Find Out How Customers Feel About You

Most of us run our businesses by gut feeling more than we like to
admit. We can tell a product or service is popular from the
sales figures, but we have to go on intuition to tell you WHY it
is selling well.

At the same time, another service might not move at all. No one
wants it even though logic would say the service should be a hot
seller.

Wouldn't it be great to know exactly why and how customers feel
about your business? Find out with a simple survey.

We don't say simple just to make it easy on you. Simple surveys
work much better than long, complicated ones. Customers, who
are always in a hurry, won't mind answering five questions, but
they certainly won't take the time to fill out a 50 question
form.

Start your survey with a heartfelt statement about how each
customer's views and opinions are important. "Please tell us
what you think so we can serve you better!"

This gives customers a reason to fill out your survey and feel
good about it. It also encourages them to dig down deep and
answer honestly.

Start with a few yes/no questions:
Are you planning to buy again in the next six months?
Is this your first visit to our web site?

Multiple choice questions are good, too:
You want a car that is (a) economical (b) sporty (c) able to hold
lots of kids and cargo (d) other (Please explain) Note: Make sure
that you provide an "other" category -- customers will often
think of things that you never even considered!

You may also want to know just how strongly people feel about
something. Find out with a scale like this:
Having a car that gets great gas mileage is (1) not important,
(2) somewhat important, (3) very important, (4) a must-have.

Don't miss out on giving people an open question. This is one
they can answer any way they like. Give several lines of space to
explain their thoughts:
Please tell us ways we can improve our product:

Open-ended questions like this are a great way to get new ideas.
Customers will often tell you about improvements, problems, or
innovations you and your staff would never think of. It is also
a good way to uncover new products or services you can offer.

Put your survey on your web site (quizbox.com and bravenet.com
have free forms you can use.) Offer a free product, ebook, or
discount for filling out the form.

You can also print your survey on half sheets of paper and put
them on your counter or reception desk. Include them in invoices
and mailed orders.

Surveys are a terrific way to get a better understanding of how
customers feel about you and WHY they feel that way. But we are
not completely away from gut feeling yet. Simple surveys like
these are not scientific. You can't say for certain 25% of your
customers hate your new product. For best results, take survey
findings with a grain of salt. Remember -- these kinds of surveys
are intended to give you IDEAS, not hard statistics. Combine what
you learn from them with what you know from studying your sales
figures and talking with customers and employees.