Surveys—you’re probably sick of them, right? After all, most of us get one every time we talk to, smile at or breathe on a customer service associate, and it can get tiring. It makes sense that you, as a business owner, may not think they are that important because of the over-saturation of surveys in our every day interactions with companies. However unfortunate it may be, surveying is still very relevant in the business world. When done correctly, it can provide insight that is, bar none, the most important “guide” for a business.
No One’s Perfect
Even if your website is fantastic, there are probably areas of it that could serve people better than they do now. If we were in a perfect version of our world, we would have access to this information the moment something didn’t look or work quite right. The thoughts of those browsing our website would influence a meter on effectiveness, and you could adjust accordingly. Since we don’t have mind reading technology as of this moment, there’s no better way to improve these areas than to communicate directly with those who use your business for their benefit. Users that stick with you can help you uncover why a different client decided not to. That’s pretty powerful.
Incorrect Guesses Cost Tons of Money
You know something is wrong, but you aren’t sure what. Conversions aren’t what you think they should be, or maybe they’ve dropped considerably. You don’t have any feedback, so you aren’t sure what to change. So, what do you do? You make an educated guess. What happens when your educated guess is wrong? You lose a lot of money.
While there’s no surefire way to ensure you don’t do the wrong thing, the more education the better. A/B testing takes a lot of guesswork out of changing something on your website or in another important area of your business. We can all guess what our visitors want. We can wing it and focus our optimization efforts in the areas that we think they should be focused on. That’s inefficient, at best, and winds up costing a lot more than it helps. A couple of short surveys can really help.
Happy Customers Make Happy Businesses
This should go without saying, but happy customers spread good news about your business, and good news will bring you more business. You can hardly buy powerful word-of-mouth advertising, but you can make your customers happy, and they’ll do it for free. While there is a level of customer service that you can provide that you know will be beneficial and result in happy customers, getting more input for even better service should never go unappreciated. If other customers aren’t referring new customers to your business, you’re losing a ton of money and time trying to acquisition customers.
Surveys have been a little overused as of late, but when used correctly with the intent to use the information provided in the most productive ways possible, you may find yourself with happier customers and more money in your pocket.
