Exploring and yearning for better things than you have has become a basic human instinct now. Nobody is contented with what they have and that drives the world forward in a way. It is not considered as being greedy rather these hankerings are often appreciated as it leads to innovation and improvements, which is always a good thing. From discovering the power of fire to harvesting power from atomic particles, we have come a long way with the ultimate desire for better and better experiences. It wouldn’t be a surprise that it’s the same that suspire life into business establishments.
The companies want growth and the customers demand better products and services, which would push the company to meet those needs and wants. The customers are flooded with choices and experiences, each claiming to be the ultimate choice for satisfaction. Most of the time a client wouldn’t dare to give an enterprise a second chance after a mishap. Getting it just right the first time is hence crucial for customer retention.
Customer churn is as natural as it gets, though a higher churn rate could destroy your business. Every organization and company in the world is running behind the fleeting fantasy of Client Satisfaction rather than taking time and effort to fortify your business with an army of Loyal clients in the battleground of Customer Churn. It is as easy as a feather blown away by breeze for you to lose a client. Loyalty works as a glue between the customers and your establishments. There are many cleverly designed loyalty programs and other strategies to retain those customers at the edge of churning and has already left you. The real question is how will you know that you are a success? That your strategies are working? Or which strategy worked? Or where do you have space for improvement?
Imagine this. You have been in business for centuries. Your brand is world famous and you have centers in all the continents and countries. You have handpicked the employees working for you. You are shelling out half your income for advertising and other promotions. You are going to open up more factories! What could go wrong, right?
Why Should You Conduct Client Satisfaction Surveys?
You think you are immune to Customer Churn? You think you don’t need to have an effective client satisfaction survey?
What you should understand is that communication is always a two-way path. It doesn’t matter whether you are doing everything right, you are also obligated to check and confirm whether the clients perceive it as it was meant to be.
When it comes to business, implementing every strategy and game plans known to mankind is sadly not going to help you or anyone. Knowing your target audience, be it your loyal customers or the new bees, would always give you a head start. And what do you think your weapon should be when you want to know how your establishment is perceived amongst the public?
Yes, you are absolutely right, client satisfaction surveys!
Now that you know what your choice of weapon should be, the next step is how to wield it cleverly. For that, you should know your way around how these client satisfaction surveys work. You should be aware of what indicators enable you to tackle the wave of Customer Churn at the right time. You must be aware of what helps and what wouldn’t. This is such a vast topic that it’s very easy to get lost in the maze of ‘tips’ and ‘ultimate guide’s that would pop out in every nick and corner. This article is to shed some light on the top myths that are floating around. Mind you, these are only the sharks in the tank, there are many more whales circling you. Be wise enough to choose a customer feedback tool that fits your requirements hassle free and to acquire knowledge and insights into how and when it would help you.
Myth 1: Happy Customer Maketh Loyal Customer
Truth: It’s not a promise!
Many times you can find using the words customer satisfaction and client loyalty interchangeably. Customer satisfaction can lead to client loyalty but is not necessary that a satisfied customer would stand as a loyal client in the future.
A majority of your satisfied customers will switch to your competitors for relatively small incentives – Unless you have gone that extra mile to nurture your happy customers deploying an effective Customer Loyalty Program, a majority of your customers will go to your competitors. Dissatisfaction with the services can be noticed with an efficient client satisfaction survey.
Though you could retain many of your customers with ‘brand image’, you should not ignore customer services.
But when customer interaction loses the human aspect altogether and you tend to depend on the ticks in the two boxes in the top or the bottom you miss out a lot of customer behavior and buying patterns. You might get confused with customers who say they are satisfied, but has not necessarily become repeat customers. You should understand that satisfaction is a measure of what people say whereas loyalty is more about what they actually do. Many managers are still unaware of this fundamental difference and treat as though customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are synonyms.
In the client satisfaction surveys, customers usually reflect the recent experience they had with the business in question. It helps the customers to vent frustrations and the problems with product quality and customer service would be highlighted. Another thing to take into consideration is that all the customers of the business are not included. This leads to biased results as clients are either excluded or because of the indifference of the customers towards the business.
It is of paramount importance to choose a client satisfaction survey that is highly engaging and promises higher response rates.
Myth 2: Customers Hate Taking client satisfaction surveys
Truth: They really don’t!
No, Customers don’t hate taking surveys. In fact, they would love to give you suggestions if they see actual evidence showing that their feedback has led to some improvement on customer experience and services. When customers realize that their opinion is taken seriously they would be happy to give it. A report prepared by Accenture tells you that the primary reason for client satisfaction arises from unresponsive companies to the given feedback ignoring the opinions altogether. When the customers tell you what they want, naturally they want to at least see you working to resolve it. Skype is an amazing role model when it comes to rectifying client complaints using online platforms. Not only do they collect feedback after every call, but they also try and resolve issues within the time frame as much as possible building a positivity about the brand.
Myth 3: Client Satisfaction Surveys Consume Too Much Time
Truth: Only if you are not clever enough!
It mostly depends on the Online Survey Tool you choose. It is very much true that the more time-consuming the surveys become, the less effective it turns out to be. This can be avoided and is not true for all surveys. Intelligently and strategically created surveys would always be entertaining and never wastes time or are intrusive.
80% of customers have been found to abandon a survey halfway through whereas 52% of customers state that they would not spend any more than 3 minutes in completing a feedback survey, according to a study conducted by Forbes. But there is absolutely no reason why your survey must require more than 3 minutes of your customers’ time. When you have placed only clearly defined survey questions not demanding too much time, you are not giving your customers a reason to abandon the survey and ensures higher rates of completion.
Myth 4: Always Exceed Customer Expectations
Truth: Not a highly practical strategy
This is one of those only-good-for-the-textbooks kinds of a tip. Meeting client expectations itself is going to be hard enough as it is. Trying to exceed these expectations would be herculean and ultimately not worth it when you analyze the turmoil you have inflicted on your resources to do so. Client Satisfaction is tangible and we can never fully anticipate which action or strategy can promise it. In reality, you should meet the client expectations using productive methodologies that add to the bottom-line. Many a time, meeting these expectations turns out to be pleasant accidents, rather than a calculated and tested strategy win.
Myth 5: Keep Your Customers Complacent At All Costs
Truth: Works only if you are selling ice-cream!
As you get acquainted with the business you will realize that it is the 20% of your clients that help you to earn 80% of your money. Going by this 80/20 formula retaining customers who probably don’t have anything much to contribute to your bottom-line may start looking like a deadweight drowning you out. However, this does not necessarily mean that you can start ignoring those customers. If you have deployed an efficient CRM and have client profiles and data readily available, handling these dissatisfied or indifferent customers who add to your profits can be a pleasant experience. It is not humanly possible or fair to demand 100% satisfaction from all your customers. Client dissatisfaction will always be there, and trying to eliminate it completely might not turn out to profitable. You have to research and analyze the damage this dissatisfaction can cause and whether it is feasible in all levels to rat it out.
Myth 6: The Loyalty is Directly Proportionate to the Frequency of Contact
Truth: That’s called nagging, not an actual good thing.
Keeping the communication alive and being updated on the client profile is vital for your business’s survival. And you are expected to reach out to a customer when you notice inactiveness in his account. It will be appreciated. But when you start spamming him or her, you would turn into a virtual nagging wife rather than being a friend assisting the customer to make decisions. Goading the customer to buy and experience your product or services would lead to client frustration and might encourage customer churn. Akin to spamming, this is a customer experience mistake you should avoid at all costs. Frequent contact is not the solution to retain customers or to gain Customer Loyalty. You risk being in the spam list which is totally not worth it. Always use the appropriate communication medium to keep the contact live and testing the correct number of frequency without being a nuisance would help you to get it just right.
Myth 7: You Already Know What Your Customers Like
Truth: If think you don’t need feedback surveys, you are seriously ignorant.
The mind is incompatible, whether it’s yours or the customers. Being swarmed in options and choices that are frighteningly similar to what you offer, Customer Service is your holy grail if you wish to survive. In case you still need reasons to invest in customer experience, understand that your clients’ needs are changing with the flick of a hand. If you prove yourself to be incapable to adapt to those fleeting needs, you are practically laying down a welcome mat to your competitor’s door. Client satisfaction surveys would help you acquire customer knowledge such as the buying behaviors and patterns. Leveraging these information aids you to offer personalized and timely support. It ensures that you are already prepared to offer what exactly they are looking for. It is your reputation and the customer’s trust in you that hangs above your head like a Damocles sword. An impressive and credible client satisfaction survey could become the red carpet to your success. There is no better alternative for a sound client satisfaction survey.
Wrapping Up!
2017 has been the worst year for Uber. They were under constant fire with many allegations, lawsuits, and infamous incidents happening. Uber is one of those companies that has two sets of Customers, that is, the drivers and the riders, like Zomato or Amazon. Their survey asks the drivers to rate the passengers, and the passengers to rate the drivers. This, in theory, was supposed to help to customize with the client experience on both ends. It gives you the authority to refuse a driver or a passenger. But soon it became an ‘If you scratch my back, I will scratch yours’ policy. The driver gives the passenger a 5-star rating if the passenger promises to do the same for him. So when uber was facing protests and a campaign called #DeleteUber from the detractors, they were unable to counter it. They experienced around 200,000 to 500,000 app deletions, in other words, lost clients. Yet they wouldn’t know that. Why? Because as far as their star rating survey goes, the clients don’t have a problem. The drivers and riders are already gaming the feedback surveys, for mutual benefits and the data is inaccurate at its best.
Much like a healthy couple, when a company has built a healthy relationship with the customers, they would stay together even after an argument. A proper client satisfaction survey would not only inquire about just the transactions but would also help to identify the shortcomings in other areas.
Client satisfaction surveys impart a great deal of information and knowledge that would of service to design and implement accurate steps toward Customer Loyalty and hence to the survival of your business. It is the most powerful weapon and shield when it comes to business. Do not fall for the “trap in the boxes”. Bring in the humane touch in the communication between your customers. Engaging and entertaining client satisfaction survey tools asking the right questions, at the right time, to the right people is the key to success. It is strictly advised that you get rid of all the myths around these so that you will able to define the right approach for your business.
