5 reasons why surveys should be on your to-do list
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The Leader. The Expert. The Source.
5 Reasons Why Surveys Should Be On Your To-Do ListFeedback goes a long way toward helping your business grow and improve. If you think your organization is serving your clients well, and want to be sure of that fact, there is no need to guess. But before you put together a focus group, post a few questions on social media or create one of those cutesy ‘tell us what you think’ cards – stop! The information you need is literally a phone call away.
If you really want to improve all areas of your business – from marketing to operations – put a system in place to get continuous feedback (aka research). Everyone in your organization should be involved in insuring total customer satisfaction, not just your service department. Surveys are a great tool for business growth because they help you:
Stay in contact with your customers. A phone call asking for feedback demonstrates you care and value your customers. You get information, they feel appreciated. It’s a win-win.
Avoid the “see you in 3 years” syndrome that many office equipment dealers fall into. Having a new rep make contact prior to lease renewal is not the best definition of “staying close to you customer”
Test a new product or service. Thinking about adding Managed Print or IT services to your arsenal? Survey your clients and see if there is a void or need for these services and if they would be interested in a program offering from your organization. Don’t make an investment in a new service or product just because your friends are doing it or you heard about it at a seminar or convention. Test, survey, and test again before spending valuable time and resources that could take you away from a better ROI in your business.
Learn from your mistakes. No matter how good you think you are, mistakes will happen. Most customers won’t bother to tell you – unless you ask. Your concern should be in they do not voice their concerns. We can only learn and fix mistakes we know about!
Identify possible problems. Many big problems, the kind that cost you customers and profits, start off as smaller issues that were unidentified or ignored along the way. It could be response time, rude customer service … Flagging problems early saves you time, money and your valuable reputation.
Get testimonials, letters, online reviews and referrals. This is easy and most dealers do not do it enough. The best time to ask for these is when customers are singing your praises and have just contracted with you. You may even uncover some gems you didn’t expect to find. Sometimes these are little things we take for granted – but customers don’t and they notice.
Quantify your quality. If you build scoring within your surveys, you now have the ability to track improvements and support claims – in your marketing and sales. Others may claim great service, on-time delivery or quality – you can back yours up with metrics that matter. Think out of the box on this one!
While written and electronic surveys are better than doing nothing at all, oral or phone surveys work best for three reasons. First, since they are conversational, people tend to open up and reveal more information. Second, they leave less to interpretation and guess work. If you are not sure what they mean, ask another question for clarification. Third, the tone of the message is often more telling than the words. It’s not what you say, but how you say it. This is lost on written and online surveys.
Over the years, I have done surveys and tracking with plenty of clients in the office equipment and imaging industry. They work. Put surveys on your priority list, and you too will see performance improvements in all areas of your business.
Harry Hecht, Business Coach and Consultant, has more than 32 years of Business Technology/Business Imaging industry experience. His extensive business experience includes a 22 year distinguished career as the Vice President US Dealer Sales for Konica Minolta Business Solutions and 5 years as VP/ General Manager for Global Imaging Systems, a Xerox Company. Harry Hecht is a member of the MPSA has been actively involved for over 10 years in the development, creation, implementation and growth of Managed Print
39 Wrentham Drive Medford, NJ 08055 609-636-9893 [email protected] www.linkedin/in/harryhecht
Services programs throughout the independent dealer channel. [email protected] and www.linkedin/in/harryhecht P: 609-636-9893
20 Railroad Avenue Hackensack, NJ 07601 201-488-0404 [email protected] www.buyerslab.com