Hi Friend,
Recently I started to conduct surveys with some of our clients.
When you run any kind of business, the act of building up know, like and trust with people can take time.
And if your business is online (like mine!) and perhaps you don’t serve many or any clients locally, you don’t get much opportunity to meet prospects and clients face to face.
In many types of modern day business, the human touch is often lacking in the purchasing process, so the act of surveying clients personally can really help to build good relationships.
As business owners, it can be tempting to make assumptions about our clients.
We often think we know everything about them.
Or know what they really want.
Or we think they’re 100% happy with the service we are providing them, because they haven’t said anything otherwise…
But actually, the truth isn’t always so clear cut.
Which is why surveying clients helps the business owner understand exactly what the customer wants and how they can serve their clients better.
Many successful businesses make the act of surveying clients an ongoing thing, rather than just taking a reactive approach to it e.g. when sales are dipping or when negative feedback is received
Surveying clients helps businesses to keep a finger on the pulse…
Things can change so quickly these days.
And as we all know, customer expectations can be very high!
As business owners, we might find ourselves focusing on our prospects i.e. the ‘life blood’ coming into the business.
….Rather than on our current and past clients.
But the thing is, it costs more money to attract new customers than serve and retain existing ones.
So it really does make sense to look at ways we can serve existing clients better.
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Just seven survey calls in and I have lots of ideas already about how I can improve some of our services.
There are some little changes that I can easily make, which will make a big difference to user experience.
Plus, I’ve come away from many calls with ideas for new products…
AND I’ve even picked up a few new contacts for future collaborations.
Most importantly though, I’ve strengthened relationships with those existing clients, improving loyalty and (hopefully!) retention.
Yes, this surveying malarkey is absolute gold dust!
(Tip: Use a free video app to take the calls which has a record function. This is much easier than trying to scribble down reams of notes whilst having a conversation! Just make sure you tell the client you are recording the call and ask if they are okay with that.)
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To summarise….
The act of surveying our clients shows that we are genuinely interested in serving their needs.
Taking some time to speak to clients personally is great for customer service and shows that we are really listening to them.
It’s also a great way of gathering insights on how we can improve and add to our services.
Remember: Happy clients are more likely to stay loyal and refer others to your business.
Hope this is of help :-)
Naomi
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