We regularly discuss the ways to handle complaints and dissatisfied customers, simply because customer satisfaction is the cornerstone of any business. Complaints should always be seen as an opportunity to put things right as, for each disgruntled person who gives you a piece of their mind, there are many more that don’t but just go straight to your competitors.

However, surveys can be a great way to tease things out and find out what your market really thinks about your brand and products.

Here are the steps you should follow to conduct a customer survey.

Step 1 – Define what you want to achieve
For example, you may want feedback on existing products or services, or on new ones, or you may be looking for cross-selling opportunities.

Step 2 – Set more specific goals
It is easy for any company to think that you know what your customers want when maybe you actually don’t. Surveys are a great way to shine a light on unaddressed needs or get ideas for new products, services or to improve business processes.

It is also the perfect time to ask people whether they would recommend your brand to others and why.

Step 3 – Keep it short and simple
It is important to remember that you depend on customers’ good will to get your answers. People are busy and they won’t be willing to answer enough questions to fill a doctorate’s thesis so make sure you keep your questions to the point and simple.

A good way to do so is to ask yes/no questions, or ask customers to give you an answer on a scale of 1 to 10. It will also give you data that is quantifiable and easier to interpret. However, you also want to make sure that you have enough open questions to allow your customers to express themselves.

It is also important to prune your questionnaire mercilessly to avoid repetitions. Customers will soon get overwhelmed if they feel they are going round in circles and way well decide to cut things short.

Step 4- Train your agents
Understanding the purposes and targets of the survey will help agents pick up on relevant information during the call.

Step 5 – Choose the channels to roll out your survey
Phone calls, IVR, emails, chatbots, you are spoilt for choice these days!