Last month, I talked a little bit about some of the tactics you can use to increase response rates to your customer surveys. Today, I want to take a step back and cover some of the reasons you need to be surveying your customers. Maybe, you’re not yet getting feedback from your customers. If you’re not, you’re jeopardizing your success.
Here are 5 important reasons you need to survey your customers.
- Measure customer loyalty—Customer retention should be a top priority for every business. It’s been said a thousand times, but it’s worth repeating—acquiring a new customer is far more expensive than keeping an existing customer. Surveying your customers gives you insight into the amount of loyalty they have for your company. If you don’t like the results, you can come up with a plan to improve your customer retention rates.
- Develop ideas for new products—Adding to your product line is a good way to keep your company fresh and growing, but finding new ideas for products and services can be tough. Who better to turn to than your customers? They can tell you what they’re looking for, and if there’s enough of a demand for it, you can deliver it for them.
- Training your staff—Customer feedback often provides good information about the effectiveness of your customer service. Whenever you identify the things customers like and dislike about their interactions with your company, you can use that information in training your employees.
- Improving existing products and services—When I think about some of my favorite products (iPhone 4, Playstation 3, etc.), they have one thing in common—they’re always improving (or at least trying to). New updates are released to existing versions, and eventually, totally new and improved versions of the products are created. Ask your customers what improvements they’d like to see in your products and services so you can deliver the best product possible.
- Demonstrate commitment to customer satisfaction—Asking for feedback shows your customers that you care about them and value their opinions. Just make sure you actually take the time to study their feedback and act upon it when necessary.
What are some other good reasons to conduct customer surveys? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.
