Toss those surveys and talk to your customers
Back in April, a friend of mine ran over herself with her own van (yes, really, but that’s another harrowing tale of small business ownership). Even more surprising than that was her experience at the hospital.
As she was literally being wheeled out the door of the hospital, she was asked to fill out a “customer satisfaction survey” about her unexpected visit. The questions seemed to focus on whether everyone had been “nice” to her rather than her perception of the quality of her actual care. She was more befuddled by that than by the van running over her.
What IS this? Suddenly everyone is tripping over themselves to make it appear that their business (even a large well-respected hospital) really, truly cares – in the most sincere fashion they can muster – about customer service. Why? Because for everyone who has something to sell to the public, the focus has shifted from attracting new customers to hanging on to the customers you already have – even if they were brought in on a stretcher, apparently.
The problem with “so, how’d we do?” as a breathless afterthought is that consumers have become more sophisticated. They want you to prove you care, not just say you do. They want proof that you are listening. What good is a satisfaction survey to your customer? They know a survey basically means “better luck next time” for them and some possibly useful input for you. Neither is appealing from a consumer standpoint. There’s no immediate connection. No tangible give and take.
But what if you could offer something of actual interest and value to your customers in your communication with them? Make it about them, not about you. It’s easy with E-mail newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the social media tools. You can provide useful information, problem solving, valuable news, special offers, customizable coupons and more – delivered in seconds. You can have actual conversations with your customers – conversations that have meaning for them. That’s what smart businesses are doing.
Or, you can just keep asking your customers “on a scale from 1 to 10, were you greeted promptly?”
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