Customer Feedback Survey | Surveys and Market Research by Telephone

Customer Feedback Survey

Telephone and Online Research

Uncovering information that has the power
.....to connect corporations with their customers.

Customer Feedback Survey Overview

In the business world, there is often a fundamental disconnect between management's perception of reality versus opinions held by customers. Management states a value proposition, be that for a product or a service offering. But closeness to the inner workings of your company and familiarity with your products can often cloud judgment. In the end, the opinions of the customer are what matter most. Their perception of your company, staff, products and services has an enormous impact on the bottom line. Your customer's perception is your reality. Actual customer feedback from those who actually bought is often more valuable than findings of focus groups, opinions of product managers, or those charged with the sale of your products and services. Dissatisfied customers seldom contact their vendors, but in most cases, they will discuss their experience with a colleague or a friend. A properly designed customer feedback survey is a proactive step that can yield a wealth of knowledge to guide every aspect of your company, including future investments needed in order to retain and grow market share.

What Customer Feedback Surveys Reveal About Your Business

A well designed customer feedback study can shed light on all aspects of your business. Information obtained using a customer feedback survey can:

• Improve customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty
• Enhance quality in areas that are important to consumers
• Increase investments in areas that are important to customers
• Discover areas of over-investment, where customer satisfaction is high but importance is low, enabling the diversion or repurposing of dollars to increase profits
• Uncover product and service extension opportunities to increase market share
• Provide customer insight about your company's value proposition versus the competition
• Measure sales organization effectiveness and guide compensation
• Proactively address the concerns of dissatisfied customers before they leave

How To Conduct A Customer Feedback Survey

There is a school of thought that customer feedback surveys can be reduced to a single question--"will you buy from our company again?" Although it is tempting to reduce customer feedback surveys to their simplest form," the results are often misleading. It is too easy for a customer to answer, "yes, I will buy from you again" whether this reflects true intentions or not. The inclusion of additional probing questions increases the likelihood that your customer feedback survey will yield actionable data. At Direct Opinions, our staff of professionals will construct a customer feedback survey that will yield information that is tailored to your specific situation. Customer feedback surveys often include, but are not limited to the following questions:

• Are you satisfied with your purchase, service prior and post-sale?
• How satisfied are you with our company overall?
• Are you likely to buy from us again?
• Would you recommend our products/services to others?
• What did you like and dislike about the product, service, and/or company?

There is more to an effective customer feedback survey than simply asking the right questions. The methodology used to conduct the customer feedback survey is of equal or greater importance. A customer feedback survey can be implemented using telephone interviews, direct mail, e-mail, or an online survey. Direct mail and e-mail, and online surveys can be useful but are reactive in nature and require customers to take active steps to ensure data collection takes place. Responses, if received at all, most typically come from the extremes of the spectrum and may not accurately represent the opinions of your customer base. These types of customer feedback surveys are often filled out incompletely, comments tend to be omitted or abbreviated, and there is no chance to probe for details or clarification. For these reasons, we often recommend the use of a telephone approach to the customer feedback survey.

Telephone based customer feedback surveys offer a number of advantages over e-mail and direct mail approaches. Telephone interviews utilizing an independent third-party elicit a candid response, which encourages greater candor and honesty. A telephone campaign can assure you that your customer engagement survey is reaching the right person. Telephone interviews are economical, as qualified respondents can be contacted in a timely manner, as compared to mail campaigns which may be sent to a broad group resulting in low response and lengthy turnaround. Finally, telephone interviews are proactive by nature as they reach out to the population and enable you to obtain information from a representative portion of the population you wish to reach.

Contact The Customer Engagement Survey Experts

At Direct Opinions, each customer feedback survey is tailored to your specific information objectives. We will develop and recommend an appropriate blend of custom telephone, and online surveys based upon your company's information needs and project budget. Regardless of survey methodology, the results of your customer feedback survey will provide actionable data that will help your business grow. Ready to get started? Contact Direct Opinions today for a quote on a customer feedback survey today!