Businesses clearly want to know what you think of their business. Take a look at just about every receipt you're given these days and there is some sort of online survey that could be filled out with some sort of incentive for doing so. I fully understand why and even believe they want real feedback. But what I don't understand is why so many of them get the incentive to the customer part of this so wrong.
From my possibly limited experience, though I'd assume I'm just about as average of a consumer as the next guy, there are basically two strategies that companies use to offer an incentive to gather feedback. The first, which seems to be the most common, is to offer a chance at some insanely large reward for filling out the survey. I was at Giant over the weekend and was informed that if I filled out the online survey I could be entered into a drawing at a chance to win free groceries for an entire year. The other day Jill and I ate at a large nationwide chain restaurant which I won't name from being slightly embarrassed that we actually went there and the bottom of their receipt included a chance to win $5,000 in a drawing if you filled out their survey. I would easily characterize both of these incentives as big, but neither made me sit down at my computer and give them any feedback.
The second, which I see a lot less, is a guaranteed discount or free product on your next purchase in exchange for information. Currently Dunkin Donuts is running one of these and if you fill out their survey you get a free donut with the purchase of a medium or larger coffee on your next visit. When I lived in Portland, the greatest fast food chain on the planet, Burgerville, offered a similar incentive where you could get a free basket upgrade (think combo) if you ordered any sandwich. You know how many of these survey's I fill/ed out? Every single one of them!
I'm sure the survey I would fill out from Giant would take the exact same amount of time as the survey from Dunkin Donuts (3 mins by the way) but I'm just not that interested in the chance at winning free groceries because to be honest, I don't really believe that the drawing ever takes place. Now, I'm sure for legal reasons that it does take place, but if you don't win you're not notified of that and so to me, it just seems like a waste of time. I understand that my and everyone else's feedback is valuable to helping you improve your business, but I like stuff I can touch, feel and walk back into the store and cash in on the exchange of information I provided you with.
The thing about the guaranteed incentive is that it doesn't even have to be big. The free donut with a medium coffee at Dunkin Donuts costs $1.75, which basically saves me a little less than $1 if I didn't have the coupon. But, I'll also admit that because I do have it in my wallet, I'm a bit more apt to go get a donut and coffee on a Friday morning than if I didn't. So while I realize it's cheaper for Giant to offer a drawing that they only give away to 1 person and not 1,000s, I might not be as likely to return and purchase additional groceries for a variety of reasons (convenience being one of them) than I would if I had some sort of small tangible incentive to do so.
Maybe I'm in the minority here and everybody else rushes home to fill out the survey on the bottom of their Giant receipt to try and get free groceries for a year. To me, it's just not worth it. I'm aware these companies aren't dumb and have a lot of smart people and consultants figuring out all of the breaking points for what incentive is just large enough to generate survey results but small enough to remain profitable. But for me, I'd rather take the time to offer feedback on a business when I'm given a guaranteed return for that information, even if it is much smaller than the chance at winning a very large prize.
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