Key dates and survey dispatch

What is a Key Moment?

In Feedback Management, the key moment is that moment of truth when customer satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) is forged. It's an interaction between the customer and the company that defines the customer experience.
In the course of a customer journey, the customer experiences several key moments. Taken together, they define the customer's overall satisfaction with his or her experience.

Questions about Key Moments?

A few years ago, one of our customers wanted to survey his own customers after each key moment. In a standard 4-month customer journey, this represented 6 interactions (and therefore questionnaires to be sent out). After study, we came to the conclusion that this approach would be counter-productive. At best, most customers would only respond to 2 or even 3 surveys; at worst, they would be annoyed by repeated emails.
In many cases, the question doesn't really arise. A customer goes to a point of sale, is advised by the sales assistant who gives him a product demonstration, checks out and leaves with his product. The various key moments mentioned here (discovery of the store, sales assistant interaction, checkout interaction) are too closely grouped to consider questioning the customer after each of them.

But sometimes, the key moments are far enough apart or independent of each other. The same customer books a winter sports holiday, visits the resort and has a good time, then contacts customer service with a billing problem. In this case, the reservation is made several months before the holiday. And the call to Customer Service is totally independent of the other key moments. So, should the customer be questioned 3 times: after the reservation, after the stay and after the call to Customer Service? Should they be questioned 2 times: after the stay and after the call to Customer Service? Or should they be asked 1 time: after the service call, about the entire service?

General rules to be applied

Generally speaking, the number of mailings to the same customer should be kept to a minimum, while at the same time limiting the waiting time between the customer experience and the dispatch of the satisfaction survey. In addition, we must not forget to take into account the importance of the customer experience (and its presumed frequency). For example, a customer is less likely to forget the experience of booking a winter sport by telephone than an experience in a particular restaurant (an experience which is richer, but undoubtedly more recurrent).

Conclusion

So there are no hard and fast rules, just common sense principles to apply. In my case, I would recommend interviewing customers 3 times, after each group of interactions. In fact, although quite unique, a winter sports booking can precede the actual stay by 3 to 6 months. And of course, if you're not sure there's going to be a complaint, it's best to interview the customer after their stay.