Survey Advantage Press » Customer Research

Peer Group Effectiveness: Why Not Share & Benchmark Customer Loyalty?

Michael Casey — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:00:12 +0000

Thousands of business owners and executives participate in peer groups, typically comprised of six to eight people who meet every 6 months. The goal is to drive business by learning from each other and to leave with fresh ideas from a respected source. Usually the best-run businesses in their industry participate in peer groups because these owners continue to invest in themselves and their business, and they are open to criticism, objective feedback and fresh ideas. Each member benefits from:

*Learning what others are doing.
*Leaving with fresh ideas.
*Being held accountable for results
*Networking and cultivating friendships with successful people.
*Trending and driving performance over time.
*Hearing candid feedback and opinions from industry experts.
*Specific, expert advice from owners dealing with the same issues.

Standardizing Customer Loyalty Metrics

Most peer groups standardize on reports to pinpoint opportunities for improvement and growth. Many use benchmarks similar to those published by their industry; benchmarks such as wages, pricing, and financial benchmark studies. The best peer groups benchmark customer loyalty and share at each meeting a standardized SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) based on customer feedback. Benefits of implementing customer feedback into peer groups include:

*Customer-centered goal setting.
*Increasing customer loyalty levels with all members of the group.
*Challenging peer group members to drive improvements based on facts.
*Disciplined, focused discussions around marketing, customer service and sales efforts
*Quantified, fact-based decision making tied to customer needs.

Standardize on the customer loyalty question(s), the way customer feedback is obtained and how it will be shared. Make each owner responsible for bringing one improvement area and one opportunity for growth identified from customer feedback. Each owner brings his or her customer loyalty scores to the meeting, and those scores are displayed, side by side, to help during discussions.

We all stress how important loyalty is to our survival and growth, yet we know we can do a better job measuring, monitoring and leveraging customer information in a disciplined, deliberate way. Standardizing on how customer feedback is shared during peer group meetings and setting better, customer-centered goals is one more way best-in-class businesses continue to distance themselves from their competitors.

Quote follow-up may not be a good use for surveys

Michael Casey — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:30:30 +0000

We are asked quite often to create a quote follow-up survey. We are asked to launch the survey to all open quotes that were sent out between x and y days before. It is a great idea, but response rates are very low. It is one thing for a customer to share after buying a service or product from you, but what is in it for a prospect or customer to tell you that they did not buy from you because they got a better deal, found a more perfect fit, you messed them up before, or they decided not to buy. Will they really click a survey link and fill out a form? I think it must be easier and more straightforward than that. Don’t make them jump threw even a little hoop to give you feedback on quotes.

The best way to follow up on quotes it either to call them directly. If you don’t have the resources then send out a simple, to the point e-mail blast. Smaller businesses sometimes have a difficult time following up on quotes so I recommend a very simple, personal, direct email Leverage your estimating and quoting software to pull all “open quotes” for a date range. Leverage the fields you have in your estimating system to use variable data and personalize the mass follow-up eblast.

Dear (first name),

This is a follow-up to the quote we sent to you on (quote date). Thank you for giving us the opportunity. We are very excited to work with you, but have not heard anything. Could you please give an update or status? Thank you.

Sincerely,
Your name
Title
Phone
Website.

Nothing fancy. It should be short, to the point, and ask the one question. You already quoted and maybe spent time with them understanding requirements for the work. Now is the time for them to decide or engage. Nothing is more effective than calling, but in these economic times you may not have that luxury and may need to batch process in a disciplined, automated way using technology.

The Foundational Big Three to Acquiring and Keeping Customers

Michael Casey — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:27:05 +0000

Trust, Credibility, and Rapport. Customers don’t care if you have the best technology, have the best location, or hang out with movie stars. You won’t survive if your foundation is weak. If a customer catches you lying just once they question everything you say in the future. If your advice is out of date, they ask your competitor. If you just don’t quite gel with them and talk their language, they rather not spend time with you. Establish trust, credibility, and rapport to create your network of great customers.

Over the past two weeks while attending the MFSA(Mail & Fulfillment Services Association) and IPMA(In –Plant Printing & Mailing) Annual Conferences I noticed sessions were focused more on customer relations and less on technology. Keynote speaker, John Foley, President of InterlinkOne, presented at the MFSA Conference in Charleston, SC and stressed the importance of social networking to share knowledge, help others, and stay connected. John is successful because he lives by the three foundational principles of trust, credibility, and rapport. Next stop was IPMA’s annual conference in Albuquerque, NM where the keynote, Bill Farquaharson, President of Aspire, explained why customer loyalty isn’t dead, unless you do it to yourself. He stressed the importance of you showing customers how much YOU care. Show them the love!

Yes, you are only as good as their last experience with you, but build up an “emotional bank account” or reserve with your customers. You make a deposit in this emotional bank account every time you go the extra mile, give great advice, connect with a customer in special ways, or whenever they feel unique and special. You withdraw from your account every time you stretch the truth, miss commitments, give poor advice, have awkward communications, or ask them to jump through hoops.

Trust:
Trust involves your honesty and integrity. Trust takes much time to earn and little time to lose. Just ask Tiger Woods. Compare Tiger Woods to John Wooden. Both sports super stars, yet in my opinion, complete opposites. Today while flying back from IPMA I am reading all the John Wooden testimonials and stories in USA Today. During his 99 years with us he touched so many lives in special ways. Tiger is incredible to watch on the course, but John Wooden had such integrity and honor. What a remarkable person. What an emotional bank account he established with so many! What are you doing to build trust? Are you ALWAYS honest with your customers and employees, leading by example under ALL instances, both personal and in business. Trust goes a long way toward building that emotional bank account. Sounds simple, yet how many of us are challenged to remain trustworthy when under stress to perform? Don’t waiver on this core principle. Stay strong!
How can you build trust?
* If you mess up, claim it.
* Always explain facts and don’t stretch it
* Respect confidentiality under all conditions
* Don’t gossip or others will wonder if you will gossip about them

Credibility:
Credibility is a proficiency issue or how good you are. This involves being proficient at your craft, is measured through performance, and expressed by the company you keep. Pick your friends wisely and do things right. Know your customer’s business or industry to help add credibility and be more helpful. Roll out services and products only after you perfect them or have piloted first. Tell the guinea pigs that they are just that. Show honesty and set expectations upfront. Credibility is conveyed to customers by offering great advice, and delivering quality products and service. How can you drive credibility with your customers?
* Continue to learn. Never stop.
* Invest in education and show them what you are doing.
* Hang out with people who are credible
* Offer advice in areas you are proficient.
* Get to know your customer’s business and internal processes

Rapport:
This is extremely challenging and what is called the soft stuff. You want customers to like you and want to be around you. Most know what trustworthiness is and how to be credible, but rapport building doesn’t come natural to most. Rapport is how you connect with your customers and communicate on their wave length. Style flexing is changing your communication style to meet the needs of each customer. Not easy. Don’t show sensitivity toward George Steinbrenner when the Yankees are losing, or don’t get right down to business with Woody Allen. What can you do to build rapport with customers?
* Get good at style flexing. Practice.
* Get good at reading people and adjusting your communication style
* Change your mindset from one of “customers just need to get to know me better” to “I need to know how my customer is wired to be effective”.
* If you can’t style flex, then pick customers who appreciate your one size fits all
mentality.
* Don’t expect customers to change their communication style to fit yours.
* Get psyched about your customer’s business and get personal.

In summary, deliberately watch your emotional bank account with customers. You must earn their trust, prove you know your stuff, and be someone they connect with. Get all three in line and everything else falls into place. Don’t forget the best way to monitor these foundational principles is to ask customers through an effective, ongoing survey process.

The top 5 things to consider when surveying your print buyers.

Michael Casey — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:58:20 +0000

You may survey customers regularly, but how frequently do you analyze the results? Even more importantly, have you implemented any changes based on the feedback?

Bottom line is that you must take action on the results or don’t bother surveying. Surveying should be conducted for process improvement and expansion. It shouldn’t be to get that ISO auditor out your door and do it just to say you do something! Surveying is not an event, but an ongoing process.” Below are the top 5 questions we are asked when printers are setting up a print buyer feedback process.

Should I survey customers with every print order?

For repeat buyers we suggest surveying no more than every 90 days. If surveyed too often, regular repeat buyers will become annoyed and you will drive down loyalty. Also, in your email message state something like “You won’t get this survey more often than every 90 days if you buy from us regularly.” Tell customers upfront so they won’t assume the survey process is going to turn into a spam issue. If you are correctly managing the frequency of surveys to repeat buyers, you can anticipate a 20% to 35% response rate on a continuous basis. Let the feedback flow and let customers know that the survey is just another way to stay connected and responsive.

How many questions should I ask?

Keep the survey to less than 30 seconds (5-7 questions maximum). State In the email invitation that it will take less than a minute of their time and stick to that promise. Don’t say that it will take 30 seconds and then ask 30 questions. You may want to change the questions regularly and the invitation email to keep it fresh and inviting.

When considering the number of questions, be aware that there are two types of surveys. A strategic survey helps to map out necessary investments during the upcoming year. Customers appreciate this type of survey. If it’s positioned correctly and you promise to share the results with them, they will give you 5 minutes and answer around 20 questions. The second type of survey is the post-job survey or the 90-day pulse type survey to keep connected in an ongoing fashion. We suggest doing both because one is strategic and one tactical, but if budget and time is a constraint, go for the tactical survey asking customers for 1 minute to answer 5 or 6 questions and keep communication open all the time.

If I can only ask one question, what should it be?

“How likely are you to recommend us to colleagues and friends?” This is the ultimate question and there is an entire book dedicated to this question called “The Ultimate Question.”

What are the biggest mistakes I should avoid when surveying customers?

Waiting too long between surveys. I spoke to a printer last week that hadn’t surveyed customers in 10 years. He got good results, but when I asked why he waited 10 years he said it took too much time. Using today’s technology, surveying should not be that time consuming. Just read Lori Fuller’s case study from University of Nebraska at www.surveyadvantage.com/printers
Making the survey too long.
Making the process too complicated so it isn’t done continuously.
Assigning the wrong person to manage the process. I have seen “gaming” of the system where an internal person doesn’t survey certain customers because they don’t want to hear complaints. That’s a bad reason not to survey. You need to hear from everyone.
Not continually monitoring the process. If management doesn’t watch the process and the person assigned looks at surveying as an optional task, it might not get done regularly. Or it may stop and management never realizes that it has stopped. Gathering and monitoring customer feedback starts at the top and must be part of the culture of the operation — not just another task thrown out there.

Once the information is gathered, what should I do?

The best, most successful printers contact every customer who responds to the survey. That is right, every one. There is a story behind every survey even the glowing ones. Thanking those customers with great comments shows you listened and appreciate their comments. If you get a referral call, thank them so you get more referrals. Thankfulness breeds more good work. Those who are neutral about the experience should be asked how you can change to get top marks. Comments that are positive should be acknowledged and once again respondents should be thanked for their time and candidness. Negative survey results are typically the ones that gain the most attention, but there is usually more opportunity to sell to those customers who are happy and will share with you other services that they buy elsewhere or provide a referral. Remember contacting respondents builds loyalty, and they are more likely to fill out the survey once again later in the year.

The best, most successful printers also share the glowing comments with their teams to build moral. Post it on the lunchroom bulletin board. Managers can tell an employee that their efforts are appreciated, but it means so much more to get it from the customer directly. Approximately 95% of survey comments are positive. Don’t bury them in the customer feedback database. Share them. In addition, the best printers put questions on the survey that probe for other selling opportunities. Keep the survey to around 5 questions, but build one question in to learn what services they are buying elsewhere or to ask for a referral.

Don’t just look at surveying as a reactive, passive process. It can be a selling process as well.
Take the compiled information and do something with it. Just today I spoke with a printer who had 30% of his customers share what they bought elsewhere. Sadly, he hadn’t followed up on any of them because he was so busy in production. He did say over the next few months he is going to make a conscious effort to pursue those leads to expand client share. The good news was that he followed up on every referral and closed two new accounts.

Another great strategy is to print out the survey results weekly and review them with your team. Discuss what customers are saying and together come up with a game plan. One printer does an annual survey and then goes through all the nearly 300 responses, does his own SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), and delegates at the account level and strategic execution level. This printer has done this for 4 years now and has had tremendous success even in a weak Michigan economy.

If sending out a survey is the first and last step, you are dropping the ball at the most important time. Put the information to work for your business. If conducted properly, surveys are indispensable tools for growing your business, enhancing performance and making informed decisions about the allocation of resources.
For more information, read printer case studies at http://www.surveyadvantage.com/printers

Yeh, but what about survey burnout? We get so many.

Michael Casey — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:11:32 +0000

Recently there was a discussion between business owners who were concerned with surveying their customers and causing a negative reaction. They shared how much they hate getting surveys. In a Business to Consumer relationship many times we get pounded with surveys and get numb to them hitting “delete” as quick as we can. But, I would warn you not to generalize. Know thy customer!

Depends on the relationship one has with the specific supplier, how important that supplier is to their business, how long the survey it, and most importantly if the company responses quickly the first time the customer shares their thoughts. If I have a good ongoing relationship with the supplier as a partner, they are important to my well being, the survey is short and covers points most interesting to me and not you, and the company responds quickly maybe even call me, then I feel it is a way to get things changed and get a reaction. I will fill out surveys for them.

Example, if I have a partnership type relationship with my printer, rely on them to perform to drive marketing efforts, the survey takes a minute, and they call to discuss, then I DO NOT get survey burn-out.

If you are just another printer, who puts out average work with no skin in my game, the survey doesn’t respect my time, and you do nothing when I gave feedback of any kind in the past, then I hate to get your survey, wouldn’t take it, and WOULD get survey burnt out quickly. I would be burnt out the first time I got a survey and maybe even use it as an excuse to stop using you because I was thinking of moving on anyway and needed a reason.

We get so many surveys, but the ones I take are the ones where I respect their business, enjoy working with them, they know me, or I know they will do something with my information.

I would argue that burnout is an indication that the supplier is missing something in their relationship with the customer or they lack an understanding of how frequently to go to the well for feedback or how to approach customers for feedback.

Survey on Obama gives surveying and research a bad name

Michael Casey — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:32:53 +0000

I am not going to get political here, but I hope this entry educates people on how “not” to ask questions. This survey is an example of how questions can lead or push people into a direction you want them to take. It frustrates me when I hear on the news about polls and surveys and don’t hear how the question was asked or who was asked. When you see the results of this newest survey out of Washington I hope you discount the results. This weekend I recieved in the mail a very offiicial document from Washington wanting my opinion. In big letters it said “Obama Survey”. Here is the list of questions that were asked and all were “Yes/No” answers.

1. Do you agree with Barack Obama and the Democrats that taxes should be raised for the sake of “fairness” regardless of the negative impact it is likely to have on the economy?

2. Do you believe that the best way to increase the quality and effectiveness of public education in the U.S. is to rapidly expand federal funding while eliminating performance standards and accountability?

3. Do you support the creation of a national health insurance plan that would be administered by bureacrats in Washington, D.C.?

4) Do you believe that the quality and availability of health care will increase if the federal government dictates pricing to doctors and hospitals?

5) Are you confident that new medicines and medical treatments will continue to be developed if the federal government controls prescription drug prices and sets profit margins for research and pharmaceutical companies?

6) Are you in favor of reinstituting the military draft, as Democrats in Congress have proposed?

Wow! I wouldn’t expect more than 1% to pick “Yes” to any of these questions if they read the entire question. I wonder who is managing this “objective” study? I wonder what the statitical signficance will be when they publish it? In research it is easy to get the answers you want “to hear” if you just ask the questions in the proper way. OK, I am a little sarcastic here, but beware of published results without seeing the actual question and who the questions were asked to. I am considered a conservative so my guess is that they felt they would get the data they wanted. Sorry, but this datapoint will not be included in this study. The survey is now carefully being placed in the round file.

Survey Advantage rolls out on-demand training to meet executives busy schedule

Michael Casey — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:12:37 +0000

Survey Advantage now is offering busy managers the ability to view recorded trainings focused on customer retention, client share expansion, and referral generation, on-demand. Many times managers and business owners are unable to make the specific days and times of our webinars due to their busy schedule.

We have released several 7 to 8 minute, recorded trainings to explain how to survey using different printer MIS installations; PrintSmith, Printer’s Plan, Technique, Enterprise Print Management Solutions, Printer’s Plus, and a session on how to survey using all other MIS installations. To view the on-demand library and select your specific printer MIS, visit www.surveyadvantage.com/printers.

We are planning to release several new trainings in the future focused on our other verticals; marine services, association research, business services, parking facility feedback, manufacturing, education, finance, and healthcare.

Survey Advantage to share knowledge at Print ‘09

Michael Casey — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:50:22 +0000

Print ‘09, the largest printing show in North America, will be in Chicago from September 11-16th. Survey Advantage president Michael Casey has been asked to lead a presentation on Monday, September 14th from 2:15PM to 4:00PM. Please read the overview below or visit www.myprint09.com for more details.

Topic: Creating and managing a customer retention strategy

On average 5% of a printer’s revenue is directed to the marketing budget to capture new customers through tradeshows, advertising, and get your name recognized on the cluttered field of printers. Printer’s with an effective, deliberate customer retention strategy benefit from lower marketing expenses through higher client share and customer referrals. Rarely does a printer lose an account completely, but many will lose client share if they don’t have an effective early warning system in place when a specific job goes out with a problem. This session will discuss ways printers have implemented programs to retain customers by driving loyalty, proactively gathering print job feedback, customizing services, and making their customers feel unique and special. Multiple studies have proven how much more profitable it is to grow revenues with existing accounts versus pursuing new accounts. Retaining customers is the best way to keep your business healthy, reduce marketing budgets, and drive referrals to your door.

What you will learn
• Effective customer retention strategies
• Printer loyalty programs
• Printer referral programs
• Printer loyalty benchmarks to shoot for
• The importance of surveys
• Best practice survey techniques
• Low cost customer feedback process
• Customer service processes to consider

Presentation for Executive Management, Owners, Customer Service Directors and Managers, Sales and Marketing Directors and Managers

Thoughts on how to roll out an association membership award program

Michael Casey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:40:25 +0000

Recently an association executive was trying to learn how to approach a membership award program for their conference. Below are a few things to consider. Granted this is a professional organization so take what you would like from it. Here is the response.

Hopefully the ideas below helps as you decide how to approach.

1) You may want to start off with maybe a few awards that focus on the key, most important awards. I have seen members dread going to their big dinner / award dinner because they state “I see more firewood being handed out and I never go to them”. Firewood meaning plagues. Be careful and pick your battle. Members will appreciate it and you can test the waters and expand from there.

2) Depending on your membership a plague is a nice gesture and something visible. Certificates may work if in a nice frame and something they would hang in their office or out in front. I noticed you are a teacher association so maybe the certificates would be nice right next to their degree. Also, academia may be more open to recognition versus trade associations so you may be onto something.

3) I don’t think the money is the thing. A nice plague or certificate should be fine. It is the recognition more than the money in most cases with professional organizations.

4) Definitely would give them a little token or money to come out and stay.Again, nothing crazy, but maybe the flight and motel room.

You know your membership and what gets them jazzed more than anyone so I suggest going with your first instinct or go out to members and ask, but start small if you can and then grow from there if possible. First year maybe 5 awards, and then increase as feedback comes back and you see the response from members and winners.

Also, promoting the awards is important and giving PR to those winning members. Maybe a short case study posted on your website explaining what they did to win and why they are a star peer.

Association of Marina Industries now offering Customer Satisfaction Index Report

Michael Casey — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:16:50 +0000

To learn about and obtain copies of the AMI Boater Satisfaction Benchmark report you may visit https://www.marinaassociation.org/ami-publications.php. The study benchmarks facility satisfaction, customer service satisfaction, customer loyalty, and marina services quality.