Customer Experience:Transactional Surveys Reimagined

CX professionals and corporate researchers rely on customer surveys—and for good reason. When done well, surveys show customers that their voices matter and deliver insights that can’t be captured any other way. But this video isn’t about surveys done well. It’s about the ones that often miss the mark—especially transactional surveys.

You know the type: surveys sent after hotel stays, car rentals, customer service calls, online purchases, and website visits. These surveys focus narrowly on a customer’s most recent interaction. The problem is volume. Customers are inundated with transactional surveys, and while no single company can solve that problem alone, organizations can ensure their surveys stand apart—and avoid becoming part of the “not done well” crowd.

This video launches a series focused on four specific problems with transactional surveys—and, more importantly, what companies can do about them.

Problem 1: Disconnected from the Customer Journey

Traditional touchpoint surveys ask about a single interaction but fail to anchor it within the broader customer journey. Customers don’t care about interactions—they care about achieving goals, solving problems, and fulfilling needs.

Problem 2: Number Chasing

Too many organizations use transactional surveys simply to generate scores tied to incentive compensation. Once survey results are linked to pay, the focus shifts from understanding customers to hitting numeric targets—often leading to poor behavior and distorted data.

Problem 3: Turning Customers into Quality Inspectors

Many surveys ask customers to report operational details: Was the car clean? Did the representative use your name? Did the package arrive undamaged?

These questions don’t help companies understand customers—they help companies audit themselves, at the customer’s expense.

Problem 4: Ignoring Competitive Context

Experience evaluations are always shaped by expectations, which are formed through interactions with many companies—not just one.

A customer may rate your service highly, but if competitors deliver the same experience, high scores don’t translate into loyalty or competitive advantage.

Transactional surveys must be reimagined.

In future videos, each of these problems will be explored in greater detail, along with practical suggestions for doing transactional surveys the right way.

Until next time, remember the two rules of customer experience:
Rule #1: Keep the customer first.
Rule #2: Keep revisiting Rule #1.