Seth Godin’s “Can you bully someone into a sale?” post reminded me of being bullied into a favorable evaluation yesterday. I stopped by a local AT&T store to return an iPhone accessory – didn’t need it after all. Sitting on the counter they have these 1/2 page flyers that said something like, “We Strive for 5!” They want to be rated a 5 out of 5 in customer service.
Just as I was finished and about to walk away the clerk said to me, “We have random customer service evaluations. Have you heard about them?
“No.”
“Well, out of five, how was my customer service? Would you give me a 5?” (add a nervous grin)
“Sure.”
“Great, because my job depends on it.”
“Really? It depends on this evaluation?”
“Ya, it really does.”
Make me laugh! When asked directly, what was I supposed to say? “No, your customer service stinks. I will give you a 2.” Luckily, she had good customer service so I didn’t mind giving her a five. But seriously? There wasn’t any criteria and participation was forced upon me. This reminds me of when I would ask my mom if a friend could play and the friend is standing right nex to me. My mom used to HATE that (understandably)! But I usually got what I want if I did. And so does AT&T.
On the flip side, there are other evaluation tools that are very removed from this method. One, I have written about before: the brilliant ratemyprofessors.com. Students volunteer to come and, well, rate their professors. No one makes them. The process is totally detached from any school, so there isn’t a fear of reprecussions.
I have judged many products, and recently iPhone apps, on the comments and ratings given by users. Some I learned to stay away from, others I jumped on right away.
Opening up a place where people can talk freely without someone watching over them is a powerful learning tool. Give them a spot to discuss openly how they feel. Chances are the discussion is already happening – you just don’t know about it. You can learn a lot from listening in.
