How an Automated Customer Survey Saves Time and Money – A Practical Example
Dario Tomas ·
In many companies, there are processes that seem small and unremarkable at first glance but, taken together, tie up considerable resources.
A good example of this is the customer survey – a process that is often bound up with a great deal of paperwork, manual effort and high costs. This was exactly the situation for one of our clients, who printed, franked, sent out and then manually evaluated over 1,500 customer questionnaires every year. An extremely time-consuming and costly procedure.
The Challenge: An Inefficient, Manual Process
Before automation, the customer survey worked as follows:
- Printing, addressing and sending questionnaires: An enormous cost and time factor.
- Manual processing of responses: Incoming replies had to be recorded, sorted and evaluated.
- Responding to negative reviews: Complaints were recognised late and often not followed up consistently.
- Clarifying responsibilities: Unclear routes meant that feedback did not always reach the right people.
The result: slow response times, a high workload and a lack of transparency. It was clear that a digital solution was urgently needed here.
The Solution: Automation with Microsoft Forms, Power Automate and Microsoft Lists
Together with our client, we at Digital Airways developed a fully digital and automated customer survey. This made use of Microsoft Forms, Power Automate and Microsoft Lists.
Step 1: Digital Capture of Customer Reviews
Instead of paper questionnaires, our client now uses Microsoft Forms. Customers receive the survey link by email and can answer the questions conveniently online. No paper, no postage costs, no more manual data entry.
Step 2: Automated Workflows for Efficient Processing
With Power Automate, we defined smart rules that automate the entire process:
- Immediate action on poor reviews: If a review falls below a defined threshold, a task is automatically created in Microsoft Lists. There, all relevant data (customer name, complaint, rating) is recorded and follow-up is ensured.
- Direct routing to the right people: Using dropdown fields in Forms, the customer selects which service they used. The response is automatically assigned to the relevant department, and the responsible individuals receive an email notification.
Step 3: Automatic Evaluation and Targeted Optimisation
Thanks to the automation, survey results no longer need to be evaluated manually. Everything runs automatically, and those responsible can see at a glance where the problems are and what measures need to be taken.
The Result: Enormous Savings in Time and Costs
Through the digital customer survey, our client was able to:
- ✅ Save over 80% of the previous time spent
- ✅ Eliminate manual sources of error
- ✅ Increase customer satisfaction through faster responses
- ✅ Considerably reduce the costs of printing, postage and manual processing
Conclusion: Small Changes, Big Impact
This practical example shows that even seemingly small processes offer enormous potential for optimisation. With the right digitalisation solution, you can save time, money and resources – while at the same time improving the quality of customer service.
Would you like to know how your company can also benefit from automation like this? Contact us today!
