To Survey or Not to Survey
Experiences vary from customer to customer. A business can have customer experiences that run the gamut—from poor to excellent and everything in between. But one thing holds true for most, if not all businesses, they want to know their customers’ satisfaction level.
Knowing how your company is perceived by your customers is one of the most significant steps you can take to increase sales/revenue. Sure there are other factors, but if your customers aren’t satisfied chances are they won’t continue doing business with you for very long.
More often than not, negative customer experiences are the first to be shared and they catch on like wildfire. And while they may not be completely reflective of the company, they do have a place in its overall perception. The challenge is to figure out where you stand amongst the varying swing of the pendulum.
One of the best ways to do this is through a Customer Service Survey. Through use of the internet, surveys are becoming more efficient and less costly. And because they can be anonymous, the responses have greater value. When people don’t feel singled out, they tend to be more truthful.
When creating your survey:
- Make sure that your questions don’t lead/steer customers in a particular direction.
- Don’t make the survey too long (10-15 questions max).
- Segment your audience to understand how their responses affect your business.
Many online survey services can also provide metrics to help you measure your results—no one wants to sit and count each response and do the math to average the results; it’s simply too time consuming.
My advice: To survey! It’s simple and efficient. More importantly, it will help to improve your business.