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This weekend I received a phone call asking me for five minutes of my time to take a customer satisfaction survey. The woman on the phone said she was calling from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), so I agreed to answer her questions.

She began asking about my expectations of my electric company using a number scale to rate satisfaction. Honestly, I don’t really care who provides my electricity, I just want to know that if I pay my bill every month, my lights will turn on. I answered the questions arbitrarily; if I took the survey 10 times, I would probably have come up with 10 different answers. I wondered how many other people answer at random and if the results of this survey would actually be beneficial to the company.

Suddenly, she asked two questions that are valuable in measuring loyalty and satisfaction—my interest was perked! Both questions assumed the hypothetical situation that you have a choice of companies to provide service. 

1. How likely would you be to choose service from you current company?

2. If your current company was raising rates and other companies was not, how much could your current company raise their price (using increments of 25%) before you would discontinue service?

I found the second question particularly interesting. I answered 25%, though I would have no problem switching for less than 25%. I have no personal connection to my electric company and it is a rare occasion that I have to contact them. I don’t care who provides my service, I want to pay the least amount possible.

It is important to remember that people often lie on surveys. Though one may say they are satisfied with a service, it does not mean they will be a loyal customer. Loyalty is based on emotional responses to products, companies and/or services. Asking questions that measure these feelings usually yields a better indication of satisfaction.