“The customer survey you did for us saved our business!”
You want to grow your business. You set your goals. Define your strategy. Work out your tactics and start to implement.
But how do you know you’re on the right track? The simple answer is “feedback”.
As they say, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions”.
So it’s your ability to ask for feedback, not get bent out of shape when you hear stuff that you don’t like and then correct things, that will be a great determiner of your success.
And of course, feedback is not just about finding out what’s going wrong. It’s equally about finding out what you’re doing well and can give you great ideas for innovation.
Here’s an example from our files…
“The customer survey you did for us saved our business!” was the first thing one of our old clients said to us the other day.
“Huh? Really, I had no idea… tell me more…”
The story actually begins almost six years ago when they commissioned a customer satisfaction survey.
They knew they had issues, that some of their clients weren’t altogether happy, and they needed to confirm what was going on.
So we spoke with about 30 of their clients in depth and found out the truth – the good (and there was a lot of that), the bad and the downright ugly.
And while most of their clients loved them, there were issues even there. Issues that needed to be acknowledged and resolved.
But back to the other day…
Our client said that if they’d just gone on the way they’d been going, they wouldn’t be in business today. Knowing the truth from their customer’s perspective and then being able to do something about fixing issues, setting appropriate expectations and delivering set them back on the path to retention, and expansion.
So why am I telling you all this?
Simple really. If you’re not surveying your customers (using a third party), you’re likely to be missing out on all sorts of valuable information regarding your business – be it good, bad or downright ugly.
Doing a survey has another major benefit. Your clients will love you – they feel appreciated that you’ve taken the time to contact them and ask for their opinion. It’s led to referrals, and even upsells. (Yes, we do take the opportunity to promote some of your products where appropriate).
These are not impersonal web based surveys where your clients get multiple choice answers. They are fully personalised “conversations” where we drill down into what’s really going on with your clients and how you can best serve them.
And if you’re thinking, “I can do this myself”, I’d caution against it.
People are far more likely to open up to a non-involved third party and give honest feedback. Think about it this way… If someone gives you negative feedback, you’re likely to get defensive (it’s only human), and knowing this people often shy away from telling you the truth. This doesn’t happen when talking to us as we’re not involved and have nothing to get defensive about.