Founder Data ReportThe Customer Trust Gap: 49.3% of Employers Never Check Whether Customers Are Satisfied. In Restaurants, 33.3% Check Every Day
You can’t afford to risk your business without a Sidekick at your side.
Customer trust is earned one transaction at a time, and it is easy to assume you would notice if it slipped. Federal data show about half of employers never check. Which trades watch closely, and which do not, follows a clear line.
In the Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey, 49.3% of U.S. employer firms that answered said they never monitored customer satisfaction. Daily was the most common schedule among those that did, at 17.0% of firms. In accommodation and food services, 33.3% checked daily and 32.5% never did. In real estate, professional services, construction and agriculture, 57% or more never checked.
Trust with customers is easy to take on faith. You hear it in the room, you see it in repeat orders, and it feels like you would know if it slipped. The Census Bureau asked employers a plain question about that: how often does the business actually check?
The answers split close to down the middle, and they split differently by trade. Where customers walk in the door every day, more businesses watch every day. Where the work runs in projects and contracts, more never look.
- 49.3% of employer firms that answered never monitored customer satisfaction.
- Daily was the most common schedule among firms that did check: 17.0% of firms checked daily, more than weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly.
- In accommodation and food services, about as many firms checked daily (33.3%) as never checked (32.5%). Educational services was also near a third never.
- In real estate, professional and technical services, construction and agriculture, 57% to 63% never checked.
- The survey does not say whether checking more often changes how a business does.
Half of employers never ask
The Annual Business Survey asked employer firms how often they monitored customer satisfaction, with answers from hourly to yearly, or never. Firms could give more than one answer. Across all sectors, 49.3% of firms that answered said never, a share the survey pins between about 47.5% and 51% once its margin of error is counted.
Among the schedules, daily came first: 17.0% of firms checked every day. Monthly was 12.2%, and yearly (10.0%), weekly (9.3%) and quarterly (8.8%) were each close to one firm in ten. Hourly or more often was 1.5%.
Share of employer firms that answered. Firms could give more than one answer, so the shares add to more than 100%. Highlighted: never, and daily. Bars on a 0 to 70% scale.
U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey 2023 (AB2300MCB01), management practices by sector, national, employer firms: ‘how often did this business monitor customer satisfaction?’ Share of firms that answered; firms could give more than one answer.
The trades that watch, and the trades that do not
The share that never checked ran from about a third to nearly two thirds by trade. Accommodation and food services (32.5%) and educational services (33.7%) were the lowest, level with each other. Health care (41.1%) and retail (44.9%) were also below the all-sector share.
At the other end, real estate (57.9%), professional and technical services (57.5%) and construction (57.2%) were level with each other, well above the all-sector share. Agriculture, forestry and fishing came in at 63.2%, from a smaller sample with a wider margin of error.
Share of employer firms that answered. Highlighted: the two lowest trades, level with each other, and the four at 57% or more. All sectors: 49.3%. Bars on a 0 to 70% scale. Trades with wide margins of error are left out: mining, utilities, manufacturing, information and management of companies.
U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey 2023 (AB2300MCB01), management practices by sector, national, employer firms: ‘how often did this business monitor customer satisfaction?’ Share of firms that answered; firms could give more than one answer.
In restaurants and hotels, about as many firms check customer satisfaction every day as never check at all.
Daily checking, trade by trade
Accommodation and food services checked daily far more than any other trade shown: 33.3%. Retail (22.7%) and repair and personal services (21.7%) came next, level with each other, then health care (19.0%). In professional and technical services, 9.5% checked daily, and in real estate 11.1%.
Restaurants, shops and repair businesses, the trades that checked daily most often, are ones where customers come through the door. Real estate, professional services and construction, where most never checked, tend to work by the job or the contract. The survey does not say whether checking more often leads to anything. It does show where most firms have no schedule for it at all.
Share of employer firms that answered. Firms could give more than one answer. Both bars on one scale, 0 to 100%.
U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey 2023 (AB2300MCB01), management practices by sector, national, employer firms: ‘how often did this business monitor customer satisfaction?’ Share of firms that answered; firms could give more than one answer.
What to take from this if you run one
If you have never set a schedule for asking customers how you are doing, you are in the larger half of employers, and in a project trade you are in the clear majority. The trust gap is not the complaint you hear. It is the one you do not. A single question after every job, or a short check each month, turns a feeling into something you can see move.
Three limits worth holding. The survey covers employer firms, not businesses without staff. The shares are of firms that answered the question, about half of all employer firms. And firms could give more than one answer, so the schedules are never added together here.
U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many businesses measure customer satisfaction?
About half. In the Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey, 49.3% of employer firms that answered said they never monitored customer satisfaction.
How often do businesses that measure it check?
Daily was the most common schedule: 17.0% of firms checked every day. Monthly was 12.2% and yearly 10.0%. Firms could give more than one answer.
Which trades check most?
Accommodation and food services, where 33.3% checked daily and 32.5% never did. Educational services also had about a third that never checked.
Which trades check least?
Real estate (57.9% never), professional and technical services (57.5%), construction (57.2%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (63.2%).
Where does the data come from?
The U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey, 2023, which asks employer firms about management practices, published by sector.
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This article is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional financial or legal advice.