For businesses with representatives working outside a central office, there is a great chance to connect with customers. One benefit of field-based organizations is that they can interact with customers more frequently and naturally than office-based ones. With tools like Field Activity Management, questions can be quickly created, presented to customers, and shared instantly with back-office managers. To ensure the best survey experience, consider these three tips:
1. Know Your Satisfaction Type
An eSurveyspro article explains that there are two types of satisfaction to assess: transactional and image-based. Transactional satisfaction refers to any interaction a customer has with your company, whether it involves a field representative or the product itself. Image-based satisfaction reflects the customer’s overall view of the company, shaped by their transactions, evaluations of competitors, and feedback from friends. It’s best to keep these two types separate in surveys because combining them makes customers think in different ways. For instance, a transactional question might be, “Rate product x on a scale from 1-10,” while an image-based question could ask, “What values do you link with company x?”
2. Ease Into Open Ended Questions
While some of the best insights gained from customer satisfaction surveys come from open-ended questions, it is important to start with short, easy questions. For example, “yes or no” questions are a great way to start a survey. If a customer looks down at a survey and sees the first three questions require text boxes, they may hesitate because they are likely in the middle of something else. On the other hand, allowing the customer to quickly get through the first few questions will engage them with the survey, and they will be more willing to answer the longer questions at the end. For example, a “yes or no” prompt could be “have you purchased product x before?” An open-ended question could be “what suggestions do you have to help us improve our product?”
3. Be Prepared To Act
There is little point in gathering data through customer satisfaction surveys if a business is not going to act on it. This is especially important for field teams who consistently see their customers in the field. That same opportunity mentioned above that allows for more customer interactions also means field teams must be especially sensitive to their feedback. This article even suggests there should be a fundamental shift from measuring satisfaction to “asking for actionable feedback.” For example, if your results show that customers often experience stock out with your product, it may be time to look into a Field Activity Management software solution that can help track merchandise. To have the best possible customer satisfaction survey remember these three tips: know your type, ease into hard questions, and act on the results.
