People like to keep things simple. Especially when it comes to understanding their credit union. But when it comes to credit unions understanding their members, it’s a little more complicated. Credit unions need feedback—often in the form of member satisfaction surveys.
The best way to survey is by asking short, succinct questions that require short, direct answers. You might want to get answers to questions like, “How easy was it to access this ATM location?” or “How satisfied are you with our mobile banking app?”
Asking those questions at the right time—and in the right way—can reap huge benefits. But can you get those answers with emojis?
Can We Take an Emoji Survey Seriously?
Your member has just visited their local branch, and you send them a survey about their experience. Are you asking them for “feedback” above an empty white box? Your members are juggling keys, wallets and coffee mugs. There are no spare fingers to type with.
Are you measuring their satisfaction on a point scale? Sure, that’s less work, but maybe the answer doesn’t come immediately and, oops! The keys are on the ground, the phone screen is locked and stuffed in their back pocket, survey forgotten.
What’s the easy solution? Emojis!
Your member is walking away from the till when a polite notification chimes: “How do you feel about your experience today?”
With their free thumb, they press the big green smiley face because the teller that helped them today was awesome, and they actually are big smiling. They sip the coffee that was made just right. Their keys, phone, and wallet all miraculously fit in one hand.
You got the information you needed before your member even realized they were doing the work. Everyone has a nice day!
When Are Emojis Inappropriate?
The vast majority of your members’ interaction with you will be short and succinct. Driving through an ATM and checking your balance on an app can be summed up in one feeling. How they feel about you in those moments is the bulk of your relationship.
But when it comes to the bigger things it’s time to ditch the faces.
Complex transactions might warrant more nuance than emojis can provide. To know if a member felt like their car loan process was easy and efficient, you might want to let them use their words. If you’ve done your job right, they knew their time was valuable to you and will be more willing to provide feedback.
Even still, if you have the opportunity to break up wordy questions and multiple-choice answers with some faces, work them in! People are more likely to complete a survey when it is visually broken up into small pieces. We’re shameless skimmers with fleeting attention spans, and data collection is boring. Emoji Likert scales may take the edge off.
We’ve Been :)ing for 30 Years Now
Emojis just celebrated their 30th anniversary. Emoticons have been around even longer. That means people have had plenty of time to learn, love, and learn to love smiley faces.
We all have more to do and less time to get it done. People in 2020 are tech savvy, text savvy, and your members are definitely savvy with their finances. We all want to find the most efficient way to get things done, and those little pictures are worth a thousand words. Well, maybe not a thousand, but getting the feedback you need will be easy enough for your members to smile about it.
So, should you use emoji Likert scales?
Sure! Numbers are classic, but emojis are well understood and are clearly here to stay.
Additional Reading
LiveSurvey is a real-time survey platform specifically tailored to credit unions. Our platform periodically queries your core so that you can send member satisfaction surveys minutes after any transaction.
Schedule a short demo to see LiveSurvey in action! Or follow the links below to learn more.
