Why bother?
The lifeblood of any business is good customer support. Although new customers are important good customer service will help create customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to move on and ensure many more customers through recommendations and if you do not take proper care of your customers is probably a competitor waiting in the wings who will.
Online customer satisfaction surveys will help in not only to identify problem areas but will also show your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service you provide.
Where do you start?
Purpose - As a first step, determine what the key objectives for the study is that way you will be able to stay focused and be easier to determine what questions to ask.
Analysis - Once the investigation is completed to consider how you will analyze the answers.
Remember that "closed" questions (where a respondent is asked to choose between a limited number of responses) is much easier to analyze than 'open' questions (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).
Much will depend on the expected volume of respondents, the higher volume, the more important it is to have an easy method to analyze the results.
Before you publish the survey confirms that the questions you have asked gives you market research data that when analyzed will help you make informed decisions.
Then read through the survey from a marketing perspective, check that you have formulated some questions so that all options have been taken to promote your business?
The ideal question will perform the following three functions: -
* Market research - provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and turn your business
* Marketing - promoting aspects of your business
* Information / Education - advertise a service that you provide to your customers can not have been unaware
For example: - Do you find it in-store baby changing facilities useful?
We ask this question the shop will hopefully not only receive feedback on the baby changing table, but they will also promote the shop as a child friendly and even beyond their customers actually require installation.
Warts and all - be willing to accept criticism.
A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to highlight problems so they can be treated, regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and will also give early warning of where your competitors initiatives may be losing your business.
What questions should you ask?
Even though each company may have special and unique factors that are important in providing good customer service are common areas that are relevant to all businesses regardless of whether they have a physical store, online web store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to provide good customer service.
Communication - What will you do to make it easy for your customers to communicate with you?
When a customer telephones is the phone answered promptly; have questions about products or services properly handled? A good business will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly.
If customers reported problems that can not be solved immediately do you promise to respond in a given period, and you deliver on your promise?
Use a customer satisfaction survey to ensure that all your employees is considered by your customers to be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.
Location - Do your customers find it easy to visit you if a physical store, is conveniently located with good access?
Make it pleasant, making it easy - for an Internet business, it is important to ensure that your website is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing.
Physical store or online website, the shop is properly defined, your customers can find whatever they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?
The right quality - In addition to measuring the quality of service you provide, you should ensure that products and services that you provide to match your customers' requirements.
Value for money - Cheap or expensive is almost never a good measure, value for money.
Does your current customers who consider the products you sell or the services you provide as value for money, if not, why not?
Speed and attention - Customers want to be treated rapidly but carefully.
Are you doing everything you can to avoid delays?
Customers want to be treated as individuals, how you treat your customers? Attention is one thing, but only if it leads to a quick and satisfactory solution to the query.
Demographics and Specific issues - Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example, their sex, age group and where they live?
The more knowledge you have about your customers more information you need to target your business.
Within the survey allow customers to highlight specific problems and provide contact information.
What next?
Consider the results when the investigation is completed.
Trends - Identify common and specific areas where the service has to be improved.
Ask yourself if any criticism is valid and is there anything that can be done to solve or minimize the problem?
Education - Are all staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?
If the employee training programs have been implemented have they had a positive impact on business?
Follow up - If a customer has asked a specific question through completion of an investigation to ensure that they are contacted and that their complaints are properly handled.
Do not squander the opportunity to solve a problem and keep a customer.
Current Monitor - based on survey results to make changes and then re-measure by issuing further surveys.
If you are interested in tracking customer satisfaction and want to see a sample survey of a store that shows some of the above advice, you can see the following example can be used as a customer satisfaction survey template.
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