Consumer surveys are one of the most powerful tools your business can utilize to drive sales and growth. Providing vital insight to your customer preferences and attitude toward your brand, a well-timed survey can generate priceless information which you can use to your advantage.
Surveys Are Cost Effective
One of the greatest advantages of consumer surveys is their cost effectiveness. The information these surveys generate can almost be considered priceless. The price you pay depends on several factors, including the size and distribution of your survey, and any specific information you’re looking for. You can choose to place a survey in any medium your customer base uses on a regular basis; or, you can simply send an email survey after their transaction is complete.
To Know Your Customer Is To Know Your Market
Who are you marketing your product towards? Every product or service has a target demographic. In order to pinpoint this target’s preferences and needs, you’ll need a good survey. But what makes a good survey?
- Specific questions related to the customer’s experience. While general questions still provide useful feedback, asking a customer what specifics they liked or disliked is much more precise and useful for solving problems.
- Good timing. Nothing is more effective than a poorly timed survey. For instance, sending a survey a week or two after your interaction with the customer can leave a customer scrambling to recall the details of the transaction, thus undermining the intent of the survey in the first place.
- The proper distribution and information gathering tools. When you send out a survey, it’s important to be able to properly synthesize the information into useful insight. It is equally important to have your surveys distributed through the right channels so that they can reach only your intended audience.
There are many online applications for distributing surveys, such as Google. The Google consumer surveys tool doesn’t quite have the reach or customization features of some alternatives, however. Pollfish, for example, features good consumer reach and a customizable interface to interpret the collected data.
Customers Have High Expectations
The internet has created a massive marketplace with endless choices and possibilities available to customers. This market is brimming with competition, making the need to have a leg up on the competition more important than ever. Customers have access to reviews, insights, and company information at the click of a mouse (or swipe of the finger).
A survey can set you apart from the competition and help you in meeting ever-mounting expectations. By surveying your customers, you’re showing that you care about their input and their needs, which fosters loyalty and engagement from your customers.
A Survey Can Set You Apart
You may notice trends in your market; recurring problems within a certain industry that you and your competitors have failed to address. By surveying your customers and pinpointing the exact cause of these issues, you can be among the first in your niche to address, and potentially repair them.
This can not only set you apart from the competition by increasing your customer service. But it also lets the customers of competitors know that you’re listening; even if the other companies aren’t. By doing so, you’ll attract new customers and encourage returning customers to positively advertise your brand.
Being unique is essential in a world of ever-increasing competition; without an asset that sets you apart from the other companies, you’ll get lost in the din of voices all vying for the same customer base. Don’t be afraid to stand out.
Surveys Add A Human Element To Your Business
Often a business can seem like an entity all its own. Lacking character or personality, customers can often be discouraged by the lack of human interaction or the “human element” so to speak. A survey is a great way to let your customers know that the human element is still there, and ready to listen to their concerns.
Customers Will Share Their Opinions Elsewhere
In the age of social media, sometimes an outraged customer will vent their frustrations on Facebook or some other platform, instead of coming to you directly. Surveys are important, perhaps even more important for dissatisfied customers as they are for the satisfied ones. Customers will always share their opinions either way, but offering a survey where they can share their experience directly with the source is certainly more effective than a rant on Facebook.
Give your customers the outlet they’re looking for by asking pertinent questions such as:
- What specifically did you dislike about your experience with us?
- Was there anything our team could have done better to improve your experience?
- Would you reconsider our brand if we addressed the issues you’ve brought to our attention?
Not only does this make even a dissatisfied customer feel valued by your business, it gives you the insight you need to find and address the issues at hand; thereby preventing further disengagement.
Happy Customers Mean A Happy Company
Sure, you want to drive sales, increase profit margins, and expand your overall reach in the market, but doing all of this requires a happy and healthy team of people to run it. By keeping customer service exceptional, you’re making sure your customers are satisfied, which also means your team members stay happy, too.
A happy team is equally as important as a happy customer, and the two are intertwined. Keep your customers happy and returning, and you’ll keep your employees happy and loyal, building a great team of people along the way that can tackle any challenge.
