You can measure your customer’s experience using several methods. The most popular being customer surveys. The effectiveness of the survey depends on the method of delivery and design of the survey.
Terry Varva and Douglas Pruden of ICC/Decision Services, co authored an incredible white paper on how to get the most from consumer research. The authors start by discussing what makes consumer research different than market research.
“The special regard in which customers or employees hold the survey means the researcher probably should conduct the research somewhat differently than if he or she were contacting consumers at large.”
“Traditional marketing research is focused on the efficient capture of valid and unbiased information. To do so, marketing researchers have relied on many of the tools developed in survey research. But they have mistakenly extended these tools and the ethical precepts of survey research to their projects conducted among customers and employees There are substantial differences between consumers and customers, and this naive extension threatens the survival of the customer and employee satisfaction industries.”
Varva and Pruden move onto pointing out the key pieces to get the most out of your customer surveys. All companies need to consider the following before conducting consumer surveys:
1. Objectives of the project
2. Degree of personalization
3. Requesting only the most relevant information
Anyone interested in creating a great customer experience program should read Varva and Pruden’s white paper. The first step in creating a program is to ask what your customer’s think. Make your first steps successful.
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