CS Survey – Who to focus on? Sample topics and questions.

Audience: Program Managers, Project Managers and PMO, ITSM practitioners who require to write a process document on Customer Satisfaction Survey.

In an enterprise environment Customer feedback often takes various forms. Based on the size and level of complexity of the customer environment, ScrumByte recommends taking a multi-level approach that encompasses the regular user, mid-level management, and executive-level stakeholders. Each stakeholder level has different business needs and goals, which require a different level of data collection and reporting.  Following are the various surveys that are needed. I have used Scrumbyte as the organization name, change it to yours.

Consumer Level (Regular users) – Service Request Resolution Survey (Monthly)

• When a service request is fulfilled, end-users will have an opportunity to express their satisfaction level and provide immediate service level feedback. This is very important, as these end-users are the influencers who help determine much of the perceived success on how the overall platform is being managed. This information will be aggregated and reviewed monthly for trend analysis.  

Mid-level Management – Metrics Based of Service Performance (Quarterly)

• Mid-level management will receive a quarterly metrics-based survey to provide feedback on service performance. This survey also requests how well Scrumbyte is working with other service providers for a seamless, unified service presentation. This survey will aid in determining the customer’s trust in Scrumbyte quality delivery model. 

Executive Level – Strategic Initiatives Based on Business Objectives (Bi-Annual)

• The customer’s Executive Team will receive a bi-annual survey to share their feedback on how well Scrumbyte is contributing to strategic initiatives and the level of which Scrumbyte is helping the customer achieve their business objectives. The nature of this response is descriptive and typically done in person but may also be provided electronically. 

Feedback solicited without the appropriate participation does not serve the overall purpose of process improvement and excellence within service delivery. Showing influential customer side stakeholders, the value and outcomes that participation can lead to will ultimately facilitate input from all stakeholders, which is a critical component to the success of the customer satisfaction program. It is important to identify who should be solicited for feedback at the various levels and roles for accurate metrics to be gathered, evaluated, and disseminated.  

Frequency

The frequency and mode of feedback is an important aspect of measuring customer satisfaction on a regular basis. The frequency allows for either quick course correction when required at an operational level and facilitates strategic feedback for long-term planning and goals. The following frequencies and modes of distribution are suggested for various types of users. 

Type	Recipients	Frequency	Method
End User	Anyone submitting service requests to Scrumbyte	For every service request	Online survey Ticketing System (TBD)
Mid-Level Manager	Customer side midlevel managers	Quarterly	Online survey
Leadership Team	Customer side C-level leaders, executive personnel, practice heads	Bi-Annual	Online survey In-person interview (optional)

The following are various modes by which Scrumbyte can collect and report survey results:

• ServiceNow: This functionality can be turned on instantly. “Five-question” and “one-click” surveys triggered upon ticket closure aimed at gathering instant feedback on service delivery performance. 
• Survey Monkey: Surveys designed for Mid-Level and Executive stakeholders that can contain weighted average components for fine tuning of results. 
• Excel Template: Feedback is manually collected during Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs). 

A Sample of questions you can use

It is important that surveys address relevant topics for each stakeholder. The following table includes a sample of suggested topics and questions for each stakeholder. This ia a place holder to get you started and you can modify based on your own organizational needs. Recipients will only receive the survey with applicable questions for their role (Users, Mid-Level Manager, Leadership Team ). This table may be used as a guideline for designing and refining surveys. 

Role	Topics	Sample Questions
End User	On-Time Delivery	Was your request fulfilled in a timely manner?  Did the request fulfillment time meet your expectations?  Did the timing of the resolution have any further business impacts?  Did the first response to your request provide resolution?  How many interactions were required to address your request?
End User	Communication Quality	Was the completion of your request communicated clearly?  Were you able to understand the agent clearly?  Was any written communication provided to support the fulfillment of your request?  Was the communication on your request provided in a professional manner?
End User	Support Personnel Attitude	Was your request resolved in a professional manner?  Was your agent helpful?  Was your agent understanding of your needs or of the urgency of your request?  Was there anything else the agent could have done to better support the fulfillment of your request?
Mid-Level Manager	Service Delivery KPI’s	During the reporting period, has Scrumbyte completed required tasks on schedule?  During the reporting period, has Scrumbyte attained SLA achievement?  Does Scrumbyte meet its contractual obligations?  Does Scrumbyte provide necessary documentation?  Does the provided documentation meet your expectations?  Is Scrumbyte performing within agreed upon Service Levels?  Is Scrumbyte Service Level reporting timely and accurate?
Mid-Level Manager	Quality of Delivery Personnel	Is Scrumbyte staff technically experienced and knowledgeable?  Do you believe the program is staffed properly?  Do Scrumbyte resources respond to customer needs?  Are Scrumbyte resources proactive in finding and/or preventing issues?  Do you believe Scrumbyte resources are driven to deliver services based on a customer satisfaction mindset?
Mid-Level Manager	Communication Quality	How would you rate the quality of Scrumbyte oral communication?  How would you rate the quality of Scrumbyte written communication?  How would you rate the timeliness of Scrumbyte communication?  Do you feel informed as part of the program?  Are communications clearly articulated?  Do written deliverables or documents meet the program’s expectations?  What could be done to improve Scrumbyte communication?
Mid-Level Manager	Responsiveness to feedback	How well does Scrumbyte react to feedback?  Have you seen improvements or changes to delivery service based on feedback?  How long does it take for feedback to be implemented?  Do you feel Scrumbyte understands the feedback given?
Mid-Level Manager	Vendor Management – Legal / Financials / Issues with other service providers under OLA	Are there any issues dealing with Scrumbyte from an operations perspective?  Are there any specific areas of improvement in Scrumbyte operations?
Leadership Team/ Executives	Strategic Business Partner Value	Do you view Scrumbyte as a strategic business partner?  Do you view Scrumbyte as a trusted advisor?  Are there areas that Scrumbyte is providing more value than others?  How can Scrumbyte help in delivering more value to the organization?
Leadership Team/ Executives	Business Value	Is Scrumbytehelping you deliver business value to your organization?  In what ways can Scrumbyte drive more business value?  Does the business recognize how Scrumbyte work impacts them?  Does the business view Scrumbyte work positively?
Leadership Team/ Executives	Collaboration to Achieve Goals	Do you find Scrumbyte to be a collaborative working partner with the customer?  Do you feel Scrumbyte understands your business objectives?
Leadership Team/ Executives	Working well with other vendors/partners	Does Scrumbyte work with other partners?  Does Scrumbyte make it easy to work with other partners?  Do any of your other partners have any complaints working with Scrumbyte?

Each mode of feedback will require different levels of assessment and have different means for scoring results. Nevertheless, in general there will be a positive, neutral, or negative result. These results will be captured in some instances using a simple emoticon/star scale (end-user) or a more complex option of using a graded weighting scale (manager/executive).  

From the above list of potential questions, the Example Customer Satisfaction Survey can been defined and will be configured for electronic distribution with the survey software of your choice(example: Question Pro, Survey Sparrow, Survey Monkey, SoGoSurvey, etc.,). Note that your questions in the example survey should be refined to align with answers on a Likert scale.

Analysis and Reporting

Responses from feedback participants trigger the need to analyze survey results. By analyzing and reporting on the following result categories, Scrumbyte will be better able to assess the various aspects related to the effectiveness of the program: 

• At a Request vs. Response tracking you should check how many customers were requested to share their feedback versus how many provide feedback.  
• At a end user Level, feedback results give a general sense of overall satisfaction level.  
• At a Mid-Level Managers level, responses aid in identifying which areas are being met in terms of contracted services and which may need improvement. 
• At an Executive Level, responses aid in understanding where Scrumbyte is adding value as the strategic partner and/or business partner and where more could be done to support the customer.

There are inherent reporting capabilities present in most survey software that allow tracking of results across several parameters. The results can also be exported, analyzed, and combined with other survey modes. Scrumbyte will track results on a quarterly basis and upload relevant reports to a designated folder specified by the customer. The data should be analyzed to identify trends that need to be addressed and areas of improvement or action plans for correction. 

By looking through specific survey data, each survey may result in no action needed (good results), the identification of potential improvement areas (neutral results), or corrective action plans (negative results). Potential improvement areas and corrective actions will be logged in the document-sharing site as open actions and will be tracked through to resolution.  

The following table provides suggested actions based on stakeholder survey results. 

Feedback Level	Positive Result	Neutral Result	Negative Result
End User	Reinforce behavior/outcome	Educate to improve outcome	Identify issue and create a Corrective Action Plan
Mid-Level Management or Leadership Team/Executives	No action	Notify the Program Manager and identify areas of improvement	Notify the Program Manager, identify areas of improvement, and create a Corrective Action Plan to address in less than 30 days

In addition to survey results, Scrumbyte will report on survey participation to the mid-level and leadership-level stakeholders within the organization to assist in monitoring and encouraging user participation in the process. Generally the user community does not participate heavily, thus all efforts must be made to seek their active participation which is necessary for the overall success of the Customer Satisfaction program. The intent is to make the process straightforward and easy as possible to maximize participation. Participation metrics help gauge the customer’s interest in providing feedback and help improve the survey delivery process.  

Finally, in the event of an extreme negative response, Scrumbyte sales and program managers, executive leadership must conduct post-survey follow-up session with appropriate customer side managers and/or executives.  

The Scrumbyte Engagement Executive will establish Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with the customer to discuss Scrumbyte‘s performance across several service areas. During these meetings, the survey results, participation metrics, improvement opportunities, and corrective actions will be discussed as topic areas on the agenda. 

Well now you have a full (almost) document that you can use to provide to your management when you want to write on the Process of Customer Satisfaction Surveys.

Authored by Vijay Chander – All rights reserved 2022