Feedback, friend or foe? Three simple tips...

From my experience, the myth surrounding surveys or web forms generally appear to be negative, many see them to be time consuming and irrelevant.

However, there are numerous ways in which to retrieve feedback and useful information from customers by creating effective surveys, open ended questionnaires or follow-up calls.

Surveys should be tailored towards the interests or history of a customer such as a certain product or service, past order history, previous feedback and of course, the background (age or gender). You can personalize surveys by considering the varying types of customers, basing questions on past customers issues, questioning that can or should be improved and investing more time by responding in a timely manner.

Below are three tips which can open the door to new revenue-generating ideas and retain existing customers.

Tip 1: Offer Incentives!

Incentives are a great way to engage with your customers and encourage buying. By offering a small token gesture such as discounts or free product trials, the feedback you receive may be invaluable.

For example, offer a 10% discount voucher code; that customers can redeem on your website or within a store. Make sure they are aware of these offers by regular engagement and bear in mind the method of communication they prefer.

Better still, to encourage a prompt response, include a deadline for the offer and make this clear in your communications.

Event triggered emails can be a great way to interact with your customers. For example, customers' birthdays or their buying patterns.

Let´s say you send an email to all your customers who share their birthday on a particular day; you can send a personalized voucher or e-coupon. Not only are you giving the customer the opportunity to use this in your store or on line, you are essentially building a relationship.

So in future it may be easier for you to gain valuable customer feedback or opinions, which may help improve products or services.

Tip 2: Follow up

Follow up e-mails are a great way to gain further insight into customer experiences and also a great way to sell extra products or services. You must be careful and focus on the customers´ expectations, interests and past feedback; be personal and relevant at all times.

For example, for a sales follow up e-mail; give them options and ask questions, in order to continue the dialogue. Furthermore, make them aware you understand they may not have time to respond, however if they do, it may be beneficial.

If a customer has pointed out areas of improvements in your services or products, let them know what you have done to fix this, customers love this!

Some customers prefer a more personal approach; these types of customer normally place orders over the phone or by email, so consider the method of past interaction before you contact them.

Follow up e-mails are also a great way to build relationships with your customers, keep them informed about changes to your products or services and remind them you are still thinking about them, even though previous contact may have been negative.

Tip 3: Ask the right questions

Very simple, ask the right questions.

The purpose of a survey or feedback form is to gather as much relevant data about the customer as possible; this information will allow us to improve services or products.

The feedback can also be used to enrich customer profiles, based on the types of questions we ask; The more we know about our customers the better.

Keep it short, concise and to the point.

Wrong reasons not to ask for feedback

Below, are examples of the most common perceptions people have towards sending surveys and feedback forms, which I have experienced. These examples show how you can turn negative comments into positives and enlighten your customers about the importance of implementing surveys or feedback forms.

´I don't ask or expect feedback because my customers don't like to be bothered´

Generally when customers leave feedback themselves, its because they have had bad experiences, which they would like to share. However, there are customers who prefer not to leave any feedback, and just shop elsewhere.

It´s important to reach out to all your customers; give them the opportunity to have their say. Make it apparent that your ready to listen and make changes, making their next experience a more pleasurable one.

´Surveys are time consuming; no one has time to answer questions´

Who said a survey needs to be long? Could you not create a survey tailored to certain instances your customers generally experience, in order to be more relevant?

´If there is something wrong, our customers generally call or email us´

This may be the case, however not every customer is willing to reach out to you. Sometimes they will simply just shop elsewhere.

If you remind them they have the opportunity to leave feedback regarding something they have experienced, they generally will. Furthermore, a great way to keep customers shopping with you is to offer incentives!

Engagement

By applying these tips, you will notice how the feedback you receive in the future, could lead to better engagement with your customers and provide you with ideas, which could uplift revenue!