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Online Customer Service Surveys Promote Repeat Business
Q:
I like to ask my customers for feedback about my service. Is there a way to do
that on the Internet?
. . . . .
. . . . . . .
A.
Everyone likes to be asked for an opinion, and asking your customers for
feedback about your products or services is a great way to turn
them into repeat customers.
The most useful customer service surveys serve
two purposes. The first is to get an honest opinion of the
product or service you provided. Results can be used to improve
the way you do business, or to make an assessment of what is –
or is not – working well for your customers.
Further, a survey is a great marketing tool.
When you know the transaction has gone well, and you want to
remind your customer of that point, then you will be asking him
to think about that as he provides his response. You’ll
increase the chance he will call or purchase from you again.
Presenting your survey online makes the process
simple for both your customer and yourself. Start by
collecting email addresses while doing business with your
customers, keeping track of their names, too.
Next, create survey questions that will help you
improve your service to your clients or customers. Your
questions should require very definable answers. “Yes or No”
questions, or “On a Scale of 1 to 5” types are best. “Was your
product delivered to you within the expected timeframe?” “Did
our salesperson answer all your questions?” “How would you rate
the quality of our service?”
Avoid open ended questions that require a
text-composed answer because respondents will likely skip those,
or even skip answering your survey all together. The exception
to this is to provide a “Comments” area at the end of the survey
to let them elaborate on any point they’d like to make. On the
chance they write something worth sharing as a testimonial, you
might want to ask them for permission to share their comments
with potential customers.
Limit the number of questions to eight to ten.
If your customer perceives she will be able to answer quickly,
then she is more likely to participate. Remember – the goal is
not to take up her time, but to get honest feedback.
Consider, too, whether you want to identify the
respondent. While we would all like to know exactly who says
what about us, letting the customer remain anonymous may result
in more honest answers. Make those identifying questions
optional unless they have requested follow-up, in which case
you’ll need to know who the customer is.
Putting a survey online is an easy and efficient
way to ask for opinions. Assuming your customers have easy
access to email and the internet, you can make your invitation,
present the survey, and receive the results with very little
effort and almost no cost to you. Your webmaster should be able
to do this for you, or there are a number of online survey
applications you can use. (Find a list of these applications at
www.http-411.com )
Then using the email address and personalizing
it with her name, send an email to your customer inviting her to
answer your survey, using a link to the survey online. Once she
is finished, answers can be emailed to you individually, or
submitted to a database so you can review answers grouped by
their topics.
Finally, when customers respond with points that
need improvement, be sure to take action. If they have
identified themselves, follow up with them to thank them for
their honest response, then stay in touch to let them know when
you’ve improved or fixed the problem.
Knowing they have been heard will be one reason your customers return to do
business with you.
© 2005 Trisha Torrey
Trisha Torrey, owner of IntegriMark Communications and author of http://411, has been helping businesses score on the Web since the mid-1990s. From large corporations, to non-profit organizations, to individual entrepreneurs, her advice, planning and development services have helped raise the Web marketing bar while keeping a keen eye on the bottom line.
Email questions to her at: questions@http-411.com .
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