« What Gets Delivered, How | Main | Traces of Activities Associated With Wait Moments »

Feedback Loop

When you walk into a bank how do you know which teller will offer the best service?

Device for obtaining feedback from customers spotted in the Gulangyu branch of the Bank of China. Once the transaction is complete the customer selects satisfactory, average or dissatisfied, and the number of stars updates to reflect the service level.

Putting aside the issue of how the number of stars is calculated, how does a high or low number of stars affect how the quality of service is perceived? If the only option when you walk in the bank is a teller with 2 stars what are your service expectations? And armed with this knowledge how does it affect how the bank calculates the number of stars?

Whilst this system is crude, in situations where service is poor it provides a simple mechanism to let customers voice their anger (the customers in this branch were however, pleasantly vocal in providing negative feedback). I'd expect to find this kind of up-front feedback mechanism in a culture where people are less likely to want to be seen to be angry or losing face. Japan could be such a culture but in five years its almost impossible to think of an example of bad service in five years of being here.

Writing from Tokyo | June 1, 2006 | Permalink