Your customers’ insight into your business is worth money. It’s worth a lot of money when it comes down to it.
Why?
Because your customers have buying power: the kind of power that keeps your lights on. And they have already gone through the ups and downs of a buying decision. Some of them even came back for more.
Your customers are an incredible resource for your marketing efforts, your store management style, your public relations and so many areas in which you craft your business.
They are old pros because, at one point or another, they saw your ad, went to your website or store, wrestled with whether or not to make a purchase and then did so. That is something you as the business owner have never done!
And a lot of your customers are pooling with opinions on how you can better serve them. They could probably teach you a thing or two about how to go the extra mile to obtain more of their confidence, their money and their loyalty as a service provider.
So why not ask them?
Here are 3 routine survey questions that will provide you with incredible data to build your business practices with.
Question 1: How well did our customer service representative solve your problem or answer your question?
Purpose: To see if your customer service has made an excellent, lasting impression.
Insight: If your business scores high marks, take the chance to iron out what your policies are for future representatives. Then take the time to reward your customer service staff. Each member of your team needs to know the impact they have had on the business.
With low scores or even scores in the middle, I would investigate. You’ll most likely have a customer’s email or phone number somewhere. Call someone who gave a low score and see if there have been any questions left unanswered or any experiences they’ve had that are not up to par.
Use this as an opportunity to hear your customer out and make changes accordingly.
Question 2: How convenient is it to shop with us or use our services?
Purpose: To measure roadblocks that might get in the way of a transaction.
Insight: Here again, if you hear that your business is indeed convenient then acknowledge your process right now and figure out how you can make it better.
Low scores should lead you back into the data. Is there a trend in age or gender? Are older people saying that your store is inconvenient or are people in their late twenties to early thirties having trouble?
If there is a trend then have someone of that demographic to secret shop your store or website and figure out where the hassle may be.
Question 3: What changes would best improve our services?
Purpose: This one is the holy grail of questions. Make it a free-response format question and stand amazed at all of the valuable (and ridiculous) data you receive.
Insight: There will be good suggestions that hit you and many of them in number. If you received a suggestion like “expand the parking lot,” or “add a FAQs section to the website,” then count all of those same questions up.
If you know parking is a struggle and 17 people said something about it in a free response question – then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
You may not be able to build a new parking lot, but you can send out an email push saying that you’ve heard concerns and oh, here’s a map of where you can park in the surrounding area until we do get the new parking lot.
Turn your shortcomings into savings. Get one item 20% off when you and another person ride to our store in one vehicle.
Those questions are really something that will prove to be invaluable. Start bulking up your email database because next, I’ll show you how tips on how to send an email survey that people will answer!