Choose a decision before a survey
The fictional Clearway service team supports customer C-104 from onboarding onward. It wants to know whether setup worked, whether recurring friction was resolved and what customers experience before cancellation. The example illustrates a workflow; it does not claim a customer result.
Start with questions the team can act on. At onboarding, ask whether the person can use the service. Later, ask what has become difficult and what support is needed. A single satisfaction score at every moment may conceal quite different problems.
Join useful sources deliberately
Map check-in answers, support notes, appointment changes and account outcomes. Keep source and event dates distinct from entry dates. A cancellation explanation written after closure should not appear to be an earlier warning.
Thirty-, sixty- and ninety-day check-ins can be a useful starting example, but timing should fit the service lifecycle. Define eligibility and the response window. Record who was invited and who did not answer; the responses alone do not describe the entire customer population.
Use an appropriate stable customer or account reference where identified feedback is intended. Explain follow-up and access. If a channel promises anonymity, preserve that promise and use an aggregate approach rather than trying to reconstruct identity.
Agree the shared core; keep local collection useful
When service teams or business units collect information independently, imposing one questionnaire can remove the detail they need. Begin instead with the decisions you must make together. Agree the few shared fields those decisions require, then let each team collect useful local detail.
Separate the continuing record from each new observation. Collect stable registration or profile information once where appropriate, link later evidence to that record, and ask for confirmation or an update only when needed. A changing location, job or organizational role needs an effective date. An annual check may suit one field; another needs updating when the change occurs.
One service team asks about installation; another asks about ongoing support. Keep the account or customer link where appropriate, service event, date and shared satisfaction measure. Compare that measure only across compatible scales, timing and populations.
Write down the common field, its meaning, who supplies it and when it changes before launching collection. You will complete the comparison rules in the shared-definitions module. Governance starts here: collect only the fields needed for the stated purpose and decide who can view or correct them.
Make the first response usable
Retain the question, response scale, service stage and original comment. A support document or authorized transcript should be associated with the right account and event, not merely stored in a general folder.
Assign ownership for receiving, reviewing and acting on feedback. Test a response that needs clarification and one that contains an urgent concern under the organization’s existing handling process. A course exercise does not establish an emergency-response service.
In a connected workflow, the reviewer can use the continuing account context without asking the customer to repeat everything. Test that benefit with one fictional journey before adding more surveys.
Work through the Clearway example
This is a fictional teaching example. Adapt the fields and rules to the question your own workflow needs to answer.
| Moment | Evidence | Useful question |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding | Setup response and service record | Can the customer use the service? |
| Check-in | Score and original comment | What friction needs attention? |
| Follow-up | Action and customer confirmation | Was the issue resolved for the customer? |
| Account outcome | Retention or cancellation event | What happened next? |
Build this part of your plan in more detail
These lessons address the next practical questions in this module. Choose the detail your workflow needs, then return to complete the exercise.
- Prepare data governance before using AI
Before using identified or restricted evidence, agree ownership, permitted uses and a small test plan.
Add this part to your plan
On workbook page 2, map one customer journey and its collection moments. Include source, timing, identity approach and follow-up owner. Identify the few shared fields, the local fields and which profile details should be reused or updated.
Download workbook (fillable PDF)Compare with a suggested answer
C-104’s feedback connects to service events with dates and sources. The team tracks invitation coverage and knows who handles a reported issue. Anonymous channels remain separate.
Self-check: Can the team explain what action each collection moment enables?
Questions you may have
Should every check-in use the same schedule?
No. Choose useful moments in the service lifecycle and state the window for comparison.
Does every survey need an identity?
No. Use identified linkage only where it fits the purpose and collection promise.
Apply the method to your work
Use the five-part plan to assess the sources, analysis and permissions your team needs. The solution page shows where a connected platform can support that workflow.
Explore the customer experience solution →