Using Surveys to Get Customer Feedback

There are times when getting customer feedback is essential. You may be thinking of adding a new product or service, or you may be making sure that you have a good idea of who your customer really is. Your ideal customer can evolve over time, and it’s important to stay on top of that data if you want to offer the best service to those folks. But the thought of doing surveys is often overwhelming to business owners.

However, it doesn’t have to be. First, you want to keep it simple. Sit down with your team and determine the most effective metrics to measure. Then focus on those.

Make your questions open ended, so that you get better answers. If you ask simple yes or no questions, you may be missing out on key data. Yes/no questions have their place, just use them wisely.

Make sure each question relates to the metrics you looked at when you started. If it doesn’t, discard it. It’s not that it’s a bad question, but it’s not needed this time around.

If you use ratings scales, keep them consistent. If choosing a “10” means the positive answer in one question, make it the positive answer in the next one, too. Otherwise, you may confuse your users.

Think about your timing. Don’t launch a survey during the holiday shopping season or back to school. Your customers are busy, and won’t take the time. Recognize that their time is valuable.

To increase responses, offer a bonus. Give customers a coupon for a percentage off their next purchase as a thank you for filling out the survey.

Used properly, surveys are valuable tools. By using these tips, you can implement them without getting overwhelmed, or even underwhelmed, with the response.

Danielle VanZorn, PMP, SPHR