I've recently been asked the question: “How do I get my customers to answer the satisfaction surveys I send to them?” This question sounds reasonable enough, as most organizations are turning towards using their customers’ experience to improve their products and services. If you already have a tool setup that consistent delivers customer satisfaction surveys, here are three simple ways to make sure you get the survey feedback you want.
1. Don’t Be Too Aggressive
Remember, the point is to get a solid portion of your customer base to give you feedback – not all of them. When organizations focus too much effort on trying to get feedback from every customer, they lose more than they gain. A good analogy would be attempting to hold a stream of water in your hands…trying to grab all of it results in losing all of it, while opening and cupping your hands allows the water to flow around and a portion to stay in your hands. Just enough is sometimes, just enough.
It may seem backwards to back off at first, but you will see good results long-term.
2. Make Sure You Have a Process for Follow-up
This one sounds simple, but you’d be amazed at what some organizations consider a “process.” Having an efficient method for following up with your customers on the feedback they provide is key. Social psychological studies have proven that most people need, and are even motivated by, the feeling of being heard. Following up with a customer about their feedback makes them feel validated.
Assigning the task to an individual or group to do on a weekly or monthly basis may not be enough, especially if those individuals already have other job responsibilities that take up most of their time. It’s imperative that you know immediately when your support department provided an unsatisfactory service experience, or if a customer has voiced concerns over a product or service. Once you know, the customer should be contacted while the experience or concern is fresh in their mind, and be reassured that the experience they may have received is not typical or that their concern will be addressed appropriately.
3. Do Something With It!
Once you've received feedback and followed up, you’ll need to actually use the data. This is where most organizations drop the ball – they want to care about what their customers are thinking, but don’t have the resources or support they need to do so. Customer satisfaction efforts have to be an organization-wide initiative and this initiative must start at the top. Without the full support of senior management and executives, the great feedback you may get initially can quickly fizzle into little or no valuable feedback.
This is especially true for organizations who are supporting their internal employees, as the company’s employees may already have misgivings about providing feedback. Keeping an open-door, no retaliation culture can go a long way towards getting the feedback you need, whether you are supporting customers internally or externally.
While it’s important to want to improve your customer satisfaction efforts, try not to become too focused on one specific area. Instead of just asking yourself how you can get feedback, also ask yourself if the feedback you’re getting is actionable.
Need a customer satisfaction measurement tool? Check out HDI's Buyers Guide for listings and reviews.
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