Five Ways to Solicit Customer Input
The most powerful way to keep in sync with customer demand is
to ask for feedback. While this concept is easy to grasp, and the
benefits of having on-target offerings are obvious, many small
and midsize businesses don't have a process (other than their
salesforce) to keep in touch with their customers systematically.
However, it is not hard to take the pulse of your customer base on a regular basis. These five tips can help you create a sustainable – and profitable – customer feedback process.
Use business intelligence and Web site analytics
Even before reaching out to customers, companies can exploit data locked away in their IT systems to gain valuable customer insights. With business analytics software, for example, companies can mine customer orders to discover demographic, seasonal and product preference patterns. These trends identify cross-sell opportunities, as well as direction for product development. In much the same vein, online customer behavior also provides a wealth of insight into customer preferences. Web analytics tools let you identify popular products and features, as well as where your site visitors are coming from.
Survey says ...
Surveys are a tried and true way to gain customer insight. Before jumping in, however, have a clear objective for the survey, and limit the questions to those issues that are most pertinent to your customers. It's a good idea to target only your best customers as possible respondents, and to offer some a compelling incentive.
Online surveys can be quick and cost-effective. Sites such as SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang offer
survey tools, as well as tips on everything from crafting survey questions
to e-mailing techniques to boost responses and reporting tools to analyze results.
Tap into Web 2.0
The Web offers a wealth of opportunities to collaborate with your customers.
Unlike surveys or "one-way" formats, newer vehicles like blogs, online
communities and even social networks provide a forum in which to converse with
customers less formally. Blogs, for example, encourage customers to weigh in
with their own thoughts and perspectives while also providing a company with
a platform to present their positions. Online forums and communities are another
good option for generating unscripted customer feedback. Consumer products
giant Proctor & Gamble, for instance, sponsors vocalpoint.com, an online
forum where customers can express their feelings, make suggestions and ask
questions about P&G products and services.
Reach out and touch select customers
As part of a balanced feedback mechanism, there's a time and place for getting personal. While individual conversations don't reflect the wants and needs of a broad spectrum of your customer base, it's always worthwhile to pick up the phone, send a personalized e-mail or spend some quality one-on-one time with a select group of customers. By rotating these one-on-one interactions, companies can keep their finger on the pulse of what's important, in addition to maintaining a live portrait of their customer rather than grouping them by numerical stats.
Create a "voice of the customer" culture
It's not enough to ask customers for feedback – you have to show them that their input is important and that you're ready to take action. Educate customers on the specific programs in place to capture their feedback and how that input impacts decisions made in all functional areas of the company. Acknowledge that you've received their input and are giving it serious consideration. Finally, train company employees to give customer input that same level of precedence so the practice becomes ingrained, rather than a one-time initiative.
