It seems almost everywhere you go now, there’s someone asking you to take a survey. Go to a store, and there’s a request to take an online survey on the receipt. Visit a website, and there’s a pop-up asking you to take a survey after you finish your shopping. Call about a bill, and sure enough, you’ll be asked to take a survey at the end of the call.
If you can time it right, it might be worth it.
You’re a business owner. You need to know how you’re doing with your business. If your customers are unhappy, what can you do to remedy that? And if your customers are happy, could they be happier? The only way you’re going to find this out is by asking them directly.
According to an article at Microsoft.com, it’s definitely worth it to send out surveys. The issue is knowing when to do so. You don’t want to send out a snail-mail survey two months after the customer has visited your store or purchased your products. Depending on your type of business, it might be effective to have them take a survey while on your site; others, it might make more sense to follow up a week after a visit. You’ll have to do some research and use some common sense to determine when you’ll get the most responses.
Don’t be misleading about the time required to complete the survey.
If your company wants to ask a lot of questions, you might want to rethink your strategy. Rarely are people going to sit down and spend fifteen minutes of their time answering questions—unless there’s an incentive. Be honest about how long your survey will take, and if it’s especially demanding of customers’ time, be sure to offer a little incentive to reward them. Something like a 10% off coupon or buy one get one free. Really pore over your questions and make sure that they’re concise and relevant. Get rid of any extra fluff.
Follow up with your customers.
Okay, so you’ve gotten your customers to take the survey. You have data (which you need to analyze—don’t just let it sit there!) and you’re feeling pretty good about the responses.
Now you have to follow up.
Following up is a rarity today. By going the extra mile to contact a customer and thank them for their honest review and time, you put yourself in front of other companies. Even if the customer wasn’t happy, asking what you could do better or offering them an apology and a request for another chance at their business can really make all the difference in the world. They will feel like you’ve truly listened to their concerns. And as a great business owner, that’s exactly what you should be doing!
The downside to surveys is that they tend to get abysmal response rates, and if they’re formatted incorrectly, are too invasive, or take too long, they may actually decrease customer satisfaction. If you feel that you have the tools and wherewithal to invest the proper effort in preparing your surveys, the responses you get could really open your eyes to your business’s strengths as well as weaknesses.
If you don’t feel that you have these skills at this time, consider hiring someone (even temporarily) who can help coach you in the feedback department. He or she can assist you in preparing a survey and learning to analyze the results.
What do you think? Should you survey your customers? Do you have suggestions for great surveys? Let us know in the comments below!
