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Steve Hollander, holland -at- CVAX -dot- IPFW -dot- INDIANA -dot- EDU, writes:
> In all my years of (compulsively) filling out comments cards, I've never
> gotten so much as an acknowledgement. Does anybody out there follow up on
> comments cards WITH CUSTOMER CONTACT?
Back when our company was much smaller and less complex, I instituted the
tradition of comment cards in our manuals. I sent replies to every one that
came back. Times have changed for our company. We still have comment cards
in every manual, but the number of cards returned and complexity of the
products we support have increased greatly, while our resources have
remained relatively lean. Consequently, we rarely have time to send back
personal replies.
The value to the company of comment cards has been questioned (who returns
comment cards? how should we act on the opinions of this self-selected
minority?). IMHO, our comment cards are nevertheless an important source of
unfiltered communication from our customers. We do read and consider every
one of the little postage-paid cards. We also receive comments from Technical
Support and an occasional letter. In spite of the lack of a personal reply, I
have to believe that in the interest of a better manual, my fellow technical
writers truly do read and appreciate all of the comment cards you return --
flames and all.
--Matt Abe
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Matthew Abe Internet: matta -at- county -dot- lmt -dot- mn -dot- org
Manager, Engineering Services
LaserMaster Corporation
7156 Shady Oak Road
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
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