Survey Rant

What happens to your bonus if I do not fill out the survey?

Sounds like the company or the mfgr uses surveys to screw the service writers.

Not sure why the dipshits who lurk around here are DV'n you.

Sounds like you're working on a ragged edge.

Recently a new, and much needed, oil change business opened in our small town.

I do my own oil changes, but greasing all my suspension and driveline fittings are a pain in the ass.

Went there for that.

It's a free service.

Tipped the tech $20, then wrote their first review.

5 stars.

I go back after every offroad trip. 

They remember me.

Free lubes and tyre rotation every time I go there now.

Still tip the guy $20.

Reviews and surveys benefit more than just the one receiving the review.

Just sayin'.

I'm going to have a tough time explaining this, work with me fellas.

I read an article about tipping a couple years ago when all the restaurants started going to the automatic tipping,.. or recommended tip. Its a way of shifting the responsibility, or emotion of what the waiter/waitress make$$$ from the boss/employee relationship to the customer/employee. 

So in essence, instead of McG184's employer paying him a decent steady wage and having McG184 upset with his employer that he should be making more...the conflict/emotion of what McG makes has shifted to the customer.

The employer has shifted the pay structure dynamic and McG has agreed to this by agreeing to work there.

Hope that didnt come across as word salad.

I didn't have a problem following or agreeing with that and I'm a dumbass.

Semi related...I used to fill out surveys everywhere, Lowes, Home Depot, O'Reilly's etc.  No more.  They "farm out" the survey to 3rd party survey tech places that flood me with their "partners".  I ain't got time for that shit.  Bring it back in house and I'll respond.

That’s a good point. Surveys after ask for email and phone numbers which can be sold to marketing agencies.  These unsolicited calls and emails dampen response rates, resulting in only exceptionally good or poor performances being recognized. 
 

Employers should discard irregularities during evaluations. A single bad review should not sway compensation, nor should multiple if the aggregate score exceeds performance thresholds.  If a comp plan can rescind payments due to a a single event, it may be time to negotiate terms, or consider new, employment. 

I am an excessive tipper I am told by family and friends but they don't realize how many times I have been taken care of above and beyond. People remember and I like to help you for helping me. I have never once asked to see a manager or any complaining at all and either 5 star review or no review. I just don't care enough for the conflict. I am blessed and like everyone around me happy. Maybe I'm just a narcissist that believes no one can affect me but me.

I did complain at a dealership by accident a few years ago. I bought a new Chevy and the dealership was kind of far from my house but I did use them for a few services and a recalled part but had planned on switching to a Chevy dealership that was closer. Well the last time I was at the original dealership I saw the guy who brings the vehicles out open the door into the car next to it and put all his weight on the door scratching it badly. My truck was already out there and I was paying and told the lady next to me incase it was hers who didn't seem to care. I got to my truck and sure enough I see a silver mark on the car next to me and notice the service people watching me and looking guilty. My vehicle was fine though. So the next time I go to new dealership for service and  I was texting the story to my friend but accidentally sent it to the service updates texts I was getting from this dealerships service manager. Oops. they came out and treated me very well. Lol

"I learned many years ago that you make far more money by being honest and not selling someone items or services that they do not need because they will be back year after year if they trust you. Besides the fact that I value my honesty and integrity more than anything."

^^^^^ This...ALL day long.   I have an indy mechanic I've been going to for years for repairs/services that are beyond my level of knowledge and tools.  That is exactly how they do business and I trust them implicitly.           

No offense to you, but I have had issues with  dealership service departments trying to push services I do not need on me for decades.      It probably doesn't help that I know cars and do a lot of work on them myself, so I see thru the BS. 

My FIL takes their car into the dealership for oil changes.     One time, they told him he needed a cabin filter and wanted to charge him some insane amount of money for the filter and an hour labor to install it.       I bought a good aftermarket filter for him and installed it in less than 10 minutes.      I've also started doing his oil changes for him too.   I can do it for under $50, where the dealer is 3X that.    My in-laws are on fixed income and I do what I can to save them $$$$$.      

I agree with the comment made about the company/mfgrs using surveys to screw people out of money.   They know it's impossible these days to not get someone who will complain about the dumbest shit that has nothing to do with your performance.  Just look at Yelp and Amazon reviews.

On the flip side of the surveys....I seem to remember stories in the media about dealerships blacklisting people for leaving negative reviews.   Do you want to have a dealership who may have a vendetta for your honest feedback working on your vehicle?   (I'm not talking about idiots who leave negative feedback because the dealership was too far away...etc)

It's been a long time since I've been to a dealership for service, but there was a very heavy handed push to make sure you left 5 stars.    

I will only provide a review if the service is above and beyond.

I don’t spend time writing negative reviews.

I also don’t complain to managers.

If I call for a manager, it’s because I want to call out the exceptional service I received and brag on the employee directly to the manager.

Back a few December’s ago… I was shopping at Costco with my family, and one of the check out gals was genuinely joyful with my kids. Like above and beyond we received great service. Right there in the check out line. 

Me and my wife headed to the car. Talking about how great the cashier was and how it really set apart our experience unlike the usual Costco runs.

We loaded our car. Discussed with my wife how people only leave a review if they are unsatisfied with something. So this gal and her managers will never know the great job she did. People rarely call out good service  only negative negative negative.

We start driving to exit the parking lot and I was under massive conviction to park and go back in and ask for the manager. I was trying to talk myself out of it. I’m busy, car is loaded. I’m on to my next errand. Etc 

I felt the Holy Spirit really promoting me to go back in. I was under conviction…

So I park and go back in. Me and my entire family. We call for the manager. And I explain the service and experience we received. We pointed out the girl.

He called her over…..she pretty much had shear terror on her face because 99% of the time when a customer calls for the manager it’s to complain about something.

The manager tells her she did a great job. And we shared our experience and how awesome she was.

I really laid it on thick…. I told the manager she is leadership material. She deserves a raise and that she’s exceptional. She’s thankful and we chatted for a few. She leaves and heads back to her register.

Me and the manager chatted for a few minutes and both talked about how people only will step out to complain. They never stop and praise good service.

He took down my information and I asked him to please share with others. I didn’t want this praise to just terminate on him and not go anywhere.

He got the message and a few days later I received a call from corporate Costco. I explained the experience in detail. It was very business like call. Friendly, but this wasn’t just a normal customer service rep calling me back.

About a week later the store manager called me. Thanked me for letting them know about the job she did. I tactfully asked what’s in it for her. He basically said increased yearly bonus for the year and this opens doors for her to begin leadership training at Costco.

I do this more and more now. If the service is exceptional, I’ll call for a manager. It’s fun to do at a restaurant because when you ask your server to speak to the manager they are always horrified.

And then you get to have this really awesome interaction and talk up the server to the manager.

And I make it a point to lay it on thick. If I’m calling the manager, then I’m going to go above and beyond just your normal praise.

Try it sometime. It’s a really cool experience and I love if I can do something that can make a difference for someone else.

Be sure and try it in non-traditional settings as well. Like a cashier or something. They don’t get a lot of praise.

I've never done a review/survey either.

If i don't like the service i got, I ask a couple of questions to that business... and if i do not like the answers I get...I smile, nod...and NEVER do business there again and tell others of my bad experience.

This is a problem with your employer more than the customer. The surveys are, or at least should be, a measure of customer satisfaction. You may believe that your customer should have been fully satisfied or even more than fully, but obviously she wasn’t. That should be a learning experience for the employee involved. 

Instead of using the surveys the way that they should be, a tool to find out how to improve the customer experience, your employer is using it to have a reason to withhold some money from you. Even worse, they are encouraging those facing the customer to ask/beg for a maximum rating from the customer because they’ve lost sight of really caring about what the customer really thinks. The ‘survey score’ has become more important than getting honest data from the customer to help drive improvements.

If you work for a company that believes that every score must be a 10, I’d rethink that choice of employer. As someone who needs to deal with good data all day, I’d rather have some honest and critical responses rather than a blanket of 10s that are obviously requested by my employees. 

I agree 100% with APLMAN99

I agree.  It is called a survey, not a testimonial.  The dealer nor the employee should know the name of who filled out the survey.  If there is no better setup than for the dealer to know, then they should never share that with the employee.  Not if they were interested in utilizing data for improving (perceived) short comings on service.  Though maybe it worked.  I'm not digging on you but if you put yourself in her shoes, it doesn't sound like she was comfortable being upsold or felt a little trapped when she got started down that road.  If you want to protect yourself and your bonus, reflect back on the conversation and I bet there is a point that you can recognize she wasn't fully comfortable and you've no doubt seen it in others.  It sounds like you did a great job of explaining it to her but maybe an understanding of the upsell wasn't what she was wanting.  She was wanting to feel comfortable about the decision of purchasing it.  You could implement a statement like, if your not comfortable, there is no pressure but I feel it is a good deal.  Take a few minutes and think about it and I'll help you any way I can.  I'm just guessing but validation was what she was wanting and she didn't feel it.  

There is a conundrum there.  The dealer wants the upsell but you want the perfect survey.  Many situations this will be vinegar and water.   

My most common ding on surveys, “PRESSURED FOR SPECIFIC RESPONSE”! 
 

It’s not the dealer, but the manufacturers that are demanding perfect surveys. All the dealers bonus money is tied in to the survey. 

TSI monthly meetings to get everyone’s results was always interesting. 

Americans have been trained by industries for years that if you leave a shitting survey, you'll get free shit.

It needs to stop.

“If you read my post you will see that the customer should have been fully satisfied and will be, they just don't know it.”

This is one of the most pertinent things you’ve posted about the issue.  You obviously should understand that you left the customer without understanding the value of what they were buying.  You felt that they should feel very satisfied, but they didn’t.  That’s on the salesperson.

Following a script is a good start, and it sounds like you may have a good plan on that part. It allows you to explain the first 2 parts of what is needed to establish whether a customer feels like they are getting a ‘good deal’.  Those are the feature and the benefit of a particular part of the vehicle. Most people stop there, but the really good salesperson drives home the third, most effective element, based upon their knowledge of what is important to the customer; the value that the feature and benefit provide to that particular customer. 

FBV selling is practically automatic if you are able to listen to a buyer’s motivations, and those customers will stand in line to give you 10s across the board when they get surveyed. 
 

Sorry I'm late to this post. I've been there. I work at a dealership also and get paid on the same pay structure. I feel your pain, you can't please 100% of the people, no matter what. There will always be that 1% of Karens if you will. I've been burned on a survey just like you, cost me thousands. Hard to explain to my own wife even sometimes how it works. My best is advice is a combination of what people here said, treat every customer like your Mother and you'll have great surveys! 2nd tip my manager told me, it's all a numbers game. Bring in more surveys, the good ones will offset the bad ones. 3rd piece of advice, bonuses are just that, a bonus. Yes a large piece of the finances, but they are not guaranteed, not everyone gets them all the time. As hard as that is to hear, it makes it easier to accept. 

I enjoy my job 98% of the time too. I make a good living doing what we do, more than most realize. Your post hits very close to home with me. Many people didn't take your point, or understand what a seemingly meaningless survey can do to someone. If you need to talk message me, I'm happy to chat.