An interesting follow-up survey invitation from Hilton

If you've been reading this for awhile, you know how critical I have been in the past of Hilton employees begging for feedback scores (Begging for scores at Hilton).  You also know that I have been collecting and posting examples of good and bad feedback surveys and email invitations (Survey links).

As a result, some friends have been sending me examples, and a recent one came from Hilton.  Within a couple of days following a recent stay, this person received an invitation to provide feedback.  After a day or two more had passed, a reminder email was sent.

What do you think?  I think several things about this email are notable, and I'm not sure what I think of all of them: 

• They sent a reminder!
• The note is clearly personalized
• The note is relatively short
• It included the link directly to the survey
• It came very soon after the original email
• It was signed by a real person
• They expressed concern that the reason for non-response might have been that "...we have somehow failed to live up to your expectations."

In addition to your reaction to this email, I would love to get more examples of reminder emails.  If you receive one, would you mind sending it along to me?

Comments

[Julia]

This is really interesting. I have to flag my bias first though.... our company is all about customer feedback via telephone interviews! But when I read this I think 2 things....the Hilton is really desperate for feedback....the guest has not responded because they just don't have time to click on a link and answer a web survey. What if.......the Hilton had sent the reminder but offered an alternative means to leave feedback...."Please call us on this freephone number and take a short survey". I always think that telephone surveys would be a much more successful way for hotels to collect feedback. People could call just after they check out, while they are sitting in the taxi to the airport, there could be a feedback speed dial on the phone in the hotel room so guests could leave feedback during the stay. Of course telephone surveys have to be done right....clunky boring IVR surveys are just a turn off but a short, snappy "tell us what you think" telephone survey is a fantastic tool that, in my opinion, is under utilised by the hotel industry.