WNTD: Why smart companies do surveys too

What Not To Do: Random horror stories from the trenches.


Company “X” in the late 1970s had a manager who was asked to cut the number of complaints the company received.  His plan was simple and ingenious; he dropped the call center staff from twelve to five.   Since people are more willing to call than write, the number of complaints received went down.   The reports on “abandon rate” (people who called their service line, sat on hold, then finally gave up) for the call center never made it past his own desk, of course.  And the of course their products never got better. 

Eventually a VP’s wife tried to call via normal channels (their advertised toll-free number), and the 90-minute hold time she experienced put an end to the practice (as well as the manager’s employment there).  It took several years to even start to get the company’s reputation back.