Dinner And A Tablet. From Chili's To The County Government - Capturing Customer Feedback "In The Now"

This past weekend, my wife and I decided to take a leisurely Sunday evening drive. The weather was great and being able to enjoy a widows-down, roof-open drive with the breeze blowing and music playing was quite enjoyable.  A great way to wrap up the weekend and begin to mentally prepare for the week ahead.

While out, we decided to grab dinner at a Chili's restaurant in an adjoining suburb. Upon entering and being directed to our seats, I noticed the tablets sitting atop each table.  I immediately recalled reading articles on technology Chili's and other enterprises were deploying to help improve operations and the overall customer experience.  Chili's has decided to deploy tablets from Dallas-based Ziosk (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228484) and I was itching to get my hands on the device.

As soon as we seated, we began to explore the tablet's capabilities.  In addition to the menu application, my wife zeroed in on the game apps.  This was to be expected given her expertise in trivia games and ability to occasionally crush me during spirited competitions.

My interest was spiked by the tablet's pay at the table and tip application (tip amount can be adjusted by diner).  I was also impressed with the real time customer satisfaction survey and the manner in which the survey was integrated into the overall tablet experience.  Once our meal was over, we found it very easy to enter our perception of the dining experience, including the job done by our server.  What was also interesting is the fact we were still "living the experience" as we were entering our feedback via the tablet.  Our viewpoints were fresh and accurate from a personal perspective as we were still in the moment; the manner in which Chili's handled the various customer touch points was still clear.

The Chili's experience reminded me of another encounter I recently had with technology used to capture real-time customer satisfaction feedback.  Of all places, I found QMATIC keypads in my local county government's licensing office. I previously tweeted my happiness about this find and keep my fingers crossed that the feedback being provided will be used to increase the return on my tax dollars.  https://twitter.com/marvhight/status/482587693528780801/photo/1

I have seen articles posted on LinkedIn and other sources addressing the accuracy of customer satisfaction feedback due to survey timing as well as other factors that could influence survey results.  It would appear logical that the closer the survey occurs to the actual experience the more accurate and honest feedback received will be. Furthermore, tools that minimize the chance of employee or vendor bias being introduced during the survey are critical. The explosion of social media demonstrates we are in a "now society".  This extends to many in society who desire to express their opinion immediately in an open, direct and honest manner via channels made available to them.

Those of us interested in creating successful customer outcomes and thereby grow our enterprises, should continue to embrace means by which survey timeliness and accuracy can be continually improved.  It will be interesting to watch the evolution of tablets and other technology as customer satisfaction survey strategies continue to improve.  Regardless of how technology evolves, the key is to ensure organizations listen, accurately interpret assimilated feedback, and implement appropriate action plans in line with their ultimate customer satisfaction vision.

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