Customer feedback is the most asset any company could possibly have. It gives a direct view into the thoughts and feelings of your customers, what they like, what annoys them, and what they want changed. Companies that really know their customers have a much better relationship, they are far better at generating new products, and they get their customers much more satisfied too. However, designing a survey that provides actionable insight is a task that requires working things out. From setting your objectives to understanding the results, each step in between impacts the success of your survey. In this guide, we walk you through creating a successful feedback survey so that your company can tap into rich insights to fuel growth.
Even before you construct a survey, objectives need to be established. Surveys that start with imprecise objectives will have responses that are less helpful or harder to interpret. Whether you must get the satisfaction of customers quantified, collect opinions regarding a new product, or know about the quality of services, having an objective in mind will allow you to ask the right questions. As an example, if a business must improve customer service, then responsiveness and resolution time questions will come into consideration. The second category of questions that businesses releasing something new want customers to reply with is feature preference and usability. Having your survey needs stay in touch with business needs enables you to get useful information that directly impacts your company's development.
A short, easy survey is better than a long, complex one. Customers will offer only a minute or two to give feedback, so don't waste their time by making surveys lengthy. Limit your survey to 5-10 simple, easy-to-answer questions. Avoid confusing participants with extraneous details or unclear questions. By using something casual with simpler wording, people are much more likely to get something done or finish what they're doing. Studies have found that three-minute-or-less surveys have a 40% response rate higher than that of their longer relatives. A brief survey not only gets more folks to answer, but it gives more considered, accurate feedback, too.
Your questions really do count a great deal because your responses are going to be more beneficial if posed extremely well. Combining and comparing different types of questions, such as Likert scales, multiple choices, and open-ended ones, can provide quantitative data along with qualitative data. While the closed-ended ones give measurable responses, open-ended ones allow the customers to reply in their own words. Avoid leading or biased questions that can skew answers. Rather than, "How much do you love our product?", say, "How would you rate our product?" True and objective questions receive true answers, so your findings are genuine and actionable.
Since everybody's reading stuff online on their phone, getting your survey phone-friendly is a big deal. A badly designed survey with everything on the page and small print will infuriate people and get them bug off. Adaptive survey software will change the design automatically based on the device, so it's a cinch to use. To boot, reducing the use of long text and using simple tap-based choices, like ratings or multiple choice, is easy on the mobile. As studies indicate, by developing surveys that indeed perform extremely well on smartphones, 57% more individuals will even complete them than for surveys that only sort of work or don't work at all when responding via smartphone or tablet. Prioritising mobile accessibility will expand your audience and provide a more accurate picture of customer sentiment.
Paying individuals to respond is usually the most difficult aspect of doing a survey. Providing incentives can also have a significant impact on response rates while engaging customers in a positive way. Coupons, entry into a contest, or reward points toward loyalty will do it. However, the incentive must be linked to effort and time to fill out the survey. Starbucks, for example, provides free drinks to those who take surveys, and they always get a good response rate. If you show customers that what they have to say counts and that it is important, they will be more inclined to respond, providing you with what you need to make changes worthwhile.
Feedback is great, but it won't do you any good if you don't do something with it. After you receive the feedback, go through the data to search for emerging trends and patterns. Surveys can be conducted using AI technology like XEBO.ai to get sentiment analysis and actionable feedback in real time so that businesses can move fast to act on concerns. Categorise your respondents as detractors, passives, and promoters along parameters like Net Promoter Score (NPS) to finally decide various customer sentiments. 52% of consumers, as per HubSpot, feel that organisations need to be held accountable by responding to complaints, but just 22% feel confident about what they have to say matters. Entering early at the front and letting customers know that a change is being made builds confidence and solidifies allegiance to a brand.
Feedback is something you can never just do once. Having survey software on autopilot at your disposal enables you to keep on collecting new customer information all the time. Tools like XEBO.ai enable companies to autopilot surveys after some customer interaction, e.g., buying a product or a customer service call. On-the-spot feedback from automated surveys and the ability to react are also provided. Solutions based on machine learning are equally good at unpacking mountains of feedback and determining what is happening as things start to change. Based on what they know, they can predict fairly well what customers are going to do and what they need next. Observing people all the time enables companies to make rational decisions and be people centric.
Customer survey feedback is not just a method of data collection; it's a way to learn about your customers and grow your business. With clear objectives, simple surveys, smart questions, and leveraging AI-powered analysis tools, you can turn insights into strategies. Hear out your customers and make them feel that their voices are heard and do matter, and hence create better, long-term relationships that last.
Ready to advance your customer feedback strategy? Schedule a free demo with XEBO.ai makes creating, analysing, and acting on customer insights effortless. Contact us today and revamp your customer experience!
