Customer satisfaction surveys are one of the most common and also the most valuable forms of market research for a business. No one can argue understanding customers and keeping them happy is the key to success. Although this is a fact, many companies don’t truly understand the level of satisfaction customers have with their business. So if a new competitor were to enter the market, if your business makes significant operational changes, or you decide to adjust the cost of your price or service, you may have no idea how this will impact your business until it’s too late.
These types of surveys aim to uncover both broad and specific customer satisfaction measures. Working with a customer satisfaction survey company in Syracuse will allow your business to customize the types of questions asked, length of survey, and help choose on how to best administer the survey. These are 3 considerations you’ll want to fully flesh out before you decide to move forward with your project.
What types of questions should I ask?
There are a lot of options and I’m sure it’s overwhelming. You’re not alone. Working with a strategic market research partner can help you focus your efforts on the questions which matter most to you. The advisor can also assist you in writing a scientific and professional script to ensure you’ll receive accurate results.
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- At the very least your survey should cover overall satisfaction or loyalty (using an NPS-like metric.) Another topic should be marketing channels or sources of awareness. The NPS score can help you benchmark your business to the competition. It’s a simple 0 to 10 scale asking likelihood to recommend, but it’s powerful.
- Where do your customers see, hear, or read about you? This can help educate you on advertising spend next cycle. Maybe none of your customers noticed the billboard you spent $3,000 on last month? If so, maybe your $3,000 is better spent on Google paid search, which 90% of your customers used.
- Ask about areas of improvement, give your customers an opportunity to rate specific factors (service, hours, cost, etc.) and provide an open-ended question for the customer to comment his or herself. This will make sure you have all improvement and suggestion angles covered. This feedback can drive change within your business, directly from customers.
- In addition to areas of satisfaction, ask about what is most important to your customer when choosing a business like yours? What is the one factor which matters most to you? Is it price? Is it trust? Is it customer service availability? Whatever you find, it can be incorporated into your marketing messaging and advertising to obtain new customers.
- Ask about demographics. This could include age, gender, income levels, children in household, etc. Whatever types of profiling data which may be relevant for the insights and reporting. Perhaps you find out only 20% of males saw your TV ad, yet 72% of your customers are male. You may need to shift your strategy to channels which can attract more males to your website.
- At the very least your survey should cover overall satisfaction or loyalty (using an NPS-like metric.) Another topic should be marketing channels or sources of awareness. The NPS score can help you benchmark your business to the competition. It’s a simple 0 to 10 scale asking likelihood to recommend, but it’s powerful.
How long should my customer satisfaction survey be?
It depends. If you are going to embark on a customer satisfaction survey, you want to address the 5 areas above. Inquiring on these topics means the survey will last at least 5 minutes and will include 12 to 15 questions. It is also recommended you make the survey as quick as possible to assist with higher response rates and less drop-outs. This means your online survey should not extend beyond 10 minutes. The limit can extend up to 15 minutes for online surveys but you need to offer significant rewards.
How should I administer the survey?
You likely have a few options including online, phone, mail or in-person. In-person will obviously be the costliest of the 4 and would require your market research consultant to travel to a limited number of participants. Mail is the most dated, but some banks and credit unions contribute with customers through mail due to legal implications. It could be an option if you have a large portion of older customers. Phone is the most personable and feasible from a cost standpoint. It allows for two-way conversation and adds a person touch. It's more expensive than an online survey but less expensive than in-person interviews. Online is the least expensive and most widely used methodology. It offers you quality data, a quick turnaround, and a lower cost compared to the other 3 options.
Drive Research is a customer satisfaction company in Syracuse, NY. We specialize in all types of customer satisfaction surveys including phone surveys, mail surveys, online surveys, and in-depth interviews (IDIs.) Questions about an upcoming customer satisfaction survey or wondering how to get started? Contact us at 315-303-2040 or by emailing [email protected].