• by Dan Roche , November 6, 2012

We’ve all received customer feedback requests in one form or another. It could be at the end of a call to the cable company to rate the service provided or an email to rate your recent online purchase. Do you like completing these evaluations? In most cases, the answer is no.

Many surveys either don’t include the questions and answers that fit your experience, offer no incentive for participation or simply take too long. However, since customer surveys are one of the best ways for companies to garner customer feedback and improve products, services and customer service, it’s important to understand how to avoid these pitfalls. 

How do you create a client survey that not only elicits honest customer feedback, but also generates content that will be helpful to your business? 

Here are a few questions to consider when developing customer evaluations:

• What do you hope to accomplish with the results of the survey? As part of the survey’s development, it’s important to determine what your company hopes to achieve with its results. This will help lay the groundwork of your survey. Do you want to improve customer support? Are you interested in feedback on how your technology is being used, particular features or performance? 

Additionally, once the evaluations are completed, will your company release the survey results or will it simply be used for internal use? If the results will be distributed externally, how will they be used most effectively? The feedback could be used to support a new product release, in a marketing campaign or as supportive data for a case study or white paper. Consider these areas of distribution before developing the survey to help focus your questioning. 

• Do the survey questions pertain to all customers? The survey questions asked should be all inclusive and not alienate any customer group or company. This will ensure you receive the most comprehensive results. If particular questions can only be answered by a certain subset of clients, it may be time to reevaluate and rewrite your questions.
   
• How will you issue the survey? Will the evaluation be sent through the mail or via email? Will it be part of other customer correspondence? Including surveys as part of regularly scheduled client contact has its pros and cons. While you’re not overwhelming your clients with another letter or email, you also run the risk of the survey getting lost among the other issued content or being viewed as junk mail. No matter how you distribute the customer assessment, make sure that your clients can clearly differentiate between your survey and other business communication.
   
• Why should your customers complete the survey? In conjunction with how the customer survey is delivered, customers should clearly see the objective behind the customer survey and the benefits of their participation. For instance, clients may be more willing to provide feedback or answer a few questions if there is a chance to win a prize or receive a special offer upon completion. Also, if the survey states that the customer feedback will help improve technology or will directly affect the next product updates, customers may be more apt to help knowing that the product or service will be greatly improved and/or that they are contributing to the process.
   
• Will my customers have the time to complete the survey? Everyone is pressed for time, and companies need to remember that the completion of their surveys is a courtesy, not a requirement. Therefore, it’s important to keep survey length to a minimum by limiting the number of open ended questions and asking for the most pertinent information to reach your business objective(s). What questions will help you best improve your product or customer support? Consider the possible answers you may receive and how this feedback can be used. If you’re unsure, you may need to revise or remove the question(s). Once you’re satisfied with your questions, take the survey. How long does it take to complete? Would you take this survey? Put yourself in your client’s shoes to ensure a better survey completion rate. 

There is no right or wrong answer in terms of survey objectives or distribution—just what makes sense for your business. If you create a survey that is isn’t too lengthy, clearly outlines the customer benefits, and is customer inclusive, you’ll certainly have a better chance of receiving the open, honest feedback that will help drive product development and sales, and ultimately enhance customer relationships.