An article from Worcester Business Journal Online published yesterday (June 18) has outlined seven steps to creating a successful customer feedback survey.
The guide was put together by Christina Davis, writer for the journal, who said: "If you haven't sent out an online survey to get a read on what your customers are thinking, then you're missing the boat."
Her first suggested step was picking your tool, pointing to the fantastic survey software programs available online, and suggesting that you can even test it out.
Then decide what you want to achieve through your survey. It will make a huge difference to your questions and responses if you can determine the area you are interested in before starting the process.
That's when you can begin writing the survey. The questions will be based on your goals and objectives, so make sure they leave plenty of room for your customers to reply in specific detail. A recent survey from CreditDonkey is one good example, asking simple questions such as 'are small or large businesses better at saying thank you?', prompting some quality consumer insights.
Make sure it's not too long. Customers tire of anything that takes more than eight minutes to fill out, so you should be aiming for a time span of five to eight minutes in order to acquire sufficient details without boring your respondents.
Give them an incentive for their hard and thoughtful work too – time is precious and they won't thank you for offering nothing in return, even if it's only a chance at a prize or gift card at the end.
The next tip is to think about surveying your 'internal' audience as your employees may have a wealth of untapped knowledge about your customers that can reveal special insights into the market.
Lastly, know when to call in the professionals. There may come a time when you need someone with the industry-know how who can guide you through the survey process.
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