If you want a wealth of information about what’s important to your customers, there’s no faster, easier way to find out than to do an online survey. With a few carefully crafted questions, you’ll reap a wealth of benefits.
Honest Feedback. Ask the right questions, and you’ll know exactly where you stand. You’ll learn what your customers like, what they don’t, and what they want more of. You can also get a clear idea of how they compare your company to the competition.
Suggestions. Sometimes the best ideas come from customers. Ask for suggestions on products, offers, your web site and your newsletter. You’re likely to get some good ideas that may never have occurred to you otherwise.
List Segmentation. Many email marketing systems allow you to spin off lists based on answers to specific questions. For instance, if you’d like to target homeowners who live on less than half an acre, or gardeners who sell produce at farmers markets, all you have to do is ask the right question.
Testimonials. Give survey respondents the opportunity to leave open-ended comments, and you’re sure to garner some great testimonials for use in your catalog and/or web site.
Relationship Building. Surveys perform the important function of making customers feel heard. One survey respondent put it this way: “Just the fact that you’re doing a customer satisfaction survey shows you really care about your customers.” Surveys can generate good will in addition to information.
For best results, keep your survey short. Ten to twelve questions is about right. Use mostly multiple choice questions, but allow for some open-ended comments, too. Before sending out the survey, have several people test it to make sure that nothing is confusing, that the order of the questions flows logically, and that it doesn’t take more than five minutes to complete.
In tough times like these, listening to your customers is more important than ever. There may be no better way to do that then with a customer satisfaction survey.
