they compare you to anyone else from whom they’ve received (great) service, not just someone from the same industry.

Have you ever watched a baby take its first steps? It is quite a sight to see. The baby may wobble back and forth as she or he tries to stand upright and maintain balance. Then a parent coaxes the child to step forward. The child, often while gazing intently at the parent, takes that first tentative step...and then another...and another. The child precariously spans the divide between self and parent. For other children, only one step is taken before falling on their diapered bottoms. Even this minimal success may be followed by cheers from the parent and squeals of delight from the baby. But before long children master the art of walking and the parents face a new challenge...how to keep the child walking in the right direction. Toward the sofa...toward mom or dad—Good! Toward the street—Bad!

It is crucial to move in the right direction. Failure to do so can have tragic, even fatal, results. On a recent morning I was watching the news and learned that overnight three fatal car accidents had occurred in my metropolitan area overnight. Two were the result of vehicles going the wrong way on the highway. It is likely that at the moment these vehicles moved into the lane that took them onto the highway, they believed they were headed in the right direction. It was late, dark, and there was not a lot of traffic on the highway. But it probably did not take too long for the error to be realized as the drivers looked up and saw one or more vehicles headed toward them with headlights blaring in the darkness. Unfortunately, sometimes businesses make changes they think will take them in the right direction. However, what makes sense intuitively sometimes takes us in the wrong direction. The good news? This can easily be avoided. The only way to know for sure what direction to go in is to be well informed. You need to be aware of internal and external forces that may impact the success of your business. One sure means of empowerment is to gain knowledge of the right direction by conducting employee and customer surveys.

Most weekday mornings I get up around 5:00 A.M. to get ready for my work day. Part of my morning routine involves turning on the television to catch the weather forecast. I live in a climate where the weather can be quite variable. In the morning people may be wearing layered clothing and jackets and by the middle of the afternoon they are wearing shorts and T-shirts. Or some days it is just the opposite; you start out in short sleeves and before the day is over the temperature has dropped 20 or 30 degrees and you are grabbing for your jacket. Precipitation here also varies considerably. One moment there is not a cloud in the sky and a few minutes later it is dark and raining so hard you can barely see to drive.

I watch the weather forecast in the mornings in order to be prepared for these temperature and precipitation changes. I feel more prepared for leaving the house if I know what to expect. The forecast enables me to know whether to wear a sweater, jacket, or raincoat, or if I need to take such items with me for use later in the day. Knowledge of the forecast also helps me make an informed decision regarding footwear – Is it okay to wear leather shoes or do I need to wear shoes that are waterproof? Do I need to take an umbrella?

Once I leave home and begin my commute to work, I begin to notice other people on their way to work or school. Observing them, I sometimes come to the conclusion that many of them either did not watch a weather forecast before leaving home that morning or, did so but ignored it. I decide this because I will see people out in short sleeves with no jackets with their arms crossed over, shivering in the 49 degree morning. On other occasions I see people trying to cover their heads with a newspaper or anything else they can find as the rain pours down on them and they have neither a raincoat nor an umbrella.

Unfortunately, I observe the same lack of preparedness in some companies who do not affectively anticipate the behavior of consumers. Some businesses try to be successful by looking to other companies as models of excellence. In an article on factors affecting success in business, written by research professor Spyros Makridakis and published in the European Management Journal, this approach of looking for prescriptions from past success stories is discouraged. Makridakis argues that management theories and tools are like the fashion industry in that they have their moment of glory and die. He observes that very few survive and sometimes their passing leaves extensive corporate damage. When reviewing the large number of theories that have briefly blossomed from the 1960s onwards, he suggests we avoid extrapolating from those past success stories.

My spouse and I enjoy cooking and entertaining and we make a great team in the kitchen. When we have family or friends over for dinner it is not just a meal, it is an event. We want the occasion to be a very positive and memorable experience for our guests so we do not do anything half way. Most dishes are made completely from scratch. When we entertain, our typical dinner involves five courses. The meal begins upstairs in our library. Here we serve appetizers. Depending on the type of cuisine we are featuring that evening, our appetizer may be fresh bruschetta, spinach rolls made with a puff pastry, or chicken potstickers. After a time of socializing and nibbling on appetizers we move back to the first floor to the formal dining room. Here we partake of three candlelit courses: soup, salad, and the main course; each accompanied by homemade bread. After the main course, we retire to the living room to continue conversing and allowing the previous courses to digest. Finally, the evening is topped off with dessert. This often involves my favorite ingredient – chocolate...perhaps homemade chocolate mousse, cheesecake, traditional steamed English pudding, or molten lava cakes. No one leaves our home hungry.

Every human being is unique. Just like no two snowflakes are identical , no two people are alike. Each of us has a multitude of traits. These traits are polygenic (affected by many genes) as well as multifactorial (influenced by many factors). Thus, each of us is a product of the unique combination of genes we inherit from our parents and our unique experiences. In addition, according to epigenetic theory, our genes interact with the environment. This explains why in a set of identical twins, one may develop schizophrenia and the other may not. Let's say a set of identical twins inherited a susceptibility to schizophrenia. In adulthood, one of these twins becomes a police officer in Detroit. The second twin runs a bed and breakfast (B & B) in Vermont. Guess which one is more likely to develop symptoms of schizophrenia? If you guessed the police officer, you are correct. Environmental stress is often a precipitating factor in mental illness. Assuming that working as a police officer in Detroit is much more stressful than running a B & B in Vermont, it is logical to assume that the twin working as a police officer is more likely to develop symptoms of schizophrenia, even though both twins have the same genetic predisposition.

Genome refers to the full set of genes that serve as the instructions to make an individual member of a certain species. For years an international group of scientists working on the Human Genome Project sought to map the human genome. The effort was completed in 2001 but their analysis continues. These researchers have found that humans have about 25,000 genes and that 99% of these are present in other creatures as well.

Just as physical scientists have mapped the human genome, organizational scientists have mapped the genetic code for business growth and success. Genetic codes provide the means by which organisms can grow successfully in their environments. An organism's genetic code is the key to its life and this code is stored in its DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). In a study published in the SA Journal of Human Resource Management, J. H. Vermeulen and colleagues used qualitative and quantitative data to identify a genetic code for business. Vermeulen and his team argue that a genetic business code can be developed and serve as a crucial enabler of business growth and success. Their study revealed that the code is composed of three strands: a Leadership Strand, Organizational Architecture Strand, and an Internal Orientation Strand.

Social media provides users with information via blogs, podcasts, and webinars. Users write reviews or create forums, wikis, and videos. Users connect with each other and providers through virtual worlds and social network communities.

“Social networking has caused a fundamental and transformational shift in the way that people are connecting, knowledge is being shared and information is flowing,” says Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D., CEO of Cognetics, a firm dealing with the human aspects of computer technology.

About 50% of large companies and 75% of small ones (fewer than 500 employees) are using social media of all types. Of those, it is estimated that 40-60% have their own social network. Microsoft has the Town Square, IBM the Blue Pages, and Best Buy the Blue Shirt Nation.

“Engage me, inform me, and entertain me,” says Bernie Borges, author of Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap Between Seller and Buyer on the Social Web. “But don’t make me read an ad; don’t send me email news. Companies are made up of people; be social with your existing and prospective customers.”

I wear multiple 'hats'. I am an organizational consultant, a professor, and a student working on a second Ph.D. As I am writing this paper it is a special month for me as a professor and a student. It is the time of year when universities typically have their recognition ceremonies, honoring their students who have excelled in academics and community service. I am doubly honored to be able to see some of my own students receive recognition this month and to be receiving awards myself. Both experiences are the result of hard work and sacrifice.

The students who are recognized by their universities with special certificates and invitations to honor societies are certainly a minority of the student population. Why is that? Some may attribute it to lack of motivation or even a lack of ability. Certainly these are factors. However, I think for many the problem is lack of knowledge; knowledge of how to succeed. Many students simply do not know the steps to follow in order to succeed in the academic environment. Without this knowledge, most students' performance will be mediocre at best.

Numerous students have asked me how to succeed in their classes. This is a question I can easily answer. The path to academic success is not a secret. The same holds true for business. As an organizational consultant I have often been asked: "How do I take my company to the 'Best in Class' level?". Once again, this is a question I can answer. The path to business success is not a secret. In fact, I can answer the question with just one word...

The National Business Research Institute (“NBRI”), one of the most respected survey research firms in the world, unveiled Survey Software Online, an innovative online survey creation system. Survey Software Online, or SSO, went live on April 2nd and is designed to allow small to mid-sized businesses to create, deploy, and analyze customer and employee surveys in-house.

Survey Software Online can be used to quickly and easily conduct a full-scale survey and provide the reporting and analysis required to “read the minds” of employees and customers.

Addison, TX - March 12, 2009:

Time, labor, and security manufacturer, Lathem has selected NBRI to conduct a customer satisfaction survey.  With a wide variety of products ranging from door locks to digital time clocks and employee tracking software, Lathem seeks to improve their customer’s experience with direct feedback.

NBRI, the National Business Research Institute, a leading research firm in the area of organizational psychology will conduct the study in 2009.  By studying the foundations of customer satisfaction, the NBRI survey and analyses will identify action items enabling Lathem to increase its customers’ satisfaction and intent to return.

The value of survey research cuts across all industries and disciplines. It’s a tool for collecting information that can improve customer satisfaction, offer insight into a company product, pinpoint the mood of the voter and gauge public opinion on social issues. But definitive research for mainstream purposes isn’t the only use for surveys. Occasionally, surveys can be used for the downright bizarre and can come up with some, shall we say, unique results.

Super Bowl Sunday is known as one of the busiest days for pizza parlors nationwide. Pizza orders increase by 50 to 100% during the Super Bowl compared to a regular Sunday. Some of the large pizza parlors around the country even hold pep rallies to get their delivery people excited. The delivery people will be run ragged all over town, but hope to end the night with a lot of tip money in hand. In fact, while a typical tip for a pizza delivery is roughly $2, it has been reported that on Super Bowl Sunday, tips can rise to $20 per pizza delivery!

In our society, this all seems fair. Customers tip based on the service they receive taking into account timeliness, quality, and even the appearance of the person delivering the service. And if the quality of service is bad and the customer doesn’t tip at all, this is a good indication that they will not be returning customers. Tips allow service people to immediately gauge how their performance is viewed by their customers. A smart delivery person that received a bad tip will revise their performance until they receive better tips.

I grew up in a cold climate in the northern United States. Winter consisted of months of grey days, freezing temperatures, snow, and ice. I learned to drive in snowy and icy conditions. My parents were cognizant of the importance of teaching me what to do if my vehicle began to slide on the ice and how to regain control. They taught me to be cautious whenever the weather conditions were untenable. Thus, I was well prepared to drive in threatening conditions and always proceeded carefully in order to avoid an accident.

Unfortunately, we are not always aware when threatening conditions exist. One example of a hidden threat on the roads during the winter season is black ice; a transparent layer of ice that freezes with few, if any, air bubbles trapped inside making it virtually invisible. Its’ imperceptibility has caused many accidents because unsuspecting drivers proceeded to drive on it with a "business as usual" approach, often with disastrous results.

Take Action

You’ve come this far. If you’ve conducted your survey yourself, and conducted it correctly, it has been a long process, hopefully made easier by this series of articles.

Don’t take your foot off of the gas now! Once you have analyzed your data, do something about it!

You now know the root cause(s) of your issues(s). Brainstorm on ideas to correct the issues, construct a plan of action, and get to work.

If you do not follow through on the results of your survey research, you have wasted your time and money and that of your customers and/or employees. Inaction will make respondents less likely to participate in future surveys. But, if respondents see action as a result of your survey they will know that their time in completing your survey was not wasted.

So, how do you proceed? Start by creating an Action Plan.

I live in an area of the country that compared to some regions, experiences fairly mild winters. Our winters are mild, not nonexistent. We experience below freezing temperatures and lawns, trees, and other outdoor plants go dormant. I happen to love roses and enjoy the long blooming season here. My roses usually begin blooming in March and continue to bloom until early December. As I am writing this paper it is winter. The thermometer has already dipped below the freezing mark and all plant life is dormant...almost. Recently I was in my yard and I happened to glance at one of my rose bushes expecting to see nothing but dead leaves and spent blooms. Instead, much to my surprise, I saw life...several clusters of tiny new leaves were growing on that rose bush...in the winter! That rose bush has overcome the odds. In spite of cold temperatures and a lack of any attention from me, it is growing.

How are you today? This seems like such a simple question; one that we have all answered thousands of times. But have you ever thought about how you are able to answer this question? When we answer the question "How are you today?" we rely on information stored in our memory about how we were yesterday, last week, and perhaps, even last month or last year. We compare how we were in the past with how we perceive ourselves in the present and we answer the question to a large degree by making this comparison. Thus, if someone were to ask me how I am today and last week I had the flu, I might say "I'm still a little weak but I am doing better."

By now you are well into the survey process.  First you determined and documented your objectives for the research.  Next, your survey questions were designed to gather the data to meet your objectives.  And your survey instrument was created with an appropriate response scale.  Then, you deployed your survey, and collected your data.

The type of research you are conducting often drives mission critical decisions, so I hope you have taken care to get the previous steps correct before moving onto data analysis.  If you came across this article in the series without reading the others, I highly suggest you go back and do so.  If your survey questions are poorly worded or your data collection process is flawed, your analysis will be incorrect.  Once you reach a representative sample of collected data, the fun begins.

Recently there has been a lot of talk in the business community about Net Promoter which, according to the official website for the product is "a discipline by which companies profitably grow by focusing on their customers." The Net Promoter is the subject of a book titled The Ultimate Question by Frederick F. Reichheld. In this book, Reichheld claims that the ultimate question for businesses to ask their customers is "would you recommend us to a friend/relative?" He also purports that if you ask this "ultimate question" in a regular, systematic, and timely fashion, and then track and publicize the answers and put the information to work right away, you will be on "the only path to prosperity and true growth."

So, should you use Net Promoter? Is it the answer to business success? Is it a revolutionary tool or just a fad? To answer these questions, let's start with the "ultimate question." Reichheld states that all we need to ask our customers is whether or not they would recommend us to a friend or relative. I will agree that this is a good and important question. Getting customers to recommend us to others is a great, inexpensive way to build our businesses. People tend to trust recommendations from friends and family more than information they obtain from advertisements. However, the issue is not whether "Would you recommend us?" is a good question, the issue is "Is it the only question we need to ask?"

Have you ever worn a “one size fits all” garment? Perhaps you have and know from personal experience that they do not really “fit” all. Or perhaps you have avoided such garments all together because you knew they would not provide the kind of fit you prefer. For some individuals such garments merely hang on them with what seems to be yards of excess fabric, making the occupant look lost. For others such garments are too tight and do not provide adequate room for movement. I assume this is why some have modified these tags to say “one size fits most.”

In the past few weeks, the nation has been in the grip of a financial crisis that has shaken once mighty Wall Street institutions to the core, while Americans on Main Street nervously bite their nails.

“People are waking up from a gigantic hangover, trying to figure out what’s next,” John Schloegel, vice president of investment strategies for Austin-based Capital Cities Asset Management, told Reuters recently.

Frankly, the entire year has been one giant hangover for many Americans who have watched food and fuel prices elevate and their 401k’s and home values deflate. They’ve been whipsawed by fear that achieving affluence and a better world for their children has been derailed. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington, D.C. think tank, the current financial stall marked the first time since World War II that the typical family was worse off at the end of an economic expansion than at the start.

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Have you ever been lost or unsure of which direction to take? In today's technologically savvy world, we are less likely to find ourselves in this situation. We have cellular phones on which we can call and ask for directions or log on to the Internet and look up our destination on a map. Many vehicles are now equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) that takes the guesswork out of finding our destination. We simply enter the address of the place we want to go and follow the verbal prompts of the computer. If we fail to obey the prompts, the system will announce "recalculating" and begin to give us new directions. The only way it could get any easier is if the GPS would drive the vehicle for us.

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Most of us do not take our temperature on a regular basis and in fact, some people never take their temperature. Why would we? We just assume that if we are feeling fine that our temperature must be within the normal range. Although we may not feel the need to monitor our temperature, it is one of the first measurements taken during a visit to the doctor. Why? Because an abnormal reading is a quick indicator that something is wrong. This is true for humans and for their pets. Recently, for example, I noticed some changes in my cat. First, she lost some weight. This seemed like a good thing to me since, like many indoor cats, she was overweight anyway. Then I began to notice she was meowing more loudly and frequently. Well, she has always seemed fond of the sound of her own voice so… But then she lost more weight and our family decided a trip to the veterinarian was a good idea.

What do you think was the first thing the doctor’s office did to my cat? That’s right, they took her temperature. Immediately they knew something was wrong as it was quite a bit higher than normal for a cat. The doctor soon discovered that my cat had an infection.

At this point you may be wondering “what does this have to do with my company?” A lot. Just like I want my pet to be healthy, we all want our companies to be healthy. But in determining whether our companies are healthy we don’t always gather enough information or focus on the right information. I initially made this mistake with my cat. I thought, “She doesn’t act sick.” She was still grooming herself and demanding a lot of attention. But I was focusing on the wrong information. I did not take notice of the fact that she was shedding a lot more than usual, for example. In like fashion, we may focus on our companies profits for the last three or four quarters but not look at other indicators of business health. Peter F. Drucker, in his book Management Challenges for the 21st Century, stated that success “comes to those who know themselves - their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.” This is true for both individuals and companies.

You might be thinking “I don’t need to read this; my company’s performance is not mediocre.” If so, let me ask you a question, “Will you be satisfied with your company’s performance if it continues to stay exactly where it is for the next ten years?” If you answered “yes” to that question, stop reading this paper. However, if you would like to see your company continue to grow and increase in profitability, keep reading.

In order to “bridge the gap” between where your company is now and where you would like it to be you must first have a goal. Why? How will you know the path to take if you don’t know where you are going? This goal should be as specific as possible. The reason it is important to be specific when setting goals is that research shows it increases our chances of reaching them.

Paper, online, telephone, or in-person interviews?

Now is the time to consider your deployment options. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Often, deciding upon the method of deployment is easy since you may be constrained by such obstacles as the number of email addresses you have available to you, the languages required, cost, your company’s infrastructure, etc. For instance, translating a survey into multiple languages and distributing it to your customers via email is probably more cost effective than hiring people to telephone each customer in their own language to administer the survey.

Conducting customer surveys is a common business practice. Within the last two weeks alone, I have been asked to complete at least five customer surveys.

Q: Why is surveying customers such a common practice?

A: Because of the belief that customer surveys pay off with increased profits.

Is this belief correct or is the practice of surveying customers one that simply gives companies a false sense of empowerment? Social scientists all over the world have conducted much research across a broad range of industries (including e-businesses) in order to answer this question.

The following article is a continuation of a series. If you have not read the previous posts I recommend that you do so.

How to Conduct a Survey - Intro
How to Conduct a Survey - Survey Basics

Step One - Creating the Survey
Should you do this by yourself or hire a professional firm to help? Most should seriously consider working with a survey research firm for something so critical. A relatively small investment to make sure that your research is successful may pay for itself many times over. Only you know the exact objectives and the exact requirements, but some help with the technicalities may be worthwhile.

Each customer is an investment and represents hours of marketing efforts and expenditures. Each customer lost represents an investment that is no longer reaping dividends. Having customers, not merely acquiring customers, is crucial for business success.

In an article in the Journal of Marketing Research titled “Defensive Marketing Strategy by Customer Complaint Management: A Theoretical Analysis” by Claes Fornell and Birger Wernerfelt, numerous successful marketing strategies are identified. According to the authors, one crucial feature of marketing strategy is the company’s ability to identify and influence the flows of customers in and out of its franchise and into and out of the market. Fornell and Wernerfelt identify these flows as consisting of:

1) additional customer entry to the market,

2) brand shifting or change of patronage,

3) customer market exit, and

4) changes in purchase frequency.

This article is a continuation of Monday’s post. If you missed that one, I encourage you to go back and read it to be sure we are on the same page.

The Five Basic Survey Research Steps

Survey Research can be broken down into 5 simple steps. That is to say, breaking the process down is  simple. How difficult the individual steps are depends on the size and scope of your project. Try to take each step individually. This will keep you from getting overwhelmed and “stuck in the mud”.

The posts to follow will each address one of these steps. Later we can delve a little deeper into each step to flesh out each area.

Since first joining the National Business Research Institute as a Marketing Analyst in May of 2007, I have been hard at work trying to learn and understand the entire survey process in order to better know how to present and promote the industry (and of course NBRI, itself).

Conducting a survey can seem like a very daunting process, but It is not as complex as you might think. Don’t take that the wrong way. Conducting a survey is a science. It follows the old computer adage, garbage in - garbage out. If you do not conduct your survey in a strictly scientific manner you can end up with a lot of useless data and wasted months of work. Worse yet, you could create action plans based on that data and do more harm than good. However, the basic structure of a survey is easily understood.

Customer loyalty means everything in the business world, and the formula for success doesn’t seem that difficult. While some companies have mastered the art, others lag behind. Predictability and performance may sound dull, but it keeps the customer coming back.

By Dr. Jan Stringer, Ph.D.

If the benefits of customer loyalty are ever fuzzy, skeptics only need to sit down and have a talk with the brass at Southwest Airlines and Harrah’s Entertainment.

These two are giants within their industries and are prime examples of companies that actively make customer loyalty the center of their business strategies. It’s a formula that has been proven in numerous studies: Implementing a customer loyalty program delivers stock market growth that outperforms the market average.

In the case of Southwest Airlines, the up-start airline has always realized what impacts customer loyalty and has been held up as a model of study for executives and business schools across the land. Its ability to turn an industry on its head – going from cut-rate carrier to the third largest airline in the world in passenger numbers – has inspired several books and media attention since its first flights in 1971 from a dusty Love Field in Dallas.

Meanwhile, further west, Harrah’s Entertainment languishes in the spotlight of the star-studded casinos of the Las Vegas strip. While U.S. gaming companies battled each other to build the biggest, most extravagant hotels, Harrah’s put its emphasis on something more than concrete and polished marble. Harrah’s focused on customer loyalty.

The results have been staggering. Its investment in the customer, including a strategy to go after the low-roller instead of the high ones, turned Harrah’s into the world’s largest gaming company with annual revenues of more than $7 billion.

Harrah’s has put a major emphasis on technology that benefits the customer, and that translates into customer loyalty. Its Total Rewards card is the industry standard and its recent patent that customizes hotel pricing is another step that plays into the hands of its customer loyalty campaign.

“This patent is an example of Harrah’s innovative use of technology to enhance the customer experience by leveraging our unique understanding of the customer’s value across our enterprise, not just the casino floor,” David Norton, senior vice president of relationship marketing, told Forbes Magazine in September. “This method is a valuable addition to our revenue management system, which helps us realize greater returns on our new and existing hotel assets.”

Assets, returns and customer loyalty. It’s the trifecta for a successful business. But just paying lip service to the factors affecting customer loyalty won’t do. Specifics need to be laid out according to a company’s customer base. And all companies are not created equal.

“The most important step a company can take to earn customer loyalty is to treat each customer as an individual, by providing customized service and designing its products to include various options so customers can select what’s right for them,” said Lisa Levey, Manager of Customer Relationship Services for an Arizona-based consulting agency. “The biggest mistake is to assume one size fits all. Organizations must design products and services, approach error resolution, and make business decisions with the expectation that customers have unique needs and expectations.”

Expectations from the customer will always be there. Fulfilling them takes definitive rules for maintaining loyalty, including five sure-fire ways of keeping the customer coming back.  I'll share those ways with you in my next entry.


Tags: customer loyalty, customer loyalty program, harrahs, southwest airlines