Designing Customer Satisfaction Surveys that Work
June 29, 2009 by John38
Why bother?
The life blood of any business is good customer service. Although new customers are important good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With every satisfied customer your business is likely to go on and secure many more customers through recommendations and if you do not take proper care of your customers there is probably a competitor waiting in the wings that will.
A Customer Satisfaction survey will help you not only identify problem areas but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.
Where do you start?
Objective – As a first step decide what the main objectives of the survey are, in that way you will be able to retain focus and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.
Analysis – Once the survey has been completed consider how you will analyze the answers.
Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).
A lot will depend on the likely volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.
Opportunity – As well as obtaining valuable market research data keep in mind that customer surveys are also a good way to advertise areas of your service that your customers may not be aware of.
After you have drafted your survey read through the survey from a market research view point and check that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to make informed decisions.
Then, from a marketing view point read through the survey, confirm that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?
The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-
- Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
- Marketing – promote aspects of your business
- Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of
For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?
By asking this question not only will the store receive good feedback on the facility they provide but they will also advertise their baby changing facilities and promote themselves as a family friendly store beyond those customers who have a specific need for the facility provided.
Warts and all – to benefit most from a customer survey you need to be prepared to accept criticism.
A well designed customer satisfaction survey will enable you to identify problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and give you early warning on where you might be losing out to your competitors initiatives.
What questions should you ask?
Although it is a given that each business is likely to have specific and unique factors that are important in providing good customer services there are common areas that are relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online internet store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.
Communication – What do you do to make it easy for your customers to communicate with you?
When a customer telephones is the phone answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services properly handled? Good businesses will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly.
If there are reported problems that cannot be resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?
Use a customer satisfaction survey to ensure that all your staff are considered by your customers to be knowledgeable, courteous and helpful.
Location – Do your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, is it conveniently located with good access?
Making it pleasant, making it easy – For a virtual business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.
Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely an online internet store, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?
The right quality products – You should not only measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should also monitor that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations.
Value for money – Cheap or expensive is not always a good measure, value for money is.
Are the products you sell or the services you provide considered by your customers to be value for money, if not, why not?
Speed and attention – Customers want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.
Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay?
Good businesses will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is appreciated but it needs to be followed up with a quick and satisfactory resolution to the query.
Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group?
The more you try to understand your customers the better you will be able to target your business.
Allow customers to highlight their specific problems and provide contact details so that any problems might be later addressed and their concerns followed up.
What next?
Once the survey has been completed analyse the results.
Trends – Identify specific and common areas where the customer service is failing.
Ask yourself if any criticism is valid, be honest to yourself, is there anything that can be done to properly resolve, or at the very least, minimise the problem?
Training – Are all employees properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?
Where employee training programmes have been implemented have they made a positive contribution to the business and improved the customer service?
Follow-up – If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue do all you can to ensure that their complaint is addressed.
Do not squander the opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.
Continuously Monitor – Make changes based on the survey results and then re-measure by issuing follow up surveys.
If you are concerned about customer satisfaction and would like to view a sample survey for a store that will demonstrate some of the above advice please view the Sample Customer Survey
auto-quote: Why should you bother? Good customer service is the life blood of any business. New customers are important but good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations and remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will. Online customer satisfaction surveys will help by not only identifying problem areas but show that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide. Where to start? Objective – Before you start creating your survey clarify the objectives of the survey, in that way you will find it easier to decide what are the right questions to ask. Analysis – When the survey is complete consider how you will analyse the answers. Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want). Much will depend on the predicted volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results. Opportunity – As well as obtaining valuable market research data keep in mind that customer surveys are also a good way to advertise areas of your service that your customers may not be aware of. After you have drafted your survey read through the survey from a market research view point and check that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to properly analyze the data allowing you to make informed decisions. Next, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business? The ideal question will perform the following three functions:- Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business Marketing – promote aspects of your business Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful? In asking this question the store will hopefully not only receive useful feedback on the baby changing facility but they will also promote the store as being a child-friendly and caring store even to those the customers who do not actually require the facility. Warts and all – be prepared to accept criticism. A well designed customer satisfaction survey will enable you to identify problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and give you early warning on where you might be losing out to your competitors initiatives. What are the questions you should ask? Each business is likely to have unique factors in relation to providing good customer services however there are common areas that are going to be relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online store or a service industry. The following are key areas to providing good customer service. Communication – Do customers find it easy to communicate with you? When a customer telephones is their call answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services handled properly? A good business will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly. If a problem is not resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise? Use a customer satisfaction survey to check that your customers find your staff to be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable. Location – Do your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical bricks and mortar store, is it conveniently located with good access? Making it pleasant, making it easy – For an internet business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely an online internet store, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works? The right quality products – You should not only measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should also monitor that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations. Value for money – Cheap or expensive is not always a good measure, value for money is. Do your customers associate your business with value for money, if not, why not? Speed and attention – Regardless of the business most customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively. Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay? Good businesses will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is appreciated but it needs to be followed up with a quick and satisfactory resolution to the query. Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group? The more knowledge you have of your customers the more information you will have to better target your business. Provide your customers with an opportunity to document any specific problems that they may have had and provide contact details so that problems can be resolved and followed up. What next? Having completed the survey analyze the results. Trends – Look for specific and common areas where the service needs improving. Ask yourself honestly if any criticism that you receive is valid and if there anything that can be done to resolve or minimise the problem? Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge? Where employee training programmes have been implemented have they made a positive contribution to the business and improved the customer service? Follow-up – If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue do all you can to ensure that their complaint is addressed. Do not waste an opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer. Continuously Monitor – Based on the survey results make changes and then re-measure by issuing further surveys. If you are interested in tracking customer satisfaction and would like to see a sample survey for a store that demonstrates some of the above advice please view the following example that can be used as a customer satisfaction survey template.
There is a much easier way, check out my channel..
India job Customer Service Executives call up MMC Infotech Services Pvt Ltd in Chennai: Job Description: Good wr…
You can receive a debit card from PayPal.com and you can by some items from eBay.com and Half.com. I don't know to much about Amazon.com. There is Shopzilla.com also.
Not everyone will ship that far but these are some of the biggest online stores.
Happy Shopping, wish I was there for 2-3 weeks.
Experienced General Managers required for this branded restaurant chain .If you are a high calibre General Manager with the ability to demonstrate future potential then a starting salary circa £30000 40000 can be yours depending on experience We are currently recruiting for an experienced General Manager to run a branded restaurant based in the London areas.Using only premium brand alcohol and 100 fresh food this brand solidly believes that good customer services and their staff are the keys to success. Progression is guaranteed as is training and development. My client likes to promote a fun and casual environment to work in. They believe that staff development is vital to business success and subsequently their retention of staff is high. The restaurants are constantly busy with high turnovers on a weekly basis. The benefits of this role include a comprehensive training programme 25 days holiday an amazing uncapped bonus which is based on turnover and personal targets. Managers are…
auto-quote: Why should you bother? Good customer service is the life blood of any business. New customers are important but good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations and remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will. Online customer satisfaction surveys will help by not only identifying problem areas but show that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide. Where to start? Objective – Before you start creating your survey clarify the objectives of the survey, in that way you will find it easier to decide what are the right questions to ask. Analysis – When the survey is complete consider how you will analyse the answers. Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want). Much will depend on the predicted volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results. Opportunity – As well as obtaining valuable market research data keep in mind that customer surveys are also a good way to advertise areas of your service that your customers may not be aware of. After you have drafted your survey read through the survey from a market research view point and check that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to properly analyze the data allowing you to make informed decisions. Next, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business? The ideal question will perform the following three functions:- Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business Marketing – promote aspects of your business Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful? In asking this question the store will hopefully not only receive useful feedback on the baby changing facility but they will also promote the store as being a child-friendly and caring store even to those the customers who do not actually require the facility. Warts and all – be prepared to accept criticism. A well designed customer satisfaction survey will enable you to identify problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and give you early warning on where you might be losing out to your competitors initiatives. What are the questions you should ask? Each business is likely to have unique factors in relation to providing good customer services however there are common areas that are going to be relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online store or a service industry. The following are key areas to providing good customer service. Communication – Do customers find it easy to communicate with you? When a customer telephones is their call answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services handled properly? A good business will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly. If a problem is not resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise? Use a customer satisfaction survey to check that your customers find your staff to be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable. Location – Do your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical bricks and mortar store, is it conveniently located with good access? Making it pleasant, making it easy – For an internet business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely an online internet store, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works? The right quality products – You should not only measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should also monitor that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations. Value for money – Cheap or expensive is not always a good measure, value for money is. Do your customers associate your business with value for money, if not, why not? Speed and attention – Regardless of the business most customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively. Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay? Good businesses will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is appreciated but it needs to be followed up with a quick and satisfactory resolution to the query. Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group? The more knowledge you have of your customers the more information you will have to better target your business. Provide your customers with an opportunity to document any specific problems that they may have had and provide contact details so that problems can be resolved and followed up. What next? Having completed the survey analyze the results. Trends – Look for specific and common areas where the service needs improving. Ask yourself honestly if any criticism that you receive is valid and if there anything that can be done to resolve or minimise the problem? Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge? Where employee training programmes have been implemented have they made a positive contribution to the business and improved the customer service? Follow-up – If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue do all you can to ensure that their complaint is addressed. Do not waste an opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer. Continuously Monitor – Based on the survey results make changes and then re-measure by issuing further surveys. If you are interested in tracking customer satisfaction and would like to see a sample survey for a store that demonstrates some of the above advice please view the following example that can be used as a customer satisfaction survey template.
Top Tips for Creating a Successful Customer Satisfaction Survey
Courteous, and respectful are both very similar words, so put.
I define excellent customer service, as being courteous to the customer, and going the extra mile to help them.
That should do it.
To save you asking another question when you get an interview, have a look at this website, it tells you all about what to do, and what not to do at an interview.
BTW. What I have just done, is I went the extra mile to help you. *Smile*.
http://www.squidoo.com/interview-questions
Quality Products with Master Resale Rights
Roy Morgan customer satisfaction survey.
“Westpac's quarry, St George, was well ahead of all four pillar members with Bendigo Bank customers still the happiest in Australia. ”
Big strength regarding customer service.
This article is about Bendigo Bank scored the highest with 6.54 points of a possible 10 for customer satisfaction.]]>