The Truth Doesn’t Always Hurt
We are living in an age of surveys. My bank, my doctors, my insurance agency, my lawn-care service, my car service department and others send an email survey following every appointment.
At first blush, one might assume that so many surveys are nothing but an intrusion. I admit I used to just hit the delete key. But now I find myself completing them because they usually make my time worthwhile.
For a dealership, surveys serve two key purposes. Foremost, finding out what customers are thinking about the dealership. This has never been more important for customer retention. Customers who aren’t satisfied usually don’t say much — they just disappear. So asking them what they think in an online survey is good for future business.
Of course, it’s all about getting responses. And the real key to getting responses is including an incentive for returning the survey — a discount on the next service or on a popular product, for example. My car dealer offers a discount on the next tire rotation/balance or on an oil change. My bank offers a reduced interest rate on a loan or a VIP cash-back card.
Regardless of the offer, it seems to keep me and that business connected, if for no other reason than to save a few bucks.
Moreover, doing surveys is really not complicated. Here are some tips.
Less Is More — Keep surveys short and to the point. If customers can’t do the survey in less than five minutes — promise them up front it will only take that time — your survey is too long and will likely just induce the delete key.
Keep It simple — Each question should be about one specific point, preferably with limited answers. For example, “Did our technician clearly explain what was going to be done?” Very clear, not very clear, no explanation.
Do Not Lead Customers — Questions like, “Was your experience with our sales team satisfactory?” won’t get it done. The questions should be specific: “Did our sales team make doing all your paperwork fast and easy?” Remember, the point of the survey is to get the customer’s real opinion.
Mix Up the Answers — If you use multiple-choice answers, mix them up. Studies show customers tend to select the first answer on a list. For example, “How did you first hear about us?” If radio is first on the list, it will likely get the most checkmarks, even if you’ve never advertised on radio.
Many experts recommend giving customers an opportunity to select from sliding scales. In other words, very satisfied, or somewhat satisfied, or somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied. There are often extenuating circumstances to a customer’s reaction. So giving them an opportunity to to better understand where they’re coming from is important.
To get this clarity, many questions should include a field for the customer to explain or comment further. When someone is dissatisfied, we need to know why, and if unhappy customers take the survey in the first place, they’ll likely reveal details in a comment section. And customers might offer suggestions that are worth consideration.
I suspect we don’t often seek customer input because we have some fear all we’ll be doing is giving them a platform to complain. However, we need to know what customers are thinking, and surveys are the easiest way to find out.
Moreover, there there’s no shortage of online sources for creating surveys, and some charge a fee for premium services.
Don’t forget that surveys provide an avenue to offer an incentive to entice customers to come back again. And keeping an existing customer is always cheaper than finding a replacement.
