• http://www.mackay.com/welcome.html Harvey Mackay’s books have sold over 8 million copies. Swim with the Sharks – without being eaten alive is regarded as a sales and business management classic. Included on his website are a host of articles that have appeared in various publications for whom Harvey is a syndicated columnist.

In addition to conducting regular customer focus groups, it is essential that you also conduct regular surveys of your customers.

These can be conducted using a variety of methods.

Most people are familiar with the optional written survey that can generally be found in hotel rooms. My experience with these types of surveys is that people only tend to fill them out if they have something to gripe about. On the few occasions when I have had cause to complete one of these surveys, I have never received any acknowledgement that my complaints were ever received, let alone acted upon. As such I point blank refuse to complete these types of surveys in the future. I will however continue to write directly to the hotel manager if I have sufficient cause.

Written surveys are however an important source of valuable information from customers. One survey that I was happy to complete some year’s back was one from Fortune magazine. As a subscriber to Fortune, I recall receiving, under separate cover, a rather extensive four-page survey that consisted of many questions, far more than I would normally recommend. However what hooked me in to completing the survey was a note attached which read something like, "we appreciate how valuable your time is, so here is a token of our appreciation". Attached to the note were two American dollar bills. I still carry the two bills with me to show as an example in my customer service workshops.

I recommend that survey questions be kept to a minimum and should not occupy more than two A4 pages. Anymore and you greatly increase the chance of your survey not being completed. After all, time is our customer’s most precious asset.

Telephone surveys also have their place, however the proliferation of all types of telemarketing has lead to an increasing intolerance of telephone questionnaires. People are only prepared to give so much of their precious time. If you are going to conduct telephone surveys, ensure that the survey is less than four minutes.

Follow-up surveys are an effective tool for providing feedback that is up to the minute. One motor vehicle dealer I know of doesn’t pay out sales commissions until a seven-day after-sales customer survey has been completed by the respective salesperson, and the survey itself meets a predetermined criteria.

Again, the success of customer surveys is greatly enhanced by the regularity of how often you conduct them. The more often, the better.

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

Watch out for Graham’s new book Seducing the Vigilante Customer – winning strategies to guarantee the return of happy customers and healthy profits, available in all good book stores early in 2002.

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