The President of the United States has a red phone in his office that instantly connects him to the most powerful people across the globe. As a business owner or executive, you’d love to have a direct line to your customers. Most businesses want to obtain every piece of feedback they can, but don’t have the time to talk to every single one of their customers. And you probably have too many customers to think about calling them all. Luckily, surveys allow businesses to have that same direct connection to their customers as the famous red phone.
Surveys use carefully crafted questions to allow customers to express their thoughts and feelings. The feedback you need to not just survive, but thrive. Many companies are content using the self-deployed survey, but if you want valid data, you must move beyond the smiley face satisfaction scale. The best surveys evaluate perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs.
The leading ‘Red Phone’ is the customer satisfaction survey. Businesses use these surveys to evaluate how satisfied their customers are with their buying experience. Most customers that have an unpleasant experience, regardless of the reason, won’t go to great lengths to ensure that you know about it. They simply won’t return. You can identify potential pitfalls before they become a problem and you may even prevent brand destroying online reviews by using a customer satisfaction survey. Deploying these surveys before a crisis even happens is a great way to show your customers that you’re pro-active and customer minded, instead of creating a perception that there is no room for improvement.
It’s often the service the separates companies from each other. Many companies pour money into ensuring that their customer service is top notch, but it can be difficult to evaluate its effectiveness. Are you providing services that your customers want? Or, wasting your time, effort, and money on services your customers do not care about? Customer service surveys eliminate the confusion, as they go straight to the source of the best feedback; your customers. Poor or misdirected customer service will hurt your sales even if you have top-notch products. Everyone wants a pleasant experience while shopping or doing business, and it’s your job to deliver. Don’t let your competition take your customers just because they’re better at answering the phone.
While you’ll likely never have a red phone with all of your customers on speed dial, you can achieve the same effect with surveys. A customer service or customer satisfaction survey obtains the type of feedback required to maintain your competitive edge. NBRI can help you design the proverbial red phone so you can learn what your customers really think about your company, products, and services. Contact us today to get started.
