Tip # 374: The Value Of Sending An Online Survey To Your Customers

The start of a new year is a time of renewal for many businesses, and one of the best ways to help augment the process is to conduct an online customer satisfaction survey (online surveys are great tools to help you determine what is and is not working for customers.)

What You Don't Provide A Customer May Not Be Obvious To You...Even If You Are The President Of Your Company.

As you look back on 2011, you probably learned a lot about your business, but what may not be obvious are the things that a customer desires, wants or needs from your business. With that said, we suggest conducting a satisfaction survey for current customer and past customer. By implementing a survey, you will learn a lot about what your company is doing right and perhaps what you should be doing.

4 Ways To Conduct A Survey.

There are four main ways to implement a survey:

1. Face-to-face interviews
2. Telephone interviews
3. Written questionnaires (faxed or mailed)
4. Online surveys

Out of the survey types listed above, online surveys are by far the most cost-effective, and the results can be quickly compiled with online survey tools. No matter what mode you choose, we suggest keeping three factors in mind: the quality of your e-mail or mailing list, the type of survey questions/choices and, of course, the results.

Survey The Right People.

Before you begin developing your survey questions, put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. You will want to ensure that you know the name of the person being surveyed, his/her title, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. Do not hesitate spending extra time double-checking your database's information.

Ask The Right Questions.

When you are ready to design your survey, ask yourself, what is the objective of this survey? If you are building the survey questions around multiple sections, use a logical break in the sequence of the questions asked. If not, your survey will seem jumbled and confusing. In other words, keep your survey simple and straightforward.

When you are developing the choices for your survey, avoid score-based questions as research has discovered that survey respondents are often too generous with their scores when grading is required. For example, out of a 10-point scale, respondents will typically select 7's, 8's or 9's and rarely ever dip below a 6. Naturally, this results in inaccurate survey data that businesses cannot rely on for evaluation. Because of this, we suggest using:

• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Agree
• Strongly Agree

When asking someone to grade a product, we recommend using a four-step expectation scale, like this:

• More useful than we expected
• About as useful as we expected
• Less useful than we expected
• Below our expectations

Take The Results To The Next Level.

After sending out your survey, wait 1 to 2 weeks before collecting your responses. Keep in mind that when it comes to online surveys, a 30% response rate is considered good. Once you have your responses, use the data as a springboard for discussion with customers. Ask them if the results mirror their own sentiments regarding your services, and inform them of any changes you may soon implement.

Executive Summary: Every business should strive for improvement, especially if they hope to succeed in this ever-changing business climate. One of the best ways to start upgrading or changing things for your business is to ask the people who spend the most time using your products or services-- your customers and past customers.

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