On a scale of 1 to 5, with one being the least helpful and five being the most helpful, how would you rate the service provided by this blog?

At some point in our lives, we’ve all been asked to answer similar questions as part of the surveys we are seemingly inundated with on a daily basis.

It is no accident that we, in the digital era, are being asked to take more and more of these surveys, whether online or over the phone. Today, data collection, and the effective use of that data, is becoming an incredibly important industry – one with benefits that can be applied across a variety of enterprises.

One of these enterprises is the customer service industry. And, for better or worse, the survey method of collecting data is tied closely to customer service.

While these surveys can be frustrating to consumers, there is (despite what we all think) a purpose behind these “annoyances.”

The data collected by companies through these surveys (in whatever form they take) and through other methods such as loyalty programs, social media monitoring and analysis of your online behavior enables these businesses to alter their practices in an effort to provide a better service experience for their customers…like you.

How effective these companies have been at responding to customer feedback, at least the feedback represented by the data they have access to, is up for debate, but the potential to use this data to improve the customer service experience is immense.

There is clearly a financial element to the interest in improving customer service. Better customer service means happier customers, which, in turn, means repeat business and more money.

So, the motivation to get this right is strong.

The question is: How, in today’s world of “Big Data” can businesses, large and small, leverage the data they are able to collect to provide the best possible customer service?

• They can use the data to assess a widespread feeling among customers about a particular area of service and adjust accordingly. If the data shows a prevailing feeling that, for example, room service at a hotel is slow; the hotel can implement changes to improve the speed with which food is delivered. Food always makes customers happier. This works on the flip side as well. If there is a particular point of service that is trending well, businesses can highlight this or expand it, if possible.

• They can take advantage of patterns associated with individuals to provide a more personalized experience. To carry on the hotel example — if a frequent visitor to a hotel has, on several occasions, asked for extra towels in the room, the hotel can use that information to ensure that extra towels are already in the room at check-in. Wouldn’t you feel special if there were a lot of towels in your room (just like you like)?

• Another step in the direction of personalized service involves the use of customer preferences to offer suggestions for other services/products the consumer may enjoy. There is enough data out there to establish these types of preferences. If, for example, I’m at my hypothetical hotel, and they know that, in the past, I’ve asked for a reservation at an Italian restaurant, and a new, critically-acclaimed restaurant recently opened in the area, they could offer to make a reservation for me when I arrive, without having to be asked.

The possibilities abound. When companies are truly able to harness the potential of data to improve customer service, all consumers will benefit.

While it may be a little while before the true potential of data-based customer service is realized, businesses can start to improve customer service by altering the way this data is collected — maybe by being a bit less aggressive in the survey arena.