One in three businesses have never asked their customers what they think of their products or services, with retailers least likely to seek feedback over other industries, according to new research.
The data, from telecommunications provider Esendex, reveals that 39% of companies have never sent a customer service survey. And for those that have, 5% have done so between one and five years ago and 7% more than five years ago.
Retailers are the worst culprits for seeking feedback, with one in three (35%) admitting they’ve either never sent one – or if they have – it was done more than half a decade ago.
Businesses were also asked when they last invested in enhancing their customer satisfaction levels, either through processes or tools, to which almost one in five (19%) replied “never”. A further 10% had done so more than five years ago.
Amy Robinson, senior brand development manager at Esendex, said: “There’s never been a more pressing time than in the current climate for businesses to be striving for customer service excellence and to be communicating with and seeking feedback from those that are actually paying for their products or services.
“At a time when there is more competition than ever, surveys are one of the easiest ways to gain valuable insights from those that buy from you and can help to build a loyal customer base. Yet, according to our research, 37% of businesses have not invested in improving their customer satisfaction levels within the last year (34% for retailers), and – for 51% of companies – it is not the norm to send out customer feedback surveys at least once a year.
“Some businesses may worry that they will not get a good response rate, but you’d be surprised by how many people are willing to give a couple of minutes of their time to provide their honest opinions. With a plethora of communication platforms available to businesses these days, you can easily test what works best for you – whether that’s seeking feedback through social media, email or sending an SMS message straight to your customers’ phones, which we know through our own research has a 95% open rate.”
The survey, which takes into account the opinions of over 400 international businesses, reveals that one in five companies (23%) would rate their current customer service levels as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’. Almost one in three (32%) would also rate their firm’s ability to measure and benchmark their satisfaction levels as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’.
Esendex’s top tips on how to run an effective customer feedback survey:
Respect your customers’ time
Try to be succinct when running a survey, asking no more than a handful of questions. Customers may be happy to spare a couple of minutes of their time, but you lose them the moment they feel it’s taking too long. Even better, be upfront with customers about how long a survey might take before they start answering the questions, so they know what to expect.
Use different types of questions
To keep customers engaged, it’s always best to aim for a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. One or two open-ended questions is always a good idea because customers may tell you something you hadn’t thought of before. Equally, having a question where people can rate your customer service on a scale of one to ten can help you to see how you’re improving over time.
Remain neutral for better results
It may be tempting to ask questions that give you the answer you want, but you aren’t giving customers the chance to show their true feelings by skewing the questions. Negative feedback is never nice to receive but it can provide some powerful insights and highlight any areas for concern.
