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I completed a rather rocky purchase at a local retailer. and at the end of the transaction the clerk circled the survey number at the bottom of the receipt and asked me to participate. This move suggested that she thought there was nothing wrong with the poor service she provided and, because I had contacted this store in the past regarding poor interactions, I doubted they would listen to my responses this time around.

The obvious question here is: why did I return to this store if past experiences did not live up to expectations? The answer is simply that I had a store credit I did not want wasted, even if it meant dealing with less than pleasant employees. The survey on the receipt suggested the company had customer service software in place to capture responses so as to make the necessary adjustments, but I doubted they had gone that extra step.

We’ve all been inundated with the customer feedback survey, whether it’s the call to action at the bottom of a receipt or the call center asking you to stick around after the call to answer some questions. Either approach gives the perception that the company is lazy as it requires the customer to be inconvenienced in order to provide information. The same can be said for the organization that designs the email survey, sends it off and breezes through the responses. All this activity really means is that you can check the customer feedback step off your list.

In doing so, however, you’re missing key opportunities for capturing valuable information. Customer surveys weren’t designed solely to make the customer feel like they had a voice. There was also valuable data capture opportunities, when designed correctly. If you’re operating in the business to business environment, it’s time to get your head out of the survey tunnel and really look at the details that point to the value of the customer relationship.

To that end, there are a few things you need to look for in the data you glean from your customer service software. For one thing, does this data represent the customers you are serving and their true experience when interacting with your company? If not, you need to carve out select groups to reach out to and design your surveys according to their expectations and the experience you want to deliver. Then, examine responses to find out if you really know your customer as well as you thought and are they engaged at every step of the buying process?

From there, what do you do with the information you’ve captured? Do you use your customer service software to make changes or do you simply go back to business as usual? Even if your results are good, could they be better? Understanding the customer is really only one step of the process; delivering the experience they desire will help you drive sustainable revenue opportunities.