Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Customer Satisfaction for Startups: How to Create the Perfect Survey

Customer satisfaction is the hallmark of any business. Any company should strive to satisfy
their customers. The benefits of doing so are immense. They range from return customers,
increased volume of sales, better customer retention, loyalty and more referrals. Startups
should endeavor to increase the pleasurable experiences of customers to achieve customer
satisfaction. To enable them to achieve this, they should employ the use of properly
constructed customer survey questions. They provide them with real-time insight of
customers which can be used in maximizing their efforts in satisfying their customers.



The Importance of Customer Satisfaction Questions

At the height of consumer sovereignty among contemporary consumers, it becomes a challenge
sometimes to please customers especially if you’re a startup. Consumers want to purchase
products and services with exact standards such that a slight variation may lead to their
dissatisfaction. The tragedy is that the standards are getting higher and higher. Thus, customer
satisfaction ranks highly for startups that are seeking to improve this situation. Whether asked
directly or indirectly, customer survey questions indicate what’s being done right or wrong.



Developing Good Customer Survey Questions

The following factors should guide you when developing good customer survey questions:

1- The Respondents
It’s always advised in marketing circles to ask the right questions to the right person. Depending
on the product, the respondents may vary. For example, when a person buys a certain brand of
alcoholic drink, this choice is usually personal. Thus, it is right to interview them personally.
However, in B2B markets, the situation is slightly different. For example, if the company is a
truck manufacturer, who should be given the customer survey question? Is it the driver, the fleet

manager or the general management of the company? This situation may require compromise.
The key decision maker should be considered for the survey, that is, the fleet manager.

2- Item To Be Measured
At the very basic, the following items should be measured with the customer survey
questions:
 The product - with regard to the product, the quality, and length of life, range and design
should be measured. The consistency of its quality should also be measured.
 Delivery - measure the speed and timeliness of delivery.
 The company - aspects such as reputation and ease of doing business should be
measured.
 The company personnel and service - measure aspects such as courtesy,
responsiveness, friendliness, availability of personnel and staff’s knowledge of products.
Also, measure the after-sales service and the general technical service.
 Price - measure the total costs and value for money

How the Interview Should Be Carried Out
The basic tools for conducting interviews for asking customer survey questions are as
follows:
 Postal surveys
 Face to face interviews
 Telephone interviews
The choice of any should be made after factoring cost and desired timeline of response.

How Satisfaction Will Be Measured
Most satisfied customers do not express satisfaction in words but through return purchases.
However, to measure it, you can use numbered ratings on a scale. Popular scales are those of
5, 7 and 10.

What the Measurements Mean
On a typical scale of 10, an average of 8 to 10 shows excellence; an average of 7 to 8
translates to good but needs more attention; an average of below 7 shows serious
dissatisfaction.

The above tips are sure to guide any startup to ensure customer satisfaction to boost their
business.