Customer preferences change frequently—especially when interacting with
brands—so surveys and methods of contact must follow suit. Here are
tips on how to keep your feedback requests relevant and built for
optimal response rates.
When reviewing one of my columns from last year on
how to design and build a great survey, I was surprised to discover how different the piece would be if I were
writing it today. As times change and customer preferences evolve, so do
the dos and don’ts of constructing effective surveys.
The basics covered in that September 2016 column do still hold true.
Surveys continue to play a vital role in customer experience (CX) and are
often referred to as the “backbone” of a successful program. It’s always
advisable to focus on a specific goal with your surveys, to use reminders
and deadlines to ensure the highest response rates, and to follow up with
the customers who do respond.
In today’s day and age, it’s important to make mention of the customer
preference for mobile interactions with brands, and the unique set of
guidelines for designing surveys that meet the requirements of mobile
devices. Even more so, organizations must take advantage of the innovative
tools that are helping CX professionals take a giant leap forward to
prevent survey fatigue among their customers.
Here are some lessons I’ve learned on how to keep surveys relevant and
well-constructed for real-time customers, and how to avoid the pitfalls
that can prevent your surveys from getting the results you want in today’s
“digital first” culture.
1.
Involve the experts.
Many CX professionals successfully and willingly operate
in their positions because they are good with customers. Rarely do they
have a market research background. That’s why it’s important to have
colleagues who do. When I develop a survey for Verint, I work with our
internal market research experts. Their mantra? “The best intentions are
not enough to create a good survey.”
They counsel that there should be at least four audiences for every survey
project—not just the author and the recipient, but also subject matter
experts to review your content before the survey goes out, along with
experts in survey design and colleagues in survey authorship and market
research to help fine-tune your survey and ensure it’s free of cloudy
language and other “sand traps” that might bias respondents or
unintentionally skew responses. They also advise that a “digital first”
strategy is essential in state-of-the-art customer surveys today.
2.
Use a “digital first” default strategy.
In market research terminology, it’s important to take into consideration
the modality preferences of your audience. In short, understand that many
of your customers prefer contact through their mobile devices. We saw the
shift toward the mobile preference begin about seven years ago, and it has
accelerated in the last three years—so much that our initial survey designs
are in mobile format, and later tailored to fit laptops and desktops with
standard-size computer screens.
How is the mobile format different, you might ask? A 10-point rating scale
renders inelegantly on a mobile device, for example. Traditional radio
buttons and stars are awkward to activate with a fingertip on a tablet or
smartphone screen. Consider a design that allows the respondent to insert a
numerical rating instead of selecting a small button. Customers appreciate
this kind of convenience that is so clearly tailored to the way they like
to communicate.
3.
Structure your survey to prevent bias.
The trend toward using more photos, graphics and gamification techniques is
a good one, but proceed carefully. Sometimes the ease with which technology
enables us to create eye-catching surveys can be risky. I recently saw a
survey that used photos as buttons. The customers were able to select their
preference for the next user conference site via picture, and quickly
realized that the image option automatically created a personal bias. Tampa
was represented by a beautiful beach photo. Chicago had a vibrant skyline
image. Dallas was a pasture full of horses. Need I say more? While playing
on the visual eye is a great idea in theory, it’s also a quick and easy way
to skew your results.
4.
Use new tools to prevent survey fatigue.
Digital feedback management is a tremendous breakthrough for CX
professionals, a tool that helps organizations avoid overloading their
customers with survey requests. Rather than the brand-initiated feedback
gathered through online surveys, digital feedback management opens the door
for customer-initiated responses through the digital channel.
Access to a structured comment card on a website or mobile app is on screen
for customers to click any time they need help, have a problem or want to
comment. It’s an open invitation for customers to provide feedback through
the channel they are currently using, at the point of experience, so the
comments are fresh, in the moment, and sometimes quite passionate about
both good and bad experiences. Whether or not you choose to use digital
feedback management, CX professionals should make every effort to respect
their customers’ time and gauge wisely how often you ask them to
participate in your surveys.
5.
Understand that the feedback loop is continuous for all types of
customers.
In addition to developing action plans for dissatisfied customers, we make
sure to communicate with happy respondents, too! And it’s not just a
one-time thing. We share progress reports with the customers who point out
problems, and we let them know we are improving because of them. We thank
them, and also ensure that satisfied customers get special notice by
inviting them to be part of our online community, or to participate in our
advocacy program. We find this kind of feedback is more effective than any
type of incentives offered for survey completion. If you do want to offer
an incentive, consider an offer to share the survey results with those who
actually complete it. Interesting, right? Sometimes, survey data is
invaluable, and customers appreciate knowing how their peers are
responding.
For great surveys, stay in tune with your customers before you hit
“send.”
Verint recently conducted a global survey that took an intensive look at
how consumers like to communicate with their preferred brands. The results
offer valuable guidance for organizations struggling to balance today’s
demand for digital and human customer service. The survey made it clear
that–although consumers do appreciate the human touch, especially when it
comes to solving complex issues with companies–the mobile preference is
growing dramatically, especially among younger consumers.
As CX professionals work to develop surveys that will provide an accurate
view of their companies’ standing with customers, many of the traditional
essentials remain intact. Nevertheless, be aware that the traditional
methods often need to be reshaped by the ever-changing preferences
customers have for communicating with you.