How Strunk & White’s rule of specificity can transform your customer feedback

A good rule of thumb for surveying shoppers is: “Be definite, specific, and concrete.”

This comes from Strunk & White’s “Element of Style.”

I mention this classic because when I logged onto Hulu this weekend, I was asked to rate the platform from one to five stars, and fill out an empty box with placeholder text saying, “Tell us what worked or didn’t work for you.”

This prompt is a survey crime.

The problem is not the inconvenience of typing a response using my remote, one letter at a time; it was the ambiguity of “Tell us what worked or didn’t work for you.”

What was Hulu referring to?

My satisfaction with the streaming quality?

Ease of finding content?

The variety of shows and movies available?

Hulu in general? 

Earlier that same day, on a JetBlue flight I was asked, “How satisfied were you with the Live TV streaming experience?”

While the phrase “How satisfied were you” made me cry a little, at least the object of the question was clear: the streaming platform.

I tapped “Extremely satisfied.”

In hindsight, the difference between each survey was notable.

The target of JetBlue’s survey was clear — the in-flight features — while the Hulu survey was so vague I couldn’t even answer it.

JetBlue gleaned far more about my experiences than Hulu. 

A big part of the service I provide in these Roasts can be traced back to Strunk & White’s rule.

Writing and editing survey questions is largely about replacing general, vague, and abstract words with specific, definite, and concrete words.

If you can do that, you’ll learn more about how your shoppers experience your brand, products, or platform.

By the way, if you’re interested in applying this principle, just click on the link below to book a Roast. 

Whether you’re just starting or seeking to refine an existing survey, I’d love to help.

https://www.sammcnerney.com/45-dollar-survey-roast