Some time ago, I watched the movie Girl With a Pearl Earring, based very loosely upon a moment in time in the life of famous Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Set in the 16th century, Vermeer could not run down to the local art supply house to purchase his paints. Instead, he bought the necessary raw materials and made his own paints, a laborious and messy job. But no matter how hard he tried, it seemed that Vermeer, like many tortured artists, never had the time he wished for to create the ‘perfect’ painting and, even when he declared his painting finished, different people interpreted his painting in different ways. What one patron viewed as obscene, another saw as his best work yet.

This movie made me think about the art of customer satisfaction, specifically customer satisfaction surveys. For most companies, there’s never enough money to create the perfect ‘customer picture’, there is no specific deadline, and the final data is widely open to interpretation. Not to mention that the results can be skewed based on the population segment surveyed and their subjective opinions. If Vermeer took his painting to the town square, ten people would no doubt offer ten different opinions. The same is true for your customer survey. (According to the Forrester Consumer Technographics Retail Study of March 2006, those over 55 are more likely to report on negative experiences, while those 18-34 focus on good experiences.)

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