One way that a company can improve itself is to give customers the opportunity to let their voices be heard. Yet, just building a survey isn’t enough. In order to conduct research successfully, it’s important to convince your customers to take it.
Target loyal customers
When asking your customers to participate in a survey, your most loyal customers will be more likely to participate. In psychology, this is referred to as the Ben Franklin Effect. Namely, if a customer is loyal to your brand they would be more likely to agree to participate in your survey.
Keep it brief.
It’s important to design your survey to be as easy to take as possible. Keep it brief, use simple language, and get to the point. This can be accomplished by making your survey multiple choice. If you want to gauge the various aspects of customer satisfaction, base it off a scale that ranks from 1 – 5. Five being the utmost qualify and one being the lowest. The easier your survey is to take, the more likely it is that people will complete it.
What’s in it for your customers?
When a customer takes the time to voice their opinions about your service, it helps your company make changes. Meeting customer needs is nice, but that will take time. Not to mention, customers may ignore the opportunity to voice a positive review if they perceive that nothing is in it for them.
More customers would be more inclined to answer if they were offered an incentive. Offer customers a coupon, or discount code, for completing a survey. Not only will you be more likely to entice more people to take the survey, but then they have a reason to use your service again.
Offer multiple options.
Do some customers prefer to be contacted by email while others rely more on traditional mail? Give your customers the option to answer your questions by whichever method they prefer. This can include posting a survey on your company’s website, allowing customers to take a survey via text message, emailing customers a survey, or having customers take a survey by phone.
Make your Survey fresh.
Make sure your survey is given to the customer as close to their experience as possible. The fastest way this can happen is an IVR survey. This would allow customers to be can be transferred to a survey seconds after the phone call takes place.
A survey is a great way for your company to hear from your customers. While loyal customers are more inclined to participate, it isn’t a guarantee. The opinions of customers that use your service on occasion should also be taken into consideration. Offering an incentive will increase the likelihood of them coming back. Finally, make sure that the survey can be taken as close to the time of their experience as possible.