Surveys are the perfect tools to measure consumers’ satisfaction. That’s why you merely can’t miss them in shops, in your mailbox, and particularly in hotels. As I have been travelling a lot lately, I have found on my pillow a lot of those. But I have just received my first, and only, one by email. Here are three main reasons why an email survey is more efficient than a printed one.

Environment-friendly

First of all, of course, online surveys are more eco-friendly than printed ones. I bet most clients use printed surveys as a note sheet, or throw them directly in the (recycling) bin. Users can as well throw away their email or close the window, but at least you saved a tree. It could seem odd, but as more and more hotels focus on their environmental policy, I think they should think about this too.

Send it when you want/can

Whether you arrive in your hotel room after a long and exhausting trip, or if you are looking forward to visiting the new place, you are not always in the mood for filling up a survey when you push the door (not to mention when you discover the paper on your pillow, just before going to bed). So what do most people do? Probably just like me: we put the survey somewhere we can find it later, and forget about it the next minute.

But if the email is in your mailbox, well, you do exactly the same. Just that you will have more chance to find it later, when you clean your messages. So that’s one more chance you’re actually going to fill it up.

The right moment

Everything is about being on the right place at the right moment, right? Well, obviously, we can’t ask customers to rate the room quality before they have even slept in it. Or to evaluate the bathrooms cleanliness if they haven’t already used them yet. Whereas if you receive your email the day after you check out, you will not only remember the experience, but also have lived it, so you can actually evaluate it.

This is without speaking about the pen I can’t find, because I’ve put somewhere (I don’t know where) in my backpack. On the other hand, I just need to click. And also that I’d rather press Send than take the elevator back to the reception just to give them the paper. (And what will they do with it? Maybe they’ll get mad at me and stop cleaning my room?)

Once more, the context is a key element for the success of a communication, even if we’re talking about a satisfaction survey. There has been a time when putting a leaflet on your pillow was the most efficient way (and it still is for numerous cases). Tourism is changing, and Internet is becoming more and more important for hotels communications, and this email I received is one more proof of it.