Ever wonder how many times a month your customers visit you? Or why they decided to spend money with you and not a competitor? Or what they think about a new product you’re offering?
Why not just ask them?
There are a number of ways to talk with current customers to find out what they think about your business. Here are a few methods to consider:
1) Develop a survey, type it up, make copies and distribute to customers for two weeks. Your goal should be to get at least 200 responses. Make it quick and easy for them to fill out by providing no more than 15 questions with a few being open-ended (for them to write a short answer). The rest should be on a scoring system (for eg: 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest). Make sure you give an incentive for completed questions like a % off their next visit or make it drawing for free product and randomly pick a name at the end of the survey.
2) Technology-based survey companies are making it easy for businesses to conduct on-line surveys. Companies like Survey Monkey (see http://www.surveymonkey.com/) have made it so easy for marketers to find out more about their customers. All you have to do is design your survey on their site. Read through survey monkey’s site as there are a few options: one is free and the other option is about $20 a month – this option allows you to pull the final data and put into spreadsheet form with accompanying charts and graphs. Again, offer some type of incentive to customers for completing the survey. Put the survey link on a business size card and hand to customers or put it in their shopping bag so they can take the survey at their convenience.
3) Talk with customers in person. Many owners/operators are afraid they are “bothering” customers by asking them to spend a few minutes talking. But most consumers today want to be heard – want to share what they think about something.
I recently called a franchise handyman service and booked an appointment for some work to be done. This franchisee had an opportunity to market to me – at no cost! Yes, at no cost. It would have been so simple to call me the next day to ask if I was pleased with my service, how I found out about them, would I tell my friends about them, do I need additional work done, and what did I think about the price vs. the service I received. A quick two - minute phone call would be a great way to solidify an on-going relationship with their company. This company has my phone number and address and they’ve never made contact with me. What a missed opportunity. If you decide to talk with customers, speak with at least 5 customers a day for 5 days. Have a series of no more than 10 questions that you can ask in person. If you are not comfortable doing this, have a store manager or third-party person ask the questions and report back what they found.
Today’s smart marketer knows that the best way to learn about your business (and grow sales) is through dialogue with customers on an on-going basis.
