The Real Value Of Customer Surveys

Posted by Michael Herman

The Real Value Of Customer Surveys

You may now know how to create customer surveys but you could be questioning their value. Well, marketing research shows that keeping existing customers is a lot easier and cheaper than gaining new ones. There are a host of clichés relating to the world of marketing:

• Gaining a customer can take months or even years while losing one can happen in a split second
• It’s 400% more expensive to get a new customer than keep an old one
• If you retain 2% of your customers, you’ll save the same money as if you cut 10% of your costs

These may all be hackneyed sayings but they’re invariably true. Customer surveys are incredibly valuable because they reveal the mindset of your clients. Surveys can actually show you that certain customers are thinking of leaving you. Above all, customer surveys help you get to know your audience better and are one of the best forms of marketing that you can do. When you read any advice about marketing, you’ll always find that locating your target audience is a great time and money saver and is one of the first pieces of advice you’ll receive.

Hear Their Concerns

Companies often forget that customers love being listened to. Being asked for their opinion really pleases customers and they will often react well to such an invitation. From a consumer’s point of view, there are few things more frustrating than not being heard. When you send them a customer survey, at least they know that someone is listening.

Negative And Positive Comments

One of the main reasons why companies avoid sending customer surveys like the plague is because they are afraid of negative feedback. No one likes being told that they’re not good enough but negative comments can actually benefit your company if taken in the right spirit. While there will always be a few troublemakers who post nonsensical criticism, there are often valuable comments posted by dissatisfied customers. Such criticism could actually uncover flaws in your business which have escaped your notice. Now would be a good time to fix them!

Finally, customer surveys can be extremely uplifting for companies if they receive positive feedback. There is nothing more rewarding than having a random customer extol the virtues of your business. A positive comment can transform a gloomy winter morning where nothing gets done into one of the year’s most productive days.

With a customer survey, you are getting into the minds of your customers. You are not omnipotent so it’s necessary to gain a greater understanding of your clientele. By doing this, you will discover what your company is doing well and where it is going wrong. When you find out about problems with your service, you can fix them and further improve your business.

How Bars And Breweries Should Use Email Marketing

Posted by Michael Herman

Anyone who runs a brewery or a bar knows that keeping customers is becoming increasingly difficult. The era of the ‘regular’ in bars is coming to an end as customers seek the newest and most chic places to socialize. From the point of view of the brewer, it can seem like an impossible task to take on rivals who have larger distribution channels and a greater marketing budget. However, email marketing is the great equalizer. Once you know how to use email efficiently, you will be able to take customers from breweries and bars many times larger than yours.

Email Advantages

The main advantage of email marketing is of course the fact that it is extremely inexpensive. However, its main weapon is its ability to speak to a specific audience, something that more traditional forms of marketing can’t do. It enables brewers and bars to speak to a local audience as well as delivering the highest return on investment of any form of online marketing. The data generated by email marketing also allows you to make important changes to cater to your target audience.

Getting Email Addresses

The first step is to get customer details. This is surprisingly easy. A great idea is to set up a business card collection box in a visible area (the counter for example). Use an incentive such as a discount or prize to get people to fill in the cards you supply. On your website, you should also have a competition or a poll which will help you gather yet more email addresses. This is a simple way to build up a formidable subscriber list.

Now that consumers have willingly given you their email addresses, you can start that email marketing campaign. There are a huge number of services which can help you email thousands of customers for just a few dollars a month. The best services also have analytics which provide you with statistics relating to the response rate of the email recipients. This data is analyzed and you alter the campaign’s emails if necessary.

Make It Count

The first rule of email marketing is to always show the recipient that there is value in opening the emails. Most people receive hundreds of emails a week so yours needs to stand out in order to be taken seriously. Whenever possible, mention special offers, discounts and other promotions to keep them interested. However, you should also make an effort to send emails that just contain items that you know will be shared such as a link to funny photos or hilarious alcohol-related stories. Always make sure these photos are tagged with your company’s name.

Once you have a customer’s email, it’s your duty to treat them properly. Don’t test their patience by sending emails every day. Only email them when you have something interesting to say. Show respect for their time and they may reward you with future business.

Designing Customer Surveys

Posted by Michael Herman

It’s easy to be so engrossed in crafting new messages for your email marketing campaign that you completely forget the importance of allowing customers to have their say. Your profits may well be down or up and it could be a complete mystery unless you stop typing and start listening. After all, how are you supposed to know what’s right or wrong about your product/service/business unless a customer tells you? Without the consumer, there is no business so start considering the prospect of creating customer surveys to find out what the public really think of your company.

Planning The Survey

You’re used to painstakingly creating email marketing messages so taking the time to carefully plan and execute your survey should be no problem at all. You may have 100 questions that you would like to ask your customers but it’s best to keep it to 20 or thereabouts because most people’s attention tends to wander after this point. If you issue a survey that takes half an hour to finish or threatens to do so, very few people will bother completing it. Begin by explaining the purpose of the survey and the benefits. Perhaps you can offer potential prizes to those who complete the form. Many companies issue discounts which are awarded to a certain number of people.

Don’t Annoy The Customer!

Have a few gentle introductory questions and don’t go fishing for personal details straight away. It’s also important to ask one question at a time and not confuse the issue by posing multiple queries in a single sentence. This has a habit of irritating and confusing the respondent which will see the survey left incomplete. Assuming you are allowing multiple choice questions, please ensure that you have exhaustive answers that cover all bases without overlapping one another. When two or more answers appear to be virtually the same, this is an example of a poorly designed customer survey.

You must always use neutral language in the surveys to ensure that you don’t come across as biased. The questions must be posed in such a way that your preferred answer is not apparent. Essentially, you have to think carefully about the questions you ask and the order they appear in as well as offering all-encompassing choices. The purpose of customer surveys is to learn more about your company through the consumer as well as knowing more about potential customer’s preferences. Hopefully, the information you gain will greatly improve your company’s prospects in the future.