There are many steps that go into closing a deal, and each one is important in its own way. To ensure you start on the right footing, it’s crucial to first know your customers. The more you understand your customers’ needs, wants, and pain points, the better equipped you’ll be to give them what they’re looking for. And one of the best ways to get to know your customers is through customer surveys.
Customer surveys is an invaluable tool in the sales journey. They can help you understand what your customers are looking for, what their biggest pain points are, and what kind of language they respond to. Armed with this knowledge, you can adjust your sales pitch accordingly and close more deals.
But while customer surveys are incredibly important, they’re also notoriously difficult to do well. So how can you make sure that your customer surveys are effective? Let’s dive in!
How to Do Customer Surveys Right
One of the hardest things about customer surveys is figuring out how to ask the right questions. You want to ask questions that will give you valuable insights into your customers’ needs and pain points. At the same time, you also don’t want to overwhelm them or turn them off with too much information. Striking this balance can be tricky, but it’s not impossible.
Here are a few tips for asking effective customer survey questions:
- Make sure your questions are clear and concise. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that your customers may not be familiar with.
- Ask open-ended questions rather than yes/no questions. This will encourage your customers to elaborate on their answers and give you more information to work with.
- Focus on quality over quantity. It’s better to have a smaller number of well-crafted questions than a long list of poorly thought-out ones.
- Avoid leading questions. Leading questions are those that push respondents in a certain direction by implying that one answer is better or more correct than another. For example, “How satisfied are you with our product?” is a leading question because it implies that the respondent should be satisfied with the product. Instead, try something like “What did you think of our product?”
Asking these kinds of questions will help ensure that you get helpful, actionable insights from your customer surveys. Keep these tips in mind as you craft your survey questions!
*Bonus Tip #1
Use frequently repeated words and language from your survey responses in your marketing campaigns and sales pitch to improve your relatability and connect better with your target audience!
When To Send Out Customer Surveys
Another common question when it comes to customer surveys is timing: When is the best time to send them out? The answer to this question depends on a few factors, including what kind of survey you’re sending and what kind of relationship you have with the recipient.
In general, though, there are a few good times to send out customer surveys:
- After you’ve closed the deal:
Sending a survey immediately after you’ve closed the deal allows you to gather feedback while the experience is still fresh in your customers’ minds. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to troubleshoot any problems that may have arisen during the negotiation process. - At key checkpoints in the buyer’s journey:
Checkpoints like when a prospect becomes a lead or when a lead becomes a paying customer are ideal times to send out surveys. These checkpoints mark progress in the relationship between you and your customer, so collecting feedback at these moments can give you valuable insights into the different stages of the buying journey. - After customer service interactions:
Any time your team interacts with a customer—whether it’s over the phone, via email, or in person—is an opportunity to collect feedback about their experience. Sending a survey after these interactions allows you to collect data about specific touchpoints in the journey and identify areas where improvements need to be made.
*Bonus Tip #2
Use AVANSER’s in-built Call Survey feature to collect responses immediately after you finish a call. In addition, you could integrate survey forms with your LMS/CRM and share the link with your customers through email, SMS or WhatsApp. Automate the process to ensure you don’t miss any opportunities to hear from your customers!
Conclusion
Surveying your customers is one of the best ways to get valuable insights into their needs and wants—but only if done correctly. To get the most out of your customer surveys, make sure to ask clear, concise questions that focus on quality over quantity. Additionally, pay attention to timing; sending out surveys at key checkpoints (not all checkpoints) in the buyer’s journey or after customer service interactions can yield particularly insightful results.
Want to increase the relatability of your brand with your target audience and ensure customer satisfaction? Get in touch with us today to start crafting your survey questions!
