How to Get Customer Satisfaction Data Directly & Indirectly
By far the easiest way to get information about customer satisfaction is to ask the customer directly.
This is most easily done through surveys.
The various surveys that can be employed in this regard are as follows;
Post Service: These surveys are done immediately after a service has been rendered. The most common forms of post-service surveys are performed through live-chat, email, and phone. It is recommended to use this method after adding value to a customer – solving a problem or answering a question, for example – so the customer will more readily respond and not be annoyed by the questions.
App: In-app surveys are the most immediate way to gather information from a customer. They are employed while the customer is actually in the process of using a service. The more integrated the app survey is with the process, the less likely the customer is to become annoyed with the questions.
Email: Email surveys are the best way to obtain broader and more detailed feedback. Of course, these surveys have the lowest response rates of all customer satisfaction surveys but often give the clearest picture of how the customer feels about a particular product or service.
Feedback: Volunteer feedback on feedback forms are another great way to obtain pertinent customer data. These are often given a small area or separate page on a website where a customer can add comments about their experience or obtain an answer from the business to their questions.
Volunteer feedback forms also have a low response rate as customers often feel that companies do not pay enough attention to their comments or respond to them quick enough, so an added note stating that the comments will be read and replied to within a specific time range is helpful in encouraging feedback.
Although direct feedback is instant, it can not reach customers who are not willing to participate. In this instance, more indirect methods of obtaining customer data are needed.
The two best ways to get data pertaining to customer satisfaction are as follows:
Website Analytics: A simple review of a business’s website traffic can give some important insights on how responsive customers are with their content, products, and services.
Some of the most pertinent metrics to look for are as follows:
Bounce Rate
Time Spent (on website)
Social Shares
Of course, the best way to use these metrics is to align them with specific customer satisfaction goals, but even without doing this they still give a good idea of how engaged customers are with a brand.
The more engaged, the more chances of that customer becoming a repeat customer and a loyal brand ambassador.
Social Media Channels: Measuring customer satisfaction levels can also be obtained through social media platforms.
Aside from keeping track of likes, shares, and followers, a business can also provide customer support and engage with their customers more quickly and with less effort through their social media accounts.
This is a more informal way of getting customer feedback, but it makes businesses more accessible to customers, which is usually the best way to foster long-term brand loyalty.
Conclusion
Measuring customer satisfaction is certainly not easy but is invaluable in maintaining a loyal customer base.
The more scoring methodologies a business uses in its surveys and the more channels and metrics it uses to uncover customer habits and behaviors, the clearer the picture as to how well a business is satisfying their customers’ needs.