Rarely will our customers confide in us. Instead they just move on to our competition. Of course, that will never do, so periodically we need to assess ourselves, our service, our staff, and our product. So what’s the best way to find out how our customers really feel about us?
Let’s start out by being specific and using a survey. We want to stay away from general questions. Publix supermarkets sell hundreds of thousands of items, yet this time a survey might concentrate on seafood; freshness, quality, selection, and customer service associated with the seafood department. If we are gathering personal information to go with our survey, whether we are doing the survey in person,on the telephone, or online, we need to assure our customers they won’t be bothered in the future with spam, junk mail, or unwanted annoying solicitations. Let’s use the least amount of personal information possible so people aren’t put off by having to supply us with information they might feel is none of our business or could be compromising to their privacy. Also, let’s offer our customers a discount or a coupon for their next purchase, so they know we appreciate them taking the time to speak with us.
If we’re doing a survey for a specialized brick and mortar establishment, here are a few sample survey question ideas that can render interesting and informative feedback:
- How were you greeted when you entered our store?
- How was your experience?
- Did you find what you were looking for?
- Did our sales representatives make you feel important and welcome?
- Were you happy with our product?
- What do you think about the quality of our product?
If you’re an online store, survey questions need to address your website and the ease of navigation. Here are some example survey questions:
- Did you have a good experience when you clicked onto our website?
- Is our website user-friendly and easy to navigate?
- Was our checkout easy to use and efficient?
- Did we describe our products well?
- Were our products delivered to you on time and in good condition?
- Are you happy with our products?
There is a large assortment of software available for customer service surveys, and it does depend how much time a company wants to spend, but good customer metrics can positively affect a business. Some businesses prefer to use measurements ranging from “highly unlikely” to “extremely likely.” Other surveys allow customers to write in their opinions. I always like to include the following three questions to my surveys:
- How likely would you be to recommend my services to a friend, relative, or colleague?
- How likely would you be to use my services again when you decide to buy or sell real estate?
- What do you recommend I do to be considered a “10? in customer service?
These are just some really good tools to help us grow, and which directly affects our bottom line – great service to help us succeed.
photo credit: Gustavo Pimenta
