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Customer Experience Surveys
experience excellence
What is market research?
Market research is comprised of tools and methods that allow you to understand the pulse of your customers. It tells you what they are looking for, what they are interested in, what motivates them, and how they perceive your brand.
Research tools
Here are two research tools that any business owner can perform to understand better their customers, their opinions about the business, and insight into your competitors.
Focus Groups
In today’s business environment, focus groups can easily be performed in a virtual environment for market research. It is best to have a moderator not employed or affiliated with the business to ask the participants questions. Focus groups encourage free and open discussion, allowing you to get a deeper understanding of why they feel the way they do. Gather a handful of your loyal customers and be prepared with questions. Record the virtual focus group responses to understand the nuances best and hear and see their reactions to your questions. Here is a sampling of basic focus group questions:
- What is your favorite thing about our business?
- What is something our business needs to improve upon?
- Do you frequent our competitors? Why?
- What do you like better about the competitor?
- What key differences do you notice between our business and our competitors?
- Do you have suggestions for how we can improve?
Surveys
Surveys provide valuable insight when properly utilized for market research. Hire a professional to help write the questions so as not to lead the respondent in any way. There is an art to writing survey questions and the order in which they appear. Surveys are similar to focus groups but are performed at the customer’s convenience. Because surveys are done privately as opposed to a focus group, the customer is not influenced by the others in the room, nor are they intimidated by making an honest assessment, positive or negative.
A good survey should take no more than five minutes to complete. We are often asked about offering an incentive to complete the survey:
- Incentives may drive an increase in responses
- The customer may feel influenced to be kinder because you offered a reward.
- The responses may not accurately reflect their opinion if they run through quickly to get it done and get the reward.
Do you want to know what your customers think?
Most business owners are unsure about tackling this on their own. They want to know what their customers think but need help.