To satisfy customers in today’s uncertain market, companies are striving to meet new and evolving needs. A happy customer is a loyal customer. However, a company can only grow when loyal customers spread the word. On the other hand, unsatisfied customers who share bad reviews damage a company’s reputation.
In this current climate of uncertainty, more and more companies are leveraging customer feedback to amplify successful strategies while making adjustments to correct what might be wrong.
Capturing Feedback: A Model for Success
Companies attempting to increase customer satisfaction by sending surveys often face one key challenge: limited quality feedback. Without good feedback, companies often ask essential questions: Why did a sale fall through? Am I responding to customers’ needs? Or perhaps the most critical question: How can I show my customers that I care? These questions are especially important now as we all strive to connect and protect businesses.
In Seth Godin’s book, “Permission Marketing,” he suggests that the key to break through the clutter is to deliver anticipated, personal, and relevant messages to your customers. When building your feedback programs, you should apply Seth’s methodology:
- Anticipated: Engaging customers promptly is imperative for quality responses, so ask customers for feedback based on a recent action. Send your survey when the interaction is top of mind to get the best quality answers from your customers. For example, after a webinar or event, send a brief survey within one to five days, asking attendees how they enjoyed the presentation. This “follow-up” is a great way to show you care about the attendees’ experience, and the responses may offer insights relevant to future events. If you send the survey too late, your attendees might lose motivation to take the survey or forget critical aspects of their experience.
- Personal – Surveys directly relate to the individual, so your questions should relate genuinely to the customer and not the mass market. For example, for an SLA or priority customer, send a survey that relates specifically to this top-tier experience; or if your customer has a limited or free train, send a survey detailing initial impressions. Customers appreciate concision. Most people want to know that their responses are listened to, not just another data point in a sea of metrics.
- Relevant – Feedback should be connected to the customers’ experience and should benefit them somehow. An ideal scenario is a feature within your survey tool that dynamically adjusts to customer responses–like Simple Survey’s Skip Logic. Sending a survey with questions that shift depending on first response, as well as responses to follow-up questions, elicits higher quality feedback. Also, tools like Skip Logic create a shorter and more enjoyable experience for the customer.
Keep Surveys Short and Response Rates High
Seth Godin’s three principles can help you build loyalty and stay connected throughout the customer journey, empowering you to meet your customers at every touchpoint.
The right tools make it that much easier.
From events to customer support to sales follow up, Simple Survey provides a better way of measuring customer satisfaction. An affordable tool native to Salesforce, Simple Survey can help you increase responsiveness by sending surveys when your product or service is top of mind. All responses record in real-time into Salesforce, and you can choose to notify managers when a survey score indicates dissatisfaction.
By using the survey feedback to coach employees, you create tangible goals for success based on actual customer experiences. At each touchpoint, your customer’s voice offers valuable information to improve your business.
With Skip Logic, you can create a relevant and personalized experience for your customers by hiding questions unrelated to the customer’s experience, keeping surveys brief, and capturing only relevant feedback.
Learn more about Skip Logic by listening to our On-Demand Webinar
If you use Salesforce and want to leverage feedback throughout your customer’s journey, check out the ultimate survey tool: Simple Survey on the AppExchange - Sign up now for a free 14-day trial.
