You have a customer feedback program in place, which is great, but are you getting the results you want? If you notice a decline in responses or a consistently low response rate, there are some things you may want to consider:
1. Is the link to the online survey (or telephone number) visible in multiple customer touchpoints? This could mean placing the survey invitation on the receipts or brochures, on the company website, etc. You’ll want to make sure it is as visible and easily accesible as possible in order to get people to take the survey.
2. Are your employees doing their part? At the point of transaction, do you instruct employees to point out the survey invitation and ask that they take a few minutes to provide feedback? If not, you may be missing valuable feedback from your customers. People are moving at a quick pace these days, and many will not take the time to review a receipt unless the survey is pointed out to them.
It can be a quick mention of the invitation or the employee simply circling the link or telephone number as the transaction closes. I was in a JCPenney over the holidays and the employee went WAY overboard talking about the survey – she circled the link and asked me to take the survey, which was fine and should have ended the interaction. However, she went on for another two minutes about making sure I enter her name correctly, provide good feedback so the managers know she did a good job, and on and on. That wasn’t cool at all, and actually turned me off from the survey.
Pointing out the invitation to raise awareness can go a long way in getting customers to provide feedback.
3. Employees may SAY they’re pointing out the survey.…but are they really? If you have a mystery shopping program in place, this one is easy to resolve. Simply add a question to the mystery shopping report that asks if the employee mentioned taking the survey at the end of your transaction. This will only work in instances in which a purchase is required, but it can go a long way in objectively determining whether or not employees are promoting the survey as you’ve trained them to do.
When you have a mystery shopping program in place, tracking the disconnect in collecting customer feedback surveys can be easier than simply guessing why participation rates are low. Customers want to be heard – let them know you have ways of letting them tell you what they think!
