Keep on measuring customer satisfaction

In his column, "The Last Word," Paul Light argued that the

federal government's recent customer satisfaction survey was unnecessary ( "Which Customer Is Right?" February). We think some of his criticisms of the survey are valid but that his conclusion is wrong. In this distinction lies a lesson for the National Partnership for Reinventing Government on how to improve the next round of surveys.

Several years ago, a state government executive was diligently promoting customer service in his organization, which included the centralized motor pool of state vehicles. The executive visited fleet headquarters to review customer service initiatives. The fleet director told the story of a state car that was returned to the motor pool strewn with refuse from a visit to McDonald's. "What did you do?" inquired the executive, expecting-or at least hoping-to hear that the car was thoroughly cleaned and readied for another customer. "We gathered up all the junk from McDonald's," proudly replied the director, "boxed it, and sent it to the guy who made the mess, informing him that the vehicle is state property and should be treated with more care."